Otto Königsberger
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Otto H. Königsberger (13 October 1908 – 3 January 1999) was a German-Indian
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
who worked mainly in urban development planning in Africa, Asia and Latin America, with the United Nations. He also proposed plans for developing new cities like
Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...
and
Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...
in India.


Early life

Königsberger was born in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
in 1908, and trained as an architect there at the
Technische Hochschule A ''Technische Hochschule'' (, plural: ''Technische Hochschulen'', abbreviated ''TH'') is a type of university focusing on engineering sciences in Germany. Previously, it also existed in Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands (), and Finland (, ) ...
in Charlottenburg (now
Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin; also known as Berlin Institute of Technology and Technical University of Berlin, although officially the name should not be translated) is a public university, public research university located in Berlin, Germany. It was the first ...
), graduating in 1931. In 1933, he won the Schinkel Prize for Architecture for a design for the
Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports ...
in Berlin. However, with the rise to power of the
Nazi Party The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor ...
, Königsberger was forced to leave the country, as was his uncle, physicist
Max Born Max Born (; 11 December 1882 – 5 January 1970) was a German-British theoretical physicist who was instrumental in the development of quantum mechanics. He also made contributions to solid-state physics and optics, and supervised the work of a ...
. Königsberger later illustrated Born's popularized physics text, ''The Restless Universe'' (published 1935). Königsberger spent the next six years in the Swiss Institute for the History of Egyptian Architecture in
Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
, where he gained his doctorate. When his uncle Max Born was in
Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
as a guest of Raman, the Diwan Mirza Ismail enquired if he know of any trained architect. Thanks to Born's introduction, Königsberger was appointed chief architect and planner to Mysore State, India in 1939. His buildings during this period include some buildings in the
Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a Public university, public, Deemed university, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The ...
(1943–44), the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in Bombay (Mumbai), the bus station, Serum Institute and Victory Hall (1946, renamed as Town Hall) in
Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...
, the town plan for
Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar () is the capital and the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...
, and some town planning for
Jamshedpur Jamshedpur (; ), also known as Tatanagar, is a major industrial city in eastern India. It is the List of cities in Jharkhand by population, largest city in the state of Jharkhand. With a population of 629,658 in the city limits and 1.3 million ...
with the vision of Tata. After Indian Independence he became director of housing for the Indian Ministry of Health from 1948 to 1951, working on resettling those displaced by partition. Resident in India since 1939, Königsberger became an Indian citizen in 1950, when he received Indian passport from the Nehru government. He emigrated to England in 1951, but remained an Indian citizen until 1991, when he was driven to take British citizenship due to the UK government's stance on immigration legislation, which made it problematic for him to receive health care in the United Kingdom.


Career

In 1953 Königsberger moved to London and became head of the Department of Development and Tropical Studies at the
Architectural Association The Architectural Association School of Architecture in London, commonly referred to as the AA, is the oldest private school of architecture in the UK. The AA hosts exhibitions, lectures, symposia and publications. History The Architectura ...
, which later became the Development Planning Unit of
University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
, where he worked as a professor until his retirement in 1978. Königsberger taught that town planners in the developing world should be prepared to dynamically adapt their plans, and involve local communities and techniques, as opposed to imposing a static master plan based on Western ideas – an approach he called ''Action Planning''. He served as a senior adviser to the
United Nations Economic and Social Council The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) is one of six principal organs of the United Nations, responsible for coordinating the economic and social fields of the organization, specifically in regards to the fifteen specialized ...
from the 1950s, and helped launch Habitat International in 1976, which he edited until 1978. His ''Manual of tropical housing and building'' was published in several languages and remains a standard course text in many parts of the world. File:IISc hydrogen plant.jpg, Hydrogen gas plant at IISc, Bangalore (partly demolished in 2021)


Awards and legacy

In 1989, Königsberger was one of the first recipients of the UN Habitat Scroll of Honour, the most prestigious award given by the United Nations in recognition of work carried out in the field of human settlements development. The same year, University College London established the Otto Koenigsberger Scholarship to enable young professionals from developing countries to study urban planning in the UK.


See also

*
Mahoney tables The Mahoney tables are a set of reference tables used in architecture, used as a guide to climate-appropriate design. They are named after architect Carl Mahoney, who worked on them together with John Martin Evans, and Otto Königsberger. They were ...


Bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Koenigsberger, Otto H. 1908 births 1999 deaths German urban planners Indian urban planners Architects from Berlin German emigrants to India Naturalised citizens of India Indian people of German descent Indian people of German-Jewish descent Indian emigrants to England Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Technische Universität Berlin alumni Academics of University College London 20th-century German architects 20th-century Indian architects