Chilehaus, Hamburg

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Chilehaus, Hamburg
Chilehaus, Hamburg

By eminent architect Fritz Höger, 1924. Höger designed the Chilehaus to mimic the shape of a ship. The idea for the Chilehaus came when Henry B. Sloman left Hamburg for Chile a poor man and returned to the city decades later with his newfound fortune. Upon his return, he decided that he wanted to give something back to his hometown, and so he commissioned architect Fritz Höger to design the Chilehaus, named for Sloman’s success in Chile.

The Chilehaus quickly became a symbol of both Brick Expressionism architecture and Hamburg’s economic revival post WWI.

Although the Chilehaus is today regarded as an architectural masterpiece, Höger faced many obstacles in the design of the structure. The site’s difficult terrain made building on reinforced-concrete pilings that ran 16 meters deep into the ground necessary. Due to the building’s close proximity to the Elbe River, the cellar also had to be specially sealed. Even the building’s heating equipment was protected by caissons that could float within the building to help prevent water damage in the event of a flood.

All of Höger’s efforts, however, were not in vain. The building’s 4.8 million dark Oldenburg bricks absorb the sunlight, emitting a different glow at various times throughout the day.

Johann Friedrich (Fritz) Höger (12 June 1877 – 21 June 1949) was a German architect from Northern Germany. Although never qualified as an architect, he became known for his Brick Expressionist style of architecture. He joined the architectural firm Lundt and Kallmorgen in Hamburg, where he worked as a technical draftsman for 4 years.

Höger opened his own architecture office in 1907, but because of his lack of higher education he was not admitted to the Association of German Architects. Höger established his style with the use of bricks, particularly clinker bricks, which are more robust and frost resistant due to the higher temperature they are fired at. Höger's preference for the use of brick was along the lines of ideas espoused by Fritz Schumacher, the Hamburg chief architect beginning in 1909. His best-known work is the Chilehaus.

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Taken on: August 9, 2016
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Camera: Leica Camera AG M9 Digital Camera, 1/8 sec, 24mm, ISO 320 (more info) (hide info)
Camera: Leica Camera AG M9 Digital Camera
Exposure Time: 0.125 sec (1/8)
Focal Length: 24mm
ISO: 320
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: No Flash
Exposure Program: Manual
Exposure Mode: Manual
Metering Mode: Center-weighted average
White Balance: Auto
Color Space: sRGB
Software: Aperture 3.6
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Stats: 490 views