AEG’s Turbine factory

The AEG turbine factory was built around 1909, at Huttenstraße 12-16 in the Berlin district of Moabit. It is the best known work of architect Peter Behrens. It is an influential and well-known example of industrial architecture. Its revolutionary design features 100m long and 15m tall glass and steel walls on either side. It was a bold move and world first that would have a durable impact on architecture as a whole.

The site was since 1892, occupied by the electrical company founded by August Thyssen and the Thomson Houston Electric Company, the Union-Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (UEG). The company's goal was to get into the booming electrical industry, and this site was dedicated to the production of electric trams. But the company quickly encountered financial difficulties, and the Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft (AEG) took over in 1904 and planned the construction of a new turbine factory, as the existing factory had become too small.

The architect Peter Behrens was commissioned with the construction of the new building. More than an architect, Behrens was employed from 1907 by AEG as an artistic consultant and designed the company logo, and other company graphics for the building. He was also in charge of the overall image of the company. Initially influenced by the developing Art Nouveau, the architect turned soon to the Werkbund, which in turn was influenced by the British Arts and Crafts.

The turbine hall was built in 1909 under Peter Behrens as lead architect and engineer Karl Bernhard at the corner of Huttenstraße and Berlichingenstraße streets in Berlin-Moabit. The building mainly consists of steel components, glass, and traditional Greek and Egyptian temples. The original building measures 25.6 m + 12.5 m in width, a height of 25 m and a length of 123 m. Behrens' design provided a neo-classical look to the industrial building, with weighty (but non-functional) gable ends and trabeated 'columns' to either side. David Watkin describes it as a "temple of power". Similarly, Tom Wilkinson likens it to an "up-to-date edition of the Parthenon".

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