Photo © Tomasz Lewandowski
Architecture - NOMINEE: Tomasz Lewandowski
AUSCHWITZ - ULTIMA RATIO OF THE MODERN AGE
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According to a duo of photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, the form of the industrial
construction is determined only by its function. The designing logic of the architecture in the
concentration camp Auschwitz was, that the forms of the buildings were absolutely
subordinated to their function as instruments of the industrial genocide. So, this architecture is
a pure realization of Louis Sullivans principle of the modern: „form follows function“. In this
context Zygmunt Bauman also pointed out that „the modern civilization [...] certainly was not
the only one, but was probably a necessary precondition for the Holocaust“ (Zygmunt Bauman,
Modernity and The Holocaust).
The concentration camp Auschwitz was founded in 1940 by order of Heinrich Himmler,
the chief of the „Waffen-SS“. For the localization of the first unit, „KZ Auschwitz I“, a former
Polish garrison in the town Oświęcim was chosen. The buildings were partly increased by two
floors and adapted to the new function of the „living quarters“ for the prisoners. The
extermination camp in the village Brzezinka (ger. Birkenau), „KZ Auschwitz II“, has been built on
a moorish, rather uninhabited terrain.
The typological examination of the buildings and the objects in this photographic cycle
should enable the spectator to compare rationalization methods in an architecture designed
for efficient mass killing. To avoid the narrative character and to show the „things as they are”
(Susan Sonntag), the images have been made within similar and constant lighting conditions.
All photographs were taken on the 4x5 inch b&w negativs.
About author:
1978
born in nysa, poland
2004
engineer graduate at the opole university of technology
2006
co-founder of tumw wroclaw (tumw.pl)
2007
co-owner and later journalist for inwestor magazine (projektinwestor.pl)
2010
freelance journalist for architektura magazine
2012
master of arts graduate in photography on the burg giebichenstein university of arts halle, germany under prof. rudolf schäfer
2012
assistant lecturer on the burg giebichenstein university of arts halle, germany
2014
start of the ph.d. on the burg giebichenstein university of arts halle, germany in the department of design studies
2017
guest lecturer for the photography on the institute of the art education warsaw, poland
exhibitions
2012
american standards, group exhibition “borderless”, whitebox, münchen
2012
kellerausstellung, group exhibition, ostkultur, leipzig
2013
kellerausstellung, group exhibition, ostkultur, leipzig
2014
cité idéale, inidividual exhibition, moritzkunstcafé, stiftung moritzburg, halle
2014
atlas, kosovo, utopia, group exhibition, li.abt.a 393b, leipzig
2015
stadttraum-traumstadt – photo competition of the hoepfner-stiftung, group exhibition, ihk, karlsruhe
2015
opus fotopreis- photo competition, group exhibition, art gallery of the “saar” university of arts, saarbrücken
2015
warsaw festival of art photography, individual exhibition, warsaw
2017
auschwitz – typology of the architecture of the extermination camp, individual exhibition, warsaw
2017
weiterbauen, weiterdenken - individual exhibition in landesvertretung des landes sachsen-anhalt. berlin
photography projects (books):
postmodernism is almost all right. polish architecture after socialist globalisation (coop-project). museum of modern art in warsaw, warsaw 2012
weiterbauen, weiterdenken – neue häuser für martin luther. die musealen erweiterungen in wittenberg, eisleben und mansfeld. stiftung luthergedenkstätten in sachsen-anhalt, hirmer verlag, münchen 2017
publications (text) in:
“s[z]arp / architectural magazin (pl)
“inwestor” / architectural magazin (pl)
“architektura-murator” / architectural magazin (pl)
“architektura i biznes” / architectural magazin (pl)
publications (commercial photographs) in:
cube (d), deutsche bauzeitung (d), architektur nrw 2013 (d), greenpeace magazin (d), architektur international (d), fassadentechnik (d), plan spezial (d), bild (d), detail (d), inwestor (pl), architektura-murator (pl), s[z]arp (pl), świat architektury (pl), mosty polskie (pl), ottawa magazine (can), canadian architect (can), archithese (ch)
construction is determined only by its function. The designing logic of the architecture in the
concentration camp Auschwitz was, that the forms of the buildings were absolutely
subordinated to their function as instruments of the industrial genocide. So, this architecture is
a pure realization of Louis Sullivans principle of the modern: „form follows function“. In this
context Zygmunt Bauman also pointed out that „the modern civilization [...] certainly was not
the only one, but was probably a necessary precondition for the Holocaust“ (Zygmunt Bauman,
Modernity and The Holocaust).
The concentration camp Auschwitz was founded in 1940 by order of Heinrich Himmler,
the chief of the „Waffen-SS“. For the localization of the first unit, „KZ Auschwitz I“, a former
Polish garrison in the town Oświęcim was chosen. The buildings were partly increased by two
floors and adapted to the new function of the „living quarters“ for the prisoners. The
extermination camp in the village Brzezinka (ger. Birkenau), „KZ Auschwitz II“, has been built on
a moorish, rather uninhabited terrain.
The typological examination of the buildings and the objects in this photographic cycle
should enable the spectator to compare rationalization methods in an architecture designed
for efficient mass killing. To avoid the narrative character and to show the „things as they are”
(Susan Sonntag), the images have been made within similar and constant lighting conditions.
All photographs were taken on the 4x5 inch b&w negativs.
About author:
1978
born in nysa, poland
2004
engineer graduate at the opole university of technology
2006
co-founder of tumw wroclaw (tumw.pl)
2007
co-owner and later journalist for inwestor magazine (projektinwestor.pl)
2010
freelance journalist for architektura magazine
2012
master of arts graduate in photography on the burg giebichenstein university of arts halle, germany under prof. rudolf schäfer
2012
assistant lecturer on the burg giebichenstein university of arts halle, germany
2014
start of the ph.d. on the burg giebichenstein university of arts halle, germany in the department of design studies
2017
guest lecturer for the photography on the institute of the art education warsaw, poland
exhibitions
2012
american standards, group exhibition “borderless”, whitebox, münchen
2012
kellerausstellung, group exhibition, ostkultur, leipzig
2013
kellerausstellung, group exhibition, ostkultur, leipzig
2014
cité idéale, inidividual exhibition, moritzkunstcafé, stiftung moritzburg, halle
2014
atlas, kosovo, utopia, group exhibition, li.abt.a 393b, leipzig
2015
stadttraum-traumstadt – photo competition of the hoepfner-stiftung, group exhibition, ihk, karlsruhe
2015
opus fotopreis- photo competition, group exhibition, art gallery of the “saar” university of arts, saarbrücken
2015
warsaw festival of art photography, individual exhibition, warsaw
2017
auschwitz – typology of the architecture of the extermination camp, individual exhibition, warsaw
2017
weiterbauen, weiterdenken - individual exhibition in landesvertretung des landes sachsen-anhalt. berlin
photography projects (books):
postmodernism is almost all right. polish architecture after socialist globalisation (coop-project). museum of modern art in warsaw, warsaw 2012
weiterbauen, weiterdenken – neue häuser für martin luther. die musealen erweiterungen in wittenberg, eisleben und mansfeld. stiftung luthergedenkstätten in sachsen-anhalt, hirmer verlag, münchen 2017
publications (text) in:
“s[z]arp / architectural magazin (pl)
“inwestor” / architectural magazin (pl)
“architektura-murator” / architectural magazin (pl)
“architektura i biznes” / architectural magazin (pl)
publications (commercial photographs) in:
cube (d), deutsche bauzeitung (d), architektur nrw 2013 (d), greenpeace magazin (d), architektur international (d), fassadentechnik (d), plan spezial (d), bild (d), detail (d), inwestor (pl), architektura-murator (pl), s[z]arp (pl), świat architektury (pl), mosty polskie (pl), ottawa magazine (can), canadian architect (can), archithese (ch)