The most renowned building designed by Sep Ruf (1908?–1982) is the “Chancellor’s Bungalow” in Bonn, which from 1964 until 1999 served as the official residence of the German chancellor. When the seat of the federal government was moved to Berlin, the building disappeared from the public eye.
However, in 2009, following a three-year refurbishment, this important link to the history of post-war Germany was opened to visitors. And this, in turn, aroused renewed interest in Sep Ruf and his oeuvre. Germany’s contribution to this year’s Venice Biennale – the theme of the national pavilions is »Absorbing Modernity 1914–2014« – focuses on the Chancellor’s Bungalow as the epitome of the country’s modern architecture.
In 1963, Ruf was commissioned by Vice Chancellor Ludwig Erhard to design a building in which the next chancellor – by all indications, Erhard – would live and hold receptions. A site was selected facing the Rhine on the grounds of Schaumburg Palace, at the time the chancellor’s place of residence. Corresponding to the dual function, it is arranged in two separate single-storey pavilions, each square in plan In the smaller one (20 ? 20 m), which contains the private living quarters, brick walls provide privacy. The larger pavilion (24 ? 24 m), where receptions are held, is more strongly oriented to the park. Because speedy construction was required, Ruf chose steel as structural material. He and engineer Georg Lewenton developed the structural concept – with a reinforced concrete basement supporting delicate steel columns and a cantilevering roof – together.
In the 1950s, single-storey courtyard houses came to be associated with a modern lifestyle for the up-and-coming middle class – in Germany this typology is named »bungalow« (from the Hindi »bangle«, meaning »belonging to Bengal«). Ruf’s design was inspired by the courtyard houses of Mies van der Rohe and Ludwig Hilbersheimer; these had been exhibited internationally. It was not only the antithesis to the “blood and soil” ideology, but also correlated with the Federal Republic’s political ties to the West. The spatial concept – unhindered flow of space – harked back to Germany’s first democracy: Mies’s Barcelona Pavilion, the ground-breaking predecessor, was finished in 1929, during the Weimar Republic. (Irene Meissner)
However, in 2009, following a three-year refurbishment, this important link to the history of post-war Germany was opened to visitors. And this, in turn, aroused renewed interest in Sep Ruf and his oeuvre. Germany’s contribution to this year’s Venice Biennale – the theme of the national pavilions is »Absorbing Modernity 1914–2014« – focuses on the Chancellor’s Bungalow as the epitome of the country’s modern architecture.
In 1963, Ruf was commissioned by Vice Chancellor Ludwig Erhard to design a building in which the next chancellor – by all indications, Erhard – would live and hold receptions. A site was selected facing the Rhine on the grounds of Schaumburg Palace, at the time the chancellor’s place of residence. Corresponding to the dual function, it is arranged in two separate single-storey pavilions, each square in plan In the smaller one (20 ? 20 m), which contains the private living quarters, brick walls provide privacy. The larger pavilion (24 ? 24 m), where receptions are held, is more strongly oriented to the park. Because speedy construction was required, Ruf chose steel as structural material. He and engineer Georg Lewenton developed the structural concept – with a reinforced concrete basement supporting delicate steel columns and a cantilevering roof – together.
In the 1950s, single-storey courtyard houses came to be associated with a modern lifestyle for the up-and-coming middle class – in Germany this typology is named »bungalow« (from the Hindi »bangle«, meaning »belonging to Bengal«). Ruf’s design was inspired by the courtyard houses of Mies van der Rohe and Ludwig Hilbersheimer; these had been exhibited internationally. It was not only the antithesis to the “blood and soil” ideology, but also correlated with the Federal Republic’s political ties to the West. The spatial concept – unhindered flow of space – harked back to Germany’s first democracy: Mies’s Barcelona Pavilion, the ground-breaking predecessor, was finished in 1929, during the Weimar Republic. (Irene Meissner)