Locations #1

The history of the small town of Niesky has been shaped substantially by the Christoph & Unmack building company. This originally Danish company moved to Niesky in 1922 and extended its professional competence in the fields of timber and steel constructions and engineering. In 1927, the architect Konrad Wachsmann designed the new home for the director of this Europe-wide respected enterprise, and created a symbiosis of traditional wooden structures and modern architecture. During his studies with Heinrich Tessenow and Hans Poelzig he had learned very early that architecture can be understood as a technical system. This objectivity (Sachlichkeit) can also be noticed in the director's home: the design, the hallmarks of its style were reduced to the most essential; trying to find bays, dormer windows or ornaments would prove fruitless. In order to create a uniform and coherent exterior façade, Wachsmann developed new technological innovations in construction which was based on grooves: this enabled him to join the interior and exterior walls without breaking through the façade level. The major part of the building survived in its original state; it could be finally restored in 2010 and even extended for future purposes.