Topographies of Class: Modern Architecture and Mass Society in Weimar Berlin

pIn Topographies of Class, Sabine Hake explores why Weimar Berlin has had such a powerful hold on the urban imagination. Approaching Weimar architectural culture from the perspective of mass discourse and class analysis, Hake examines the way in which architectural projects; debates; and representations in literature, photography, and film played a key role in establishing the terms under which contemporaries made sense of the rise of white-collar society.pFocusing on the so-called stabilization period, Topographies of Class maps out complex relationships between modern architecture and mass society, from Martin Wagner's planning initiatives and Erich Mendelsohn's functionalist buildings, to the most famous Berlin texts of the period, Alfred D#246;blin's city novel IBerlin Alexanderplatz/I (1929) and Walter Ruttmann's city film IBerlin, Symphony of the Big City/I (1927). Hake draws on critical, philosophical, literary, photographic, and filmic texts to reconstruct the urban imagination at a key point in the history of German modernity, making this the first study---in English or German---to take an interdisciplinary approach to the rich architectural culture of Weimar Berlin.pSabine Hake is Professor and Texas Chair of German Literature and Culture at the University of Texas at Austin. She is the author of numerous books, including IGerman National Cinema/I and IPopular Cinema of the Third Reich/I.pCover art#58; Construction of the Karstadt Department Store at Hermannplatz, Berlin-Neuk#246;lln. Courtesy Bildarchiv Preeussischer Kulturbesitz / Art Resource, NYp