Functional obsolescence in modern architecture. The demolition of Valencia’s German School’s Kindergarten.
Benet Morera, Irene
Department of Composición Arquitectónica, Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain.
Abstract:
The project of the Deutsche Schule of Valencia was developed between 1957 and 1961 and was designed by the German Bundesbaudirektion architects, Dieter Weisse and Peter Müller, along with the Valencian architects Pablo Navarro and Julio Trullenque. The project features characteristic traits of the architecture of the Modern Movement as well as German influences, due to the collaborative work between architects of both nationalities. The original set included the main building, a gym, and a Kindergarten, all communicated by a porch that articulated the whole through a large patio.
Thirty-five years after its construction, in 1996, the original capacity of 600 students for which it was originally designed reached its maximum, and an extension was considered to accommodate up to 900 students. The Bundesbaudirektion no longer counted with the architects of the original building and the project was entirely developed in Germany and sent to an architecture studio in Barcelona to supervise Valencia’s German School work progress, acting as a Kontakt Architect. Within this project whole that was finally built — there was a proposal for the demolition of the building that housed the Kindergarten to raise a new one with greater capacity that could host Preschool and Primary classrooms. The new volume that was built solved the problem of functional obsolescence —momentary as we could see nowadays— due to the increase in student demand, although it didn’t fit within the rest of the existing buildings in the group.
The original Kindergarten was known as the “forgotten building” of the whole — as there are hardly no graphic documents of it — and that’s the reason why it was decided to show how it was and what its ending was like.
Keywords: modern heritage; Valencia; architecture; modern movement; school; kindergarten.