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Heinz Graffunder

Berlin, Germany
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Heinz Graffunder was a german architect remembered, in particular, for the impact of his work on the north-eastern part of Berlin. He studied architecture at the city's Building Academy, 1949-1952. After that, between 1952 and 1967, he worked as an architect and city planner as a department head with Berlin's "VEB Development Project Support" organization and with others entities, until becoming a professor of Design Theory, at the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus on 1984.

Works

He designs buildings as the Elephant House for the Berlin's zoo (1954), the Berlin-Pankow's swimming pool (1957-60), the East German embassy in Budapest (1963-65), today the post-reunification German embassy, and the Sofia Central Station (1964-1966).

Heinz Graffunder is, especially, remember as chief architect for the Palace of the Republic, built between 1973 and 1976 (and controversially demolished some 40 years later). This was almost certainly the most high-profile of his projects. The building accommodated the official legislature of the German Democratic Republic.After reunification, the building was no longer needed for this purpose and refurbishment attempts were hampered by the discovery of large quantities of asbestos in its construction.

On his late career, between 1976 and 1988, he was Chief architect and director of large redevelopment projects in Berlin-Marzahn and Berlin-Hellersdorf.

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Berlin, Germany
thedani, April 27th, 2017
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