Paul Rudolf Henning (1886–1986 · architect)

Henning was born in Berlin in 1886. In 1916, he moved to Zurich, where he came into contact with the avant-garde artist group Dada and worked as a sculptor in the Expressionist style. In 1919, he joined the revolutionary Workers’ Art Council, whose members included Bruno Taut and Walter Gropius. Henning was an advocate of the New Building style and designed large residential projects in Berlin, including the Baumschulenweg estate in Treptow-Köpenick and the Metastrasse estate in Lichtenberg. His most famous buildings include the Mosse publishing house in Berlin's central Mitte district, which he planned to rebuild in 1921-23 together with Erich Mendelssohn and Richard Neutra. After 1933, Henning remained in Germany but was allowed to build in his preferred New Objectivity style only for industrial construction. In his other works, he adapted to the architectural style of the Nazi regime. After 1945, Henning returned to Modernist design principles in his work.