The Ball House. Dresden 1928. Peter Birch Wood (1876-1961)

The Kugelhaus was a ball-shaped house building in Dresden on the Exhibition Grounds between exhibition palace and Hercules Avenue. At that time it was Stübelplatz by Peter Birch Wood (1876-1961) built in 1928.

It housed showrooms, and a catering operation and is considered to be the first spherical building in the world.It was during the annual review of work German Dresden - The city of Technology in 1928 and had a diameter of 24 meters. The spherical body was on a ball neck diameter of 11.5 meters and 4 meters in height are stored. Die Gesamthöhe des Gebäudes betrug 26,5 Meter, bei einer bebauten Fläche von nur 110 Quadratmetern maß der umbaute Raum 7600 Kubikmeter. There were six levels and a passenger lift. The building was obtained by a circular, atrium-like opening up or down look. Only the top floor with the restaurant had a closed floor area. The windows of the restaurant gave a good panoramic view of the nearby exhibition area.

The supporting construction of the building was of steel frame construction have been built. The metallic outer skin consisted of sheet aluminum. The building work over the Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG (branch Gustavsburg at Mainz). From 1928 on it served in several exhibitions at the Municipal Exhibition Center as a presentation space for numerous industrial companies, mostly from the field of electrical engineering and energy. The last demonstration of involvement in an exhibition concept was done within the realm Garden of 1936. With regard to its architectural effect, it was at a central office was built.

The ball house stood between the so-called fountain and tower-yard, two in Hallenkompexe is completed on the Exhibition Grounds, and resort to the concert with his big restaurant area. In this way it was in the intersection of two main axes of the building and was therefore an excellent building within sight of many relationships.

The building was built in 1938 demolished because no buyer is found or operator. Previously, it was by the Nazi press as "degenerate art" had been attacked. Other sources indicate that the ball home in 1938 as a supposedly "non" destroyed. [1] Today, there is the railway station and the park opposite the round tower of the Transparent Factory, where Volkswagen AG's VW Phaeton finished cars are stored. (courtesy Architectuul)