|
Rittmeyer, Robert
(b Bruggen, nr St Gall, 19 Sept 1868; d Zurich, 12 April 1960). Swiss architect and teacher. He studied architecture at the Technische Hochschule, Stuttgart, until 1893. From 1896 to 1898 he taught at the Baugewerkschule, Cologne, and was then a professor at the Technikum, Winterthur (18981933). Between 1905 and 1933 he practised in partnership with Walter Furrer. After some historicist early works, Rittmeyer adopted a functional regional style, as seen in the mental hospital complex (19067) at Herisau, made up of groups of houses in the traditional style of the region. His work in Winterthur was diverse; it included some Jugendstil buildings, for example the Hohes Haus (19056); some monumental buildings, such as the neo-classical Kunstmuseum (191316), with a temple-like main portal dominating the façade, and the symmetrical, circular Volkart office building (19278); and some later houses designed as simple cubes broken only by windows and balconies, seen in the garden housing estate (1920), Jonas-Furrer-Strasse, and the Reinhart-Ganzoni House (19278).
|