Richard Jakob August von Voit (17 February 1801 – 12 December 1870) was a German architect specializing in glass and iron structures.

Notable projects

Voit designed the city hall of Annweiler am Trifels (

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

) and the in

. He also designed two

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

s, one in

Kirchheimbolanden Kirchheimbolanden is the capital and the second largest city of the Donnersbergkreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate. Situated in south-western Germany, it is approximately 25 km west of Worms, Germany, Worms, and 30 km north-east of Kaisersla ...

in 1834, and another in

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

in 1837. Von Voit also created the neo-Romanesque facade on St. Anna's, Lehel, which was destroyed during the war.

1846–1853 –
Neue Pinakothek The Neue Pinakothek (, ''New Pinacotheca'') is an art museum in Munich, Germany. Its focus is European Art of the 18th and 19th centuries, and it is one of the most important museums of art of the nineteenth century in the world. Together with t ...

The

Neue Pinakothek The Neue Pinakothek (, ''New Pinacotheca'') is an art museum in Munich, Germany. Its focus is European Art of the 18th and 19th centuries, and it is one of the most important museums of art of the nineteenth century in the world. Together with t ...

Art Museum was commissioned by

Ludwig I of Bavaria Ludwig I or Louis I (; 25 August 1786 – 29 February 1868) was King of Bavaria from 1825 until the German revolutions of 1848–49, 1848 revolutions in the German states. When he was crown prince, he was involved in the Napoleonic Wars. As ki ...

and designed by Von Voit and

Friedrich von Gärtner Friedrich von Gärtner (10 December 1791 in Koblenz – 21 April 1847 in Munich) was a German architect. Biography His father was also an architect, and moved in 1804 to Munich, where young Gärtner received his first education in architec ...

. The design of the structure was calculated to reinforce the similarity between the older and newer museums. As part of the design, Von Voit commissioned

Wilhelm von Kaulbach Wilhelm von Kaulbach (15 October 18057 April 1874) was a Germans, German painter, noted mainly as a muralist, but also as a book illustrator. His murals decorate buildings in Munich. He is associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Bio ...

to show the achievements of German art in mural form. The building as originally designed was demolished in 1950 and rebuilt in 1967.

1853–1854 – Glaspalast,
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

August von Voit, as the Royal Superintendent of Works, assisted in organizing the construction of the Glass Palace at Munich as well as being the architect. In order to ensure the project was completed on schedule, von Voit negotiated a contract with the manufacturers which had an increasing penalty rate for the late supply of goods. The design "used rectangular girders as the elements of the space frame". The Glaspalast was modeled after the London Crystal Palace.

1860–1865 – Great Palm House, Old Botanical Gardens,
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

This project was built in the form of a "cast-iron space frame with dome".

1867–1869 – Second Large Winter Garden

The Second Large Winter Garden was commissioned by

Ludwig II of Bavaria Ludwig II (Ludwig Otto Friedrich Wilhelm; 25 August 1845 – 13 June 1886), also called the Swan King or the Fairy Tale King (), was King of Bavaria from 1864 until his death in 1886. He also held the titles of Count Palatine of the Rhine, Duke ...

. Von Voit collaborated on the project with

Carl von Effner Carl von Effner, also Karl von Effner, Carl Joseph von Effner and Carl Effner (the younger) (10 February 1831 – 22 October 1884) was gardener to the Bavarian court, later ''Königlich Bayerischer Hofgärtendirektor'' ("Royal Bavarian Court Dire ...

to create a "glass-roofed, three-story structure" which faced both the palace gardens and the Kaiserhof.

Criticisms

The glass and iron style were criticized for an apparent "lack of substance and corporeality", and the iron used in the construction of buildings such as the Glaspalast "proved too brittle and too prone to fire".

Gallery

File:Hambacher Schloss 1842 Voit.jpg, Hambacher Schloss File:Neue Pinakothek, around 1854.jpg, Neue Pinakothek

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Voit, August Von 1801 births 1870 deaths Architects of the Bavarian court 19th-century German architects