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Felix Rudolf Skoda (26 September 1931 – 2 April 2015) was a German
architect An architect is a person who plans, designs, and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
and academic teacher. He was chief architect for the Neue Gewandhaus in Leipzig.


Life

Born in
Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...
, Skoda was the son of the painter and graphic artist Felix Skoda. After taking his
Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...
at the in 1950, he completed a two-year apprenticeship as a bricklayer. From 1952 to 1957, he studied architecture at the Hochschule für Architektur und Bauwesen Weimar. He was then a research assistant at the universities in Weimar and
Cottbus Cottbus () or (;) is a university city and the second-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after the state capital, Potsdam. With around 100,000 inhabitants, Cottbus is the most populous city in Lusatia. Cottbus lies in the Sorbian ...
. He was awarded a Dr.-Ing. in 1968 in Weimar with the thesis ''Wohnhäuser und Wohnverhältnisse der Stadtarmut'' (Dwellings and Housing Conditions of the Urban Poor). In 1986, he completed his
Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...
. From 1960 to 1975, he worked as a design architect in Leipzig's project planning offices, designing several buildings that were characteristic of Leipzig's cityscape. In 1976, he became chief architect at the construction staff of the of Leipzig.: ''Leipzig. Architecture from the Romanesque period to the present.'' Passage-Verlag, Leipzig 2001, , . From 1977, he was also chief architect for the construction of the New Gewandhaus. He held both positions until 1981. The Gewandhaus building is considered Skoda's main work; it was the only purely new concert hall building in the history of the GDR. The West German trade press also praised the design with its richness of form as extraordinary for the GDR, "in which - in view of the dreary monotony of mass-produced buildings made of commonplace assembly parts - architecture was almost thought to have been forgotten" ('). In 2011, it became known that during the GDR period Skoda had been a ''
Begrüßungsgeld (English: "Welcome money") was, from 1970 until 29 December 1989, a gift from the government of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) to visitors from the German Democratic Republic (GDR - East Germany). This situation originated with t ...
''
unofficial collaborator An unofficial collaborator or IM (; both from German ''inoffizieller Mitarbeiter''), or euphemistically informal collaborator (''informeller Mitarbeiter''), was an informant in the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) who delivered privat ...
(IM) of the Ministry for State Security. By his own admission, he had informed West German interlocutors of his status. This is confirmed in a letter to the editor by . However, his also contains activities in the private sphere. After having already taught as an honorary lecturer at the , he was appointed full professor for residential and social buildings there in 1981. In numerous publications, he devoted himself in particular to the subject of concert hall construction. He had been a member of the
Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg The Freie Akademie der Künste in Hamburg e.V. is a not-for-profit association of artists, founded in 1950 by the organ-builder and writer Hans Henny Jahnn. It now includes architecture, visual arts, performing arts, literature, media Media ...
since the mid-1980s. In 1991, he founded the architectural partnership ''Skoda & Partner''. From 2001 onward, he was mainly active as an expert in competitions as well as in an advisory and publishing capacity. Skoda died in Leipzig at the age of 83 and was buried at the South Cemetery Leipzig.


Work


Buildings

* 1965: Building of the in
Markt Markt may refer to: * Aktueller Software Markt * Christkindl Markt * Media Markt * Rahela Markt Places in Germany * Markt Berolzheim * Markt Bibart * Markt Einersheim * Markt Erlbach * Markt Indersdorf * Markt Nordheim * Markt Rettenba ...
(with Rudolf Rohrer and Ulrich Quester), demolished in 2001. * 1968/1969: Operating building of the
VEB Robotron VEB Kombinat Robotron () (or simply Robotron) was the largest East German electronics manufacturer. It was headquartered in Dresden and employed 68,000 people in 1989. Its products included personal computers, SM EVM minicomputers, the ESER m ...
in der (with Ulrich Quester), demolished in 2013. * 1969–1972: Lecture hall complex of the Karl-Marx-Universität Leipzig (with Ulrich Quester), redeveloped in 2007/08. * 1976–1981: Neues Gewandhaus Leipzig (with Eberhard Göschel, Volker Sieg and Winfried Sziegoleit). * 1993/1994: Lindenau Office and Service Centre in Lützner StraßeHorst Riedel: ''Stadtlexikon Leipzig von A – Z''. ''PRO''LEIPZIG, Leipzig 2005, , . * 1994–1996: Conversion and basic renovation of the
Hochschule für Musik und Theater Leipzig The University of Music and Theatre "Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy" Leipzig () is a public university in Leipzig, Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1843 by Felix Mendelssohn as the Conservatorium der Musik (Conservatory of Music), it is the oldest univ ...
. * 1996: Conversion of the Small Hall of the Gewandhaus into the Mendelssohn Hall. * 1998: Residence Inselstraße 13/15. Gewandhaus.jpg, The Neue Gewandhaus in Leipzig on Augustusplatz (2004) Bundesarchiv Bild 183-E0301-0091-001, Leipzig, Messeamt.jpg, Trade Fair Office Building, 1966, of the . Leipzig Robotron.jpg, Robotron building Leipzig (2009).


Publications

* ''Das Voigtland. Wohnhäuser und Wohnverhältnisse der Stadtarmut in der Rosenthaler Vorstadt von Berlin 1750–1850.'' Kulturbund, Berlin 1985. * ''Neues Gewandhaus Leipzig. Baugeschichte und Gegenwart eines Konzertgebäudes.'' Verlag für Bauwesen, Berlin 1985. * ''Die bauliche Entwicklung des Gewandhauses in Leipzig als Spiegelbild internationaler Entwicklungen und Tendenzen im Konzertsaalbau.'' 1986. (Habilitationsschrift) * ''
Hieronymus Lotter Hieronymus Lotter (* around 1497 in Nuremberg; † 22 July 1580 in Geyer / Ore Mountains) was a merchant and several times List of mayors of Leipzig, mayor of Leipzig, construction manager for important Landeshoheit, sovereign building projects in ...
. "Es hat mich Kurfürst Moritz zu einem Baumeister allhier gemacht"'', in: Vera Hauschild (Ed.), ''Die großen Leipziger'', Insel Verlag Frankfurt am Main / Leipzig 1996, ISBN 3-458-16780-3, pp. 35–46. * ''Die Leipziger Gewandhausbauten. Konzertgebäude im internationalen Vergleich.'' Verlag für Bauwesen, Berlin 2001, .


Awards

* 1971:
Kunstpreis der Stadt Leipzig From 1959 to 1989, the city of Leipzig awarded the Kunstpreis der Stadt Leipzig, which was given for outstanding merits in the artistic field to persons who promoted the reputation of the city beyond the region: architects, visual artists, compos ...
. * 1981:
Nationalpreis der DDR The National Prize of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) () was an award of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (GDR) given out in three different classes for scientific, artistic, and other meritorious achievement. With scien ...
II. Klasse. * 1982: Preis für Städtebau und Architektur des Bezirkes Leipzig. * 1986: Member of the
Freie Akademie der Künste Hamburg The Freie Akademie der Künste in Hamburg e.V. is a not-for-profit association of artists, founded in 1950 by the organ-builder and writer Hans Henny Jahnn. It now includes architecture, visual arts, performing arts, literature, media Media ...
(Sektion Baukunst) Hamburg.Freie Akademie der Künste in Hamburg
/ref>


Further reading

* Klaus Gallinat, Olaf W. Reimann
Skoda, Rudolf
In ' 5th edition. Volume 2. Ch. Links, Berlin 2010, .


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Skoda, Rudolf 20th-century German architects Recipients of the National Prize of East Germany 1931 births 2015 deaths Artists from Leipzig