The Inspiration In Progress From Tradition To Modernity

Peter Behrens was one of the fundamental pioneers in the period of transformation from tradition to modernity in architectural history. Not only many of his works exerted crucial impact on the development of early modern architecture, but more significantly, exactly during Behrens’s most successful and most creative time, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier came to his atelier in succession for work and study. It is usually noted that Behrens brought profound influence on these 3 leading architects respectively in their early years, which pushed modern architecture movement forward dramatically in future.This thesis firstly summarizes Behrens’s own architectural activities in each of his distinctive times and their connections with the three leading architects. Then it in turn analyses Behrens’s impact on each architect in his formative years based on selected topics. And in final, based on conclusion of the previous research, the thesis reveals Behrens’s own limitation and the progress made by the three leading architects over Behrens.