Reconcilable differences

Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus (1970, Bernhard Pfau), Düsseldorf, Germany. Photo by Joe Shoe.

Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus. Photo by Wuppertaler.

Few Modernist architects were as diametrically opposed in design philosophy and building technique as Le Corbusier and Frank Lloyd Wright. Corbu conceived architecture as the generator of a "machine for living," sculpting its forms in concrete as an economical alternative to stone and an affordable medium of mass production.

Guggenheim Museum (1959, Frank Lloyd Wright), New York. Photo by Ajay Suresh.

Wright, however, shaped his later designs to reflect nature's forms, contours and substances, tapping into the natural resources of his building materials to exhibit nature's power to improve the way we live, create memorable living spaces, and show all nature offers us. His Guggenheim Museum in New York, for instance, draws on the helix of the nautilus shell to create a curvilinear continuity in the viewing of art inside.

These opposing forces find a surprisingly happy medium in Germany's Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus – or D'HAUS for short. Built in 1970 from a Modernist design by Bernhard Mathäus Pfau, it is the largest spoken-word theatre in Germany's North Rhine-Westphalia region.

Photo by Christoph Schroeter.

Which gives it ample space for its 50-strong ensemble of thespians and 350 "tech" people – set designers and builders, lighting designers and technicians, costume designers, makeup specialists – presenting about 900 productions annually, which the vast, fluid open-concept spaces make possible due to the ingenious design principles of the two master builders Pfau drew on.

Villa Savoye (1930, Le Corbusier), Poissy, France. Photo by Valueyou (talk)

Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus from above. Photo by Sebastian Hoppe.

The concrete sculpture and ground-floor piloti support of Corbu's Villa Savoye in France and the dramatic swirls, curved corners and stacked levels of Wright's Guggenheim Museum work wonders together to form a building that serves as a monument to the drama – and the space – we're about to experience inside.

Looking into the lobby of the Schauspielhaus. Photo by Marcin Otulak.

As in Corbu's Villa Savoye, the pilotis create an open-shelter first floor that gives us a sneak preview of the structural drama in store for us as we walk into the lobby. The first floor also shelters us from the elements, as the union between inside and outside that both Corbu and Wright sought in architecture, in their own ways.

Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus interior. Photo by Marcin Otulak.

The exposed concrete structural members in the lobby themselves are a sight to be seen, as if organically bursting out of their supporting column of origin like the branches of a tree. Wrightian nature-based organicity and columnar support and Corbusian concrete construction work in concert to create an open-concept space that doesn't depend on a lot of columns to support itself.

Schauspielhaus, Düsseldorf, reception area. Photo by Sebastian Hoppe.

In fact, the explosion of concrete ribs – derivative of rib-vaulting in a Gothic cathedral – expresses both the drama in the theater and the festive movement of the guests as they mill around and chat at intermission or before or after a performance. The motion of architecture and the motion of its users form a dramatic harmony in the space.

Photo by Marco Susani.

Corbu's pilotis and Wright's organic columns also cooperate to form a far-reaching continuity of space (as the façade's exterior curves freely express) by distributing their load-bearing capacities far and wide, each fulfilling a proper role in load distribution where necessary. This frees up ramps and stairs to usher minimally obstructed user passage from one level to another.

Photo by Robert Gassenhofer.

Photo by Kira.

Note how the polarity between Corbu's pilotis and Wright's organic columns resolves itself in a yin-yang harmony of proper weight distribution. 

This allows for more and longer ramps, stairs and mezzanines to lead guests toward the many different theaters in the complex, while allowing for crowd overflow for each of them, in a ubiquitous dance of curvilinearity that parallels the terpsichorean delight of the performances themselves. 

This open-ended, open-concept layout also grants the guests maximum visibility of the complex as a whole, so that the stairs, the ramps, and the spaces they create serve as a visual map from one destination to another. 

The soft lighting, the red-orange carpeting, and the paneling cooperate to create a serene space that is easy on the eyes, to ease guests into the darkened theater, or to help them adjust to the light after a performance. 

The lighting is also theatrically festive, exhilarating audiences with a "Broadway lights" effect.

Photo by Hplar Gillih.

On that note, let's raise a glass and drink a toast to the two master builders who, in a way, made the success of the Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus possible, through a posthumous reconciliation of their design differences. 

As much of an organic sculpture as it is a machine for living, these normally opposing forces together created a dramatic visual tension in the building that physically embodies the drama presented inside, as well as the drama of audience excitement at seeing a new production and having a lot to say about it afterward.

A toast to Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Bernhard Pfau!

Thank you for visiting. I welcome your comments!

Sources:

"Düsseldorf Playhouse," Theater der Zeit, https://tdz.de/spielort/duesseldorfer-schauspielhaus

"Düsseldorfer Schauspielhaus," Wikipedia, last edited on 18 March 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%BCsseldorfer_Schauspielhaus

"Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum," Wikipedia, last edited on 15 October 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_R._Guggenheim_Museum

"Villa Savoye," Wikipedia, last edited on 19 July 2026, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villa_Savoye