The AEG Turbine Factory in Berlin, designed by the architect Peter Behrens (1868–1940) in collaboration with the building engineer Karl Bernhard (1859–1937), represents a milestone in the development of modern industrial architecture. Built in just a few months in 1909 in glass, iron, and concrete as an enormous modern industrial production space – the largest iron construction in Berlin at the time, with an enclosed volume of around 150,000 cubic meters uninterrupted by internal supports – today, more than a hundred years later, it still fulfills its original function, the assembly of large industrial turbines. The Turbine Factory has long been hailed as representing the integration of industrial building types and modern construction methods and materials into the tradition of architecture, and an artistic elevation of the modern workplace and the world of industry into the realm of culture. The Turbine Factory constitutes an attempt of reconciling the modern disciplines of architecture and engineering – or, as Behrens would put it, creating a new unity between art and technology – and one of its historical achievements is that it marks a new beginning in artists’ and architects’ engagement with the sites and products of modern industry in the early twentieth century.
AEG Turbine Factory is an influential and pioneering industrial architecture with forceful bold statements of “stripped classicism”. The classical Greek temple form and a giant concrete panel facade create a visual massiveness which symbolize the industrial power and stability. The steel columns and the profile of roof truss are directly expressed without ornament. Its 100m long and 15m tall glass wall and skylight is also a revolutionary feature at that time.
Behrens was given a unique opportunity in 1908 with the design for the new AEG turbine factory. Never before had anyone attempted to develop a dedicated architectural style for factory buildings. Previously, in line with the prevailing artistic taste of the German Empire, architects had designed historicising façades for industrial buildings.
Behrens’ turbine factory was a prototype. A steel skeleton supported the building and the façades were filled with glass, making the hall appear bright and transparent. Natural light was supposed to increase labour productivity and – as Walter Gropius put it – motivate workers to participate “more joyously in the achievement of great common goals”.
On its completion in 1909, the turbine factory was considered extremely modern. But if you first take a look at the façade from the front, you will see that Behrens and AEG did not completely renounce the tastes of the times. Although distinctly weighty, they have no load-bearing function as they are only exterior cladding and purely for show. Contemporaries understood the sacral allusion and referred to it as the “machine cathedral”.
The side façade of the turbine factory, however, is completely different and extremely modern. The construction hides nothing, enabling you to see the steel girders and their joints. The glass façade tilts slightly inwards as it follows the pillars, which appealed to the chief construction engineer, Karl Bernhard, and observers can see the actual façade.
Karl Bernhard remains underrated to this day. He not only executed Behrens’s ingenious design, but was also heavily involved in it. However, when it came to AEG’s public image and public perception, the focus remained on Peter Behrens: the famous artist-cum-architect overshadowed the engineer.

Regardless who contributed more to the design, the impact of the turbine factory on architectural history cannot be overstated. It gave industrial production a characteristic element of style. It didn’t hide behind pseudo-historical façades but enabled its functions to be seen by all.
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AEG Turbine Factory by Peter Behrens | Architecture Enthusiast |
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