Untitled (Architecture of the Breuninger Building) c. 1950 - 1960

Curator: This striking photograph, currently held at the Harvard Art Museums, is titled "Untitled (Architecture of the Breuninger Building)" by Adolf Lazi. Editor: It feels almost oppressive, this mass of stone and glass. The high contrast really emphasizes the weight of the materials. Curator: Absolutely. The building itself, the Breuninger department store, was a symbol of post-war reconstruction and consumerism in Germany. Lazi's image captures the monumentality of that ambition, doesn't it? Editor: It does. The material choices—stone, glass, steel—speak to a certain kind of power and wealth, and the labor involved in their extraction and fabrication. Curator: And that façade, that seemingly endless grid of windows, hints at the structures of labor and commerce housed within. Who benefits from this architecture? Who is excluded? Editor: It prompts questions about the social impact of this kind of massive structure and the values it represents. Curator: Indeed. The photograph allows us to examine the complex relationships between architecture, commerce, and social structures. Editor: A powerful reminder that even the most seemingly neutral materials carry ideological weight.