What the work is
AEG appointed Peter Behrens as an artistic consultant in 1907. His work for the electrical company extended across its logotype, publicity, products and industrial buildings.
How it was made
The scope joined graphic and industrial design with architecture. The 1909 turbine factory in Berlin was part of a wider relationship with the company, rather than a standalone architectural commission detached from its public identity.
What works
The programme makes corporate identity tangible at several scales. A printed mark, an appliance and a factory can all shape how an organisation is understood, even though their practical requirements differ.
What does not
A broad design remit does not mean every object shares one form. Behrens’s buildings responded to different settings, so the programme is better examined through relationships and decisions than reduced to a uniform visual formula.
What it influenced
Behrens’s AEG work became an early landmark in coordinated corporate design. His practice also employed figures including Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier, placing the office within a wider architectural network.
Is it worth your time
Worth studying for the scope of identity work. Compare a graphic application, product and building, and identify which values connect them. Consistency can operate through purpose and treatment as well as repeated shapes.
