“Stop to consider this striking 1925 drawing, a detailed aerial vision of a future Berlin. It captures the ambition and stark geometry of modernist urban planning, presenting a city of towering structures and precise order.”
This dramatic aerial perspective plunges us into a vision of modern urban living, a "Mixed Height Housing Development" in Berlin. The drawing, made in pen and black ink, presents a dense, almost overwhelming grid of buildings, some soaring to great heights, others more modest. It's an imagined future, a proposal for how a city could grow, emphasizing both efficiency and a sense of ordered grandeur. The meticulous lines capture the stark geometry of the architecture, suggesting a world built on rational planning and ambition. The absence of people makes the structures themselves the main characters, towering and silent, hinting at both the promise and the potential impersonality of such rapid urban expansion. This work, created in 1925, reflects the powerful currents of modernism and a fascination with new forms of architecture during the interwar period.
- Artist
- Karl Heffner
- Date
- 1925
- Medium
- Pen and black ink on cream wove paper
- Location
- Art Institute of Chicago
- Dimensions
- 30.2 × 65.4 cm (11 7/8 × 25 3/4 in.)
- Collection
- Architecture and Design
- Culture
- Berlin
- Credit line
- Gift of George E. Danforth
What to Notice
Four details hide in plain sight. Here’s where to look.

The intricate network of streets and blocks, all rendered with precise ink lines.
The varying heights of the buildings, creating a dynamic skyline.
The way light and shadow define the architectural forms and depth.
The complete absence of human figures, emphasizing the structures themselves.
Stand in front of it and listen
The full narration walks you through Mixed Height Housing Development (Mischbebauung), Berlin, Germany, Aerial Perspective — the story behind it, the details most visitors miss, and why it matters. Free in the Art Whisper app.
Karl Heffner
1849–1925 · GermanyKarl Heffner was a German landscape painter known for atmospheric, softly lit river and twilight scenes in the tradition of Corot and the Barbizon school.
Further Works by Heffner
Two Girls in a Garden
1914 · Art Institute of Chicago
Back Teria One Oh! One
Art Institute of Chicago
Macy's Jet Set
Art Institute of Chicago
Screamin' Jay Hawkins
Art Institute of Chicago
You Scratch My Back and I'll Scratch Yours
Art Institute of Chicago
The Embrace
1918 · Art Institute of Chicago
Portrait of a Woman
1868 · Art Institute of Chicago
Carnival Figures
1919 · Art Institute of Chicago
More works to explore
Beyond Heffner: works from the same years.
Same era · 1910s–1940s
Lozenge Composition with Yellow, Black, Blue, Red, and Gray
Piet Mondrian · 1921 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1910s–1940s
Memories of the Past
Ivan Puni · 1927 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1910s–1940s
Straße mit Passanten bei Nachtbeleuchtung
Ernst Ludwig Kirchner · 1927 · Museum Frieder Burda
Same era · 1910s–1940s
American Gothic
Okada Saburosuke · 1930 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1910s–1940s
Bull's Head
Mikhail Larionov · 1913 · Tretyakov Gallery
Same era · 1910s–1940s
Still Life with Fragments
Paul Klee · 1925 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1910s–1940s
The Blue Forest
Max Ernst · 1925 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1910s–1940s
Lemons on a Pewter Plate
Henri Matisse · 1926 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1910s–1940s
The Circus Rider
Marc Chagall · 1927 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1910s–1940s
The Fiddler
Norman Rockwell · 1921 · Brandywine Museum of Art
Same era · 1910s–1940s
Abstraction: Background with Blue Cloudy Sky
Pablo Picasso · 1930 · Art Institute of Chicago
Same era · 1910s–1940s
American Gothic
Grant Wood · 1930 · Art Institute of Chicago
