Speicherstadt and Kontorhaus District with Chilehaus

Speicherstadt is easiest to understand as warehouse architecture. The brick blocks, canals, bridges, loading doors, and hoist openings were built for storing and moving goods in the free port. The repeated forms come from the work the buildings had to do: storage floors, water access, and hoists.

The Kontorhaus district is where the port businesses kept their offices. Shipping firms, insurers, import and export companies, and clerks needed large buildings close to the warehouses and harbor. Chilehaus is the one to look at: a commercial office block turned into Brick Expressionism, with a sharp prow-like corner and patterned brick.