DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45213#0011
Foreword
7
The year 2009 is marked by the eightieth anniversary of an unusual event - the construction of an
experimental housing estate built as part of the Wohnung und Werkraum (Living and Work Space)
exhibition in 1929 in Wroclaw (Breslau). The project was under the auspices of the Silesian section
of the German Werkbund, an organisation which played an instrumental role in promoting modern
architecture. The exhibition became a major event reviewed and commented upon not only in Ger-
many but also in most European countries and the United States.
The WUWA housing estate in Wroclaw is an excellent example of the new architectural trends of the
late 1920s, the final years of the Weimar Republic. It is Germany where an influential movement for
modern housing estates emerged, embodying the spirit of the Golden Twenties (Goldene Zwanziger
Jahre). It was here that innovative solutions were proposed and meant to inspire similar projects in
other European countries.
The 1920's and early 1930's were an exceptional period in the city's development stimulated by
a fruitful collaboration between the local group of innovative architects and municipal authorities
The city was perceived as a unique place on the map of Europe, a hub for new solutions to the hous-
ing problem. The first master plan was prepared in 1924, new planning regulations were implement-
ed in 1926 and the city's administrative area was greatly extended in 1928 through the incorporation
of suburban communes.
In the 1920s, Wroclaw became a testing ground for forward-thinking architects with the local Acad-
emy of Arts (Kunstakademie) playing a seminal role. It was here that the likes of Adolf Rading and
Hans Scharoun had taught. In 1903-1932, the Academy's distinguished successive directors - Hans
Poelzig, August Endell and Oskar Moll - implemented a progressive curriculum reform that would
later earn it the name of "a Bauhaus before the Bauhaus". Among its faculty were such outstanding
7
The year 2009 is marked by the eightieth anniversary of an unusual event - the construction of an
experimental housing estate built as part of the Wohnung und Werkraum (Living and Work Space)
exhibition in 1929 in Wroclaw (Breslau). The project was under the auspices of the Silesian section
of the German Werkbund, an organisation which played an instrumental role in promoting modern
architecture. The exhibition became a major event reviewed and commented upon not only in Ger-
many but also in most European countries and the United States.
The WUWA housing estate in Wroclaw is an excellent example of the new architectural trends of the
late 1920s, the final years of the Weimar Republic. It is Germany where an influential movement for
modern housing estates emerged, embodying the spirit of the Golden Twenties (Goldene Zwanziger
Jahre). It was here that innovative solutions were proposed and meant to inspire similar projects in
other European countries.
The 1920's and early 1930's were an exceptional period in the city's development stimulated by
a fruitful collaboration between the local group of innovative architects and municipal authorities
The city was perceived as a unique place on the map of Europe, a hub for new solutions to the hous-
ing problem. The first master plan was prepared in 1924, new planning regulations were implement-
ed in 1926 and the city's administrative area was greatly extended in 1928 through the incorporation
of suburban communes.
In the 1920s, Wroclaw became a testing ground for forward-thinking architects with the local Acad-
emy of Arts (Kunstakademie) playing a seminal role. It was here that the likes of Adolf Rading and
Hans Scharoun had taught. In 1903-1932, the Academy's distinguished successive directors - Hans
Poelzig, August Endell and Oskar Moll - implemented a progressive curriculum reform that would
later earn it the name of "a Bauhaus before the Bauhaus". Among its faculty were such outstanding