DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45213#0029
Europe architects addressed the issue but it was Germany that assumed the lead. Aimed at the reduc-
tion of construction costs per housing unit, the architects developed standardised layouts to make
a more rational distribution of available space. The simplest way to achieve this was to limit the size
of an individual flat and thus the concept of "Existenzminimum" whose aim was to reduce the size
of each room as much as possible without impairing its basic function, was born. Dutch architects in
particular became specialists in this area (Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud, Mart Stam and others). Re-
search was done on the ergonomics of the living space. The kitchen underwent a particularly drastic
metamorphosis. The famous Frankfurt Kitchen was designed.96 Expansive new housing estates were
built in cities like Berlin and Frankfurt-am-Mein; the latter city became a real testing ground for the
architect Ernst May. From 1918 through to 1928 about 165 000 new flats were built in Germany. The
housing estates developed in the Weimar Republic became an example for the rest of Europe.97 In
1926 a national research institution, called Reichsforschungsgesellschaft fur Wirtschaftlichkeit im
Bau- und Wohnungwesen (Rfg; Imperial Research Society for Cost-Efficiency in Building and Hous-
ing), was founded to develop optimal housing solutions, organise and finance relevant research and
support the development of modern housing estates.
New demands on architects and designers resulted in an emerging need to modify educational
programmes. In 1919, Walter Gropius established the famous Bauhaus school in Weimar whose un-
derlying idea was to build a healthy foundation for new architecture by uniting art and industrial
production. Gropius refered to the Werbund's ideas and the school's curriculum as their logical con-
tinuation. The Werkbund and the Bauhaus seemed to have the same objective although their par-
ticular approaches may have differed slightly.
Explaining the underlying theoretical idea of the Bauhaus and its organisational principles, in
1923 Gropius declared: "Over the last generations architecture has become [...] decorative. In its dec-
adence [...] it has lost connection with new materials and technologies [...]. We want to create bright
organic architecture [...]. We want architecture adapted to our world of machinery, radio and fast
cars - architecture goverened by a transparent and functional approach to forms."98 Hans Meyer,
who succeeded Gropius as director of the Bauhaus, insisted that "Architecture means a well thought-
through organisation of life processes."99
The most radical and visible changes concerned architecture, urban planning and industrial de-
sign as directly related to everyday life. Almost all European countries witnessed an "architectural
revolution" based on social and political movements, particularly leftist, in Germany and the Soviet
Union. Architecture ceased to serve the rich minority and started to cater to the masses owing their
new importance to rapid industrialisation. Social concerns were addressed by the majority of Euro-
pean avant-garde architects.
Located far from the main centres of Neues Bauen (New Architecture), Wroclaw (Breslau) ac-
tively participated in current developments. Under the leadership of its successive distinguished
96 Neues Bauen, neues Gestalten. Das neue Frankfurt, die neue stadt - eineZeitschriftzwischen 1926 und 1933, ed. Heinz Hirdina, Dresden 1984, p.181.
The Frankfurt Kitchen was designed by Margarete Schutte-Lichotzky in 1926.
97 Wanda KONONOWICZ, 'Wroclaw - Kierunki rozwoju urbanistycznego...', p.8. See also. Helena SYRKUS, Spolecznecele..., p.141.
98 PrzemyslawTRZECIAK, Przygody architektury XX wieku. Warszawa 1984, p.143.
25
99 Ibidem, p.149.
tion of construction costs per housing unit, the architects developed standardised layouts to make
a more rational distribution of available space. The simplest way to achieve this was to limit the size
of an individual flat and thus the concept of "Existenzminimum" whose aim was to reduce the size
of each room as much as possible without impairing its basic function, was born. Dutch architects in
particular became specialists in this area (Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud, Mart Stam and others). Re-
search was done on the ergonomics of the living space. The kitchen underwent a particularly drastic
metamorphosis. The famous Frankfurt Kitchen was designed.96 Expansive new housing estates were
built in cities like Berlin and Frankfurt-am-Mein; the latter city became a real testing ground for the
architect Ernst May. From 1918 through to 1928 about 165 000 new flats were built in Germany. The
housing estates developed in the Weimar Republic became an example for the rest of Europe.97 In
1926 a national research institution, called Reichsforschungsgesellschaft fur Wirtschaftlichkeit im
Bau- und Wohnungwesen (Rfg; Imperial Research Society for Cost-Efficiency in Building and Hous-
ing), was founded to develop optimal housing solutions, organise and finance relevant research and
support the development of modern housing estates.
New demands on architects and designers resulted in an emerging need to modify educational
programmes. In 1919, Walter Gropius established the famous Bauhaus school in Weimar whose un-
derlying idea was to build a healthy foundation for new architecture by uniting art and industrial
production. Gropius refered to the Werbund's ideas and the school's curriculum as their logical con-
tinuation. The Werkbund and the Bauhaus seemed to have the same objective although their par-
ticular approaches may have differed slightly.
Explaining the underlying theoretical idea of the Bauhaus and its organisational principles, in
1923 Gropius declared: "Over the last generations architecture has become [...] decorative. In its dec-
adence [...] it has lost connection with new materials and technologies [...]. We want to create bright
organic architecture [...]. We want architecture adapted to our world of machinery, radio and fast
cars - architecture goverened by a transparent and functional approach to forms."98 Hans Meyer,
who succeeded Gropius as director of the Bauhaus, insisted that "Architecture means a well thought-
through organisation of life processes."99
The most radical and visible changes concerned architecture, urban planning and industrial de-
sign as directly related to everyday life. Almost all European countries witnessed an "architectural
revolution" based on social and political movements, particularly leftist, in Germany and the Soviet
Union. Architecture ceased to serve the rich minority and started to cater to the masses owing their
new importance to rapid industrialisation. Social concerns were addressed by the majority of Euro-
pean avant-garde architects.
Located far from the main centres of Neues Bauen (New Architecture), Wroclaw (Breslau) ac-
tively participated in current developments. Under the leadership of its successive distinguished
96 Neues Bauen, neues Gestalten. Das neue Frankfurt, die neue stadt - eineZeitschriftzwischen 1926 und 1933, ed. Heinz Hirdina, Dresden 1984, p.181.
The Frankfurt Kitchen was designed by Margarete Schutte-Lichotzky in 1926.
97 Wanda KONONOWICZ, 'Wroclaw - Kierunki rozwoju urbanistycznego...', p.8. See also. Helena SYRKUS, Spolecznecele..., p.141.
98 PrzemyslawTRZECIAK, Przygody architektury XX wieku. Warszawa 1984, p.143.
25
99 Ibidem, p.149.