DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45213#0033
Werkbund’s model housing estates
29
In the late 1920's, the focus of those working on modern housing developments shifted to indus-
trially processed materials and rational construction. In 1927, President of the German Werkbund
Dr. Peter Bruckmann declared that the organisation's prime objective was to work in harmony with
the spirit of the times.108 In the period between the two World Wars, the Werkbund faced a difficult
task of developing cheap and affordable housing solutions. Prior to World War I, the construction
sector showed only a limited interest in housing for the masses. Now, the Werkbund's task was not
only to assess housing needs in terms of quantity but also to address quality issues and analyse the
shortcomings of developments built during the preceding period.
New tendencies in housing in the 1920's and 1930's were showcased in a number of topical
exhibitions. The Werkbund's model housing estates, exploring function, formal, and technological
aspects of Modernist architecture played an exceptionally important role in the history of the mod-
ern living space. They were built to test the new architecture's functional premises, explore new pos-
sibilities in affordable housing and present new types of small, inexpensive houses and apartments.
The architect's analytical attention focused on new layouts departing from traditional models and
the search for optimal and economical building materials and structural solutions. The objective was
to maximise the effect while reducing the individual apartment's size and cost. A similarly rational
and analytical approach was also being applied to interior design.
The Werkbund model housing estates displayed regional and national differences and each one
reflected the current situation in the Werkbund itself. They were built during the period of 1927-1932
which saw a slide from prosperity into poverty. Not everywhere were the architects given the same
108 Dietrich W. SCHMIDT, Historia, mi^dzynarodoweznaczenie...
29
In the late 1920's, the focus of those working on modern housing developments shifted to indus-
trially processed materials and rational construction. In 1927, President of the German Werkbund
Dr. Peter Bruckmann declared that the organisation's prime objective was to work in harmony with
the spirit of the times.108 In the period between the two World Wars, the Werkbund faced a difficult
task of developing cheap and affordable housing solutions. Prior to World War I, the construction
sector showed only a limited interest in housing for the masses. Now, the Werkbund's task was not
only to assess housing needs in terms of quantity but also to address quality issues and analyse the
shortcomings of developments built during the preceding period.
New tendencies in housing in the 1920's and 1930's were showcased in a number of topical
exhibitions. The Werkbund's model housing estates, exploring function, formal, and technological
aspects of Modernist architecture played an exceptionally important role in the history of the mod-
ern living space. They were built to test the new architecture's functional premises, explore new pos-
sibilities in affordable housing and present new types of small, inexpensive houses and apartments.
The architect's analytical attention focused on new layouts departing from traditional models and
the search for optimal and economical building materials and structural solutions. The objective was
to maximise the effect while reducing the individual apartment's size and cost. A similarly rational
and analytical approach was also being applied to interior design.
The Werkbund model housing estates displayed regional and national differences and each one
reflected the current situation in the Werkbund itself. They were built during the period of 1927-1932
which saw a slide from prosperity into poverty. Not everywhere were the architects given the same
108 Dietrich W. SCHMIDT, Historia, mi^dzynarodoweznaczenie...