DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45213#0085
New tendencies in domestic architecture
in Europe in the 1920’s and 1930’s
81
In orderto appreciate the significance of the WUWA model housing estate and its innovative charac-
ter, one has to look at the new trends that emerged in domestic architecture and living space design
in the 1920's and 1930's.
During the two decades separating the two World Wars, the ground breaking idea that it is
social context, consumer needs and technological progress that must be recognised as the essen-
tial factors determining architectural developments, comes to the fore. The period after World War
I brought important changes in the sources of commissions for architects and many faced new de-
mands as they started to design for anonymous clients.
Germany in particular, more than any other European country, saw the spreading of new trends
in architecture. Szczesny Rutkowski's list of the principal tendencies influencing new developments
hints at underlying tensions:"[...] reflecting the epoch's aspirations, crystallising them in spatial form,
purposeful focus on the utilitarian and economical, dynamism, social responsibilities of architects,
mass production, normalisation, rationality, functionalism, and constructivism."188
188 Szczesny RUTKOWSKI, op.cit., p.107. He writes that in Germany '"several young' architects and theorists of art became interested in modern
Dutch and American architectural, books by Le Corbusier (...) and formulated 'quite obscure' but impressive categorical imperatives. The archi-
tectural style referred to as Constructivism or Rationalism spread in Germany quicker 'than in' any other country."
in Europe in the 1920’s and 1930’s
81
In orderto appreciate the significance of the WUWA model housing estate and its innovative charac-
ter, one has to look at the new trends that emerged in domestic architecture and living space design
in the 1920's and 1930's.
During the two decades separating the two World Wars, the ground breaking idea that it is
social context, consumer needs and technological progress that must be recognised as the essen-
tial factors determining architectural developments, comes to the fore. The period after World War
I brought important changes in the sources of commissions for architects and many faced new de-
mands as they started to design for anonymous clients.
Germany in particular, more than any other European country, saw the spreading of new trends
in architecture. Szczesny Rutkowski's list of the principal tendencies influencing new developments
hints at underlying tensions:"[...] reflecting the epoch's aspirations, crystallising them in spatial form,
purposeful focus on the utilitarian and economical, dynamism, social responsibilities of architects,
mass production, normalisation, rationality, functionalism, and constructivism."188
188 Szczesny RUTKOWSKI, op.cit., p.107. He writes that in Germany '"several young' architects and theorists of art became interested in modern
Dutch and American architectural, books by Le Corbusier (...) and formulated 'quite obscure' but impressive categorical imperatives. The archi-
tectural style referred to as Constructivism or Rationalism spread in Germany quicker 'than in' any other country."