DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45213#0102
98
swesen (State Research Society for Cost Efficiency in Building and Housing) was a government
agency established to stimulate and finance research on rational planning and support model
housing developments.244 Members of the Rfg's architects who tried to implement its guidelines
in their own designs were distinguished.245 The Rfg worked to define optimal layouts for new
developments, standardize the sizes of apartments and outline the most functional floor plans.
It strove to implement new building materials and technologies as well as structural solutions
that would reduce construction costs. It also aimed to improve hygienic conditions by ensuring
adequate light and airthrough the advantageous alignment of the buildings. Hence, the Rfg's in-
terest in linear layout which ensured the preponderance of buildings aligned east to west. When
this was impossible, gallery-access blocks of flats were recommended, with living rooms and
bedrooms facing south and kitchens and bathrooms with northern exposure. The competition
for the design of the Reichsforschungssiedlung Spandau-Haselhorst in 1929 was intended to test
linear layout as well as room arrangements and the illumination of flats aligned east to west.
Eventually the Rfg developed guidelines defining the optimal standard size of the apartment
in relation to the size of the family: 45 m2, 57 m2, 70 m2.246 In experimental housing estates, flats
of various size and floor plans were tested with regard to their functionality.247 In the Werkbund
model estates the small- and medium-sized living units often followed the Rfg guidelines.
The Rfg's activity also influenced a number of housing estates in Germany that were not un-
der the organisation's direct supervision. Oftentimes they were designed by architects who ac-
cepted the Rfg guidelines; some were the organisation's members and felt obliged to implement
its programme. The Ksi^ze Male (Klein Tschansch) estate in Wroclaw may serve as an example. It
was co-designed by Gustav Wolf, an Rfg member, who defined the criteria for a rational flat: "for
every person, a separate bed; for every family, a private bathroom; reduction of the space used
244 Wanda Kononowicz, 'Ewolucja osiedla../, p. 455. The Rfg was involved in the following model estates: Torten in Dessau (1927), Weis-
senhof in Stuttgart (1927), Spandau-Haselhorst in Berlin (1928), Dammerstock in Karlsruhe (1929), WUWA in Wroclaw (1929). Walter Gropius
(Principal ofthe Bauhaus and Vice-President ofthe Rfg) erected the Torten estate in Dessau, one of the first underthe auspices ofthe Rfg,
which subsidised the project with the sum of 360 000 marks.
245 Ibidem, p. 254-255,460,471; Trotzdem modem. Diewichtigsten TextezurArchitektur in Detschland 1919-1933, ed. Kristiana Hartmann, Wies-
baden 1994, p. 46. The Rfg was founded on December 14th 1926, its charter formulated by September 10th 1927, registered on January 21s5
1928, dissolved on June 5th 1931. Its first year budget reached 10 million marks to finance a research program focused on cost-efficiency
in building and housing. Similar programs had been conducted earlier by commissions ofthe Reichstag. The Rfg headquarters in Berlin
were supervised by the Ministry of Labour (Reichsarbeitministerium). The Rfg members in Wroclaw were: Gustav Wolf (Principal of the
Municipal School of Handicrafts and Decorative Arts, co-author of the WUWA exhibition and estate; the Rfg expert in matters related to
the size and layouts of flats and housing types: Ausschus 4 - Wohnungsgrossen, Wohnformen, Wohnungs und Haustypen); Professor
Adolf Rading (Academy of Fine and Decorative Arts, involved in the WUWA project), Dr. Martin Fuchs, Dr. Eng. Hugo Althoff (Baurat), Fritz
Behrendt (Stadtbaurat), Dr. Hans Pfeffer (co-owner of Schlesische Bau- Aktiengeselischaft, Pfeffer, Pringsheim & Co, the company that built
the Ksigze Male estate).
246 Wanda Kononowicz, 'Ewolucja osiedla...',, p. 457. See: Christine Nielsen, 'Die Versuchsiediung...', p. 27.
242 Ibidem, Wanda Kononowicz, 'Ewolucja osiedla...', p. 456-457. Aleksander Klein conducted research concerning functional layouts for
small flats for the Rfg.
swesen (State Research Society for Cost Efficiency in Building and Housing) was a government
agency established to stimulate and finance research on rational planning and support model
housing developments.244 Members of the Rfg's architects who tried to implement its guidelines
in their own designs were distinguished.245 The Rfg worked to define optimal layouts for new
developments, standardize the sizes of apartments and outline the most functional floor plans.
It strove to implement new building materials and technologies as well as structural solutions
that would reduce construction costs. It also aimed to improve hygienic conditions by ensuring
adequate light and airthrough the advantageous alignment of the buildings. Hence, the Rfg's in-
terest in linear layout which ensured the preponderance of buildings aligned east to west. When
this was impossible, gallery-access blocks of flats were recommended, with living rooms and
bedrooms facing south and kitchens and bathrooms with northern exposure. The competition
for the design of the Reichsforschungssiedlung Spandau-Haselhorst in 1929 was intended to test
linear layout as well as room arrangements and the illumination of flats aligned east to west.
Eventually the Rfg developed guidelines defining the optimal standard size of the apartment
in relation to the size of the family: 45 m2, 57 m2, 70 m2.246 In experimental housing estates, flats
of various size and floor plans were tested with regard to their functionality.247 In the Werkbund
model estates the small- and medium-sized living units often followed the Rfg guidelines.
The Rfg's activity also influenced a number of housing estates in Germany that were not un-
der the organisation's direct supervision. Oftentimes they were designed by architects who ac-
cepted the Rfg guidelines; some were the organisation's members and felt obliged to implement
its programme. The Ksi^ze Male (Klein Tschansch) estate in Wroclaw may serve as an example. It
was co-designed by Gustav Wolf, an Rfg member, who defined the criteria for a rational flat: "for
every person, a separate bed; for every family, a private bathroom; reduction of the space used
244 Wanda Kononowicz, 'Ewolucja osiedla../, p. 455. The Rfg was involved in the following model estates: Torten in Dessau (1927), Weis-
senhof in Stuttgart (1927), Spandau-Haselhorst in Berlin (1928), Dammerstock in Karlsruhe (1929), WUWA in Wroclaw (1929). Walter Gropius
(Principal ofthe Bauhaus and Vice-President ofthe Rfg) erected the Torten estate in Dessau, one of the first underthe auspices ofthe Rfg,
which subsidised the project with the sum of 360 000 marks.
245 Ibidem, p. 254-255,460,471; Trotzdem modem. Diewichtigsten TextezurArchitektur in Detschland 1919-1933, ed. Kristiana Hartmann, Wies-
baden 1994, p. 46. The Rfg was founded on December 14th 1926, its charter formulated by September 10th 1927, registered on January 21s5
1928, dissolved on June 5th 1931. Its first year budget reached 10 million marks to finance a research program focused on cost-efficiency
in building and housing. Similar programs had been conducted earlier by commissions ofthe Reichstag. The Rfg headquarters in Berlin
were supervised by the Ministry of Labour (Reichsarbeitministerium). The Rfg members in Wroclaw were: Gustav Wolf (Principal of the
Municipal School of Handicrafts and Decorative Arts, co-author of the WUWA exhibition and estate; the Rfg expert in matters related to
the size and layouts of flats and housing types: Ausschus 4 - Wohnungsgrossen, Wohnformen, Wohnungs und Haustypen); Professor
Adolf Rading (Academy of Fine and Decorative Arts, involved in the WUWA project), Dr. Martin Fuchs, Dr. Eng. Hugo Althoff (Baurat), Fritz
Behrendt (Stadtbaurat), Dr. Hans Pfeffer (co-owner of Schlesische Bau- Aktiengeselischaft, Pfeffer, Pringsheim & Co, the company that built
the Ksigze Male estate).
246 Wanda Kononowicz, 'Ewolucja osiedla...',, p. 457. See: Christine Nielsen, 'Die Versuchsiediung...', p. 27.
242 Ibidem, Wanda Kononowicz, 'Ewolucja osiedla...', p. 456-457. Aleksander Klein conducted research concerning functional layouts for
small flats for the Rfg.