DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45213#0108
104
The preference for white has earned Functionalist architecture the name of "white architecture".
In Germany in particular, white dominated in new housing estates. German architects were inspired
by Le Corbusier, De Stijl, and Mondrian's theory of primary colours. Mondrian interpreted blue as re-
ceding, yellow as advancing, and red as rising 259 and in his early pictures (before 1921), he employed
the primary colours subdued by white. The introduction of pure primary colours was Bert van der
Leek's greatest contribution to the philosophy of De Stijl. In architecture, the primary colours were
employed to complement white (and in some cases also grey and black) and to create a visual inter-
est against the white facade.260
Although white as the colour of choice for facades was already promoted at the Weissenhof
model housing estate presented as part of the Wohnung exhibition in Stuttgart in 1927, the first in
the series of Werbund exhibitions devoted to modern domestic architecture. Its use became wide-
spread in Germany only following the adoption of linear layout (Zeilenbauweise) for new housing
estates in 1929. Hitler's coming to power in 1933 put an end to the era of "white architecture".
Not only were white elevations intended to set apart new developments from the surrounding
old houses but they also symbolically referred to the idea of Lebensreform aimed at improving pub-
lic health through - among other things - providing new, hygienic living spaces. The Functionalists
associated white with modernity, purity, and the individual's anonymity in contemporary society. Its
growing popularity was referred to as the "white wall revolution".
It would be a mistake, however, to think that all Functionalist buildings erected during the inter-
war period subscribed to the idea of "white architecture". There was a trend in German architecture
in 1925-1930 called a "cry for colour".261 It was more keen on the Expressionist colour palette than
on working with the primary colours. Under the Weimar Republic over a million buildings received
a new colour treatment. The most spectacular and ambitious projects, intended to change the face
of German cities, were initiated by Bruno Taut in Magdeburg and Berlin, Ernst May in Silesia and
Frankfurt-am-Main and Otto Haesler in Celle.
The architects wanted to show that industrialisation was not incompatible with individuality.
Colour, applied outside and inside, became a perfect tool to emphasise the unique character of
a new housing estate. The departure from continuous development and disappearance of blind
walls meant that houses were viewed from all sides and this new aspect both called and allowed for
interesting colour design.
Bruno Taut pioneered the colour movement (Farbenbewegung) in Germany. His interest in co-
lour had already become apparent in his garden-town projects started before World War I: Reform
(1913-1930) in Magdeburg and Falkenberg in Berlin-Grunau. During the war, he continued to elabo-
rate on his ideas in publications and utopian projects which he approached as a "total work of art"
(Gesamtkunstwerk) regarding colour design an equal in importance to the arrangement of volumes.
259 Paul OVERY, De Stijl. Warszawa 1979. This interpretation of colors, although well known in the aesthetic theory of the late 19th and early 20th
century was attributed to Dutch mystic Dr. Schoenmaekersowi who influenced Mondrian.
260 Ibidem, p.67-68. The rule of relying solely on primary colours was not always strictly followed. For example, Van Doesburg introduced
green in the interior of the Aubette cinema-cum-cafe in Strasburg in 1927.
261 Wolfgang Penth authored the "cry for colour" phrase, DieArchitekturdes Expressionismus. Stuttgart 1973, p.87. After: Anna Markowska, op.cit.,
p.50.
The preference for white has earned Functionalist architecture the name of "white architecture".
In Germany in particular, white dominated in new housing estates. German architects were inspired
by Le Corbusier, De Stijl, and Mondrian's theory of primary colours. Mondrian interpreted blue as re-
ceding, yellow as advancing, and red as rising 259 and in his early pictures (before 1921), he employed
the primary colours subdued by white. The introduction of pure primary colours was Bert van der
Leek's greatest contribution to the philosophy of De Stijl. In architecture, the primary colours were
employed to complement white (and in some cases also grey and black) and to create a visual inter-
est against the white facade.260
Although white as the colour of choice for facades was already promoted at the Weissenhof
model housing estate presented as part of the Wohnung exhibition in Stuttgart in 1927, the first in
the series of Werbund exhibitions devoted to modern domestic architecture. Its use became wide-
spread in Germany only following the adoption of linear layout (Zeilenbauweise) for new housing
estates in 1929. Hitler's coming to power in 1933 put an end to the era of "white architecture".
Not only were white elevations intended to set apart new developments from the surrounding
old houses but they also symbolically referred to the idea of Lebensreform aimed at improving pub-
lic health through - among other things - providing new, hygienic living spaces. The Functionalists
associated white with modernity, purity, and the individual's anonymity in contemporary society. Its
growing popularity was referred to as the "white wall revolution".
It would be a mistake, however, to think that all Functionalist buildings erected during the inter-
war period subscribed to the idea of "white architecture". There was a trend in German architecture
in 1925-1930 called a "cry for colour".261 It was more keen on the Expressionist colour palette than
on working with the primary colours. Under the Weimar Republic over a million buildings received
a new colour treatment. The most spectacular and ambitious projects, intended to change the face
of German cities, were initiated by Bruno Taut in Magdeburg and Berlin, Ernst May in Silesia and
Frankfurt-am-Main and Otto Haesler in Celle.
The architects wanted to show that industrialisation was not incompatible with individuality.
Colour, applied outside and inside, became a perfect tool to emphasise the unique character of
a new housing estate. The departure from continuous development and disappearance of blind
walls meant that houses were viewed from all sides and this new aspect both called and allowed for
interesting colour design.
Bruno Taut pioneered the colour movement (Farbenbewegung) in Germany. His interest in co-
lour had already become apparent in his garden-town projects started before World War I: Reform
(1913-1930) in Magdeburg and Falkenberg in Berlin-Grunau. During the war, he continued to elabo-
rate on his ideas in publications and utopian projects which he approached as a "total work of art"
(Gesamtkunstwerk) regarding colour design an equal in importance to the arrangement of volumes.
259 Paul OVERY, De Stijl. Warszawa 1979. This interpretation of colors, although well known in the aesthetic theory of the late 19th and early 20th
century was attributed to Dutch mystic Dr. Schoenmaekersowi who influenced Mondrian.
260 Ibidem, p.67-68. The rule of relying solely on primary colours was not always strictly followed. For example, Van Doesburg introduced
green in the interior of the Aubette cinema-cum-cafe in Strasburg in 1927.
261 Wolfgang Penth authored the "cry for colour" phrase, DieArchitekturdes Expressionismus. Stuttgart 1973, p.87. After: Anna Markowska, op.cit.,
p.50.