DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45213#0158
158
ing: hostel for single people and newly-wed couples (No. 31).350 The architect insisted that the rapid
development of large urban agglomerations brought the need to expand beyond the traditional
types of flats: "The modern city requires diverse housing solutions. Between the opposite poles of
the detached house and the hotel, between an adobe for the settled and a shelter for the nomads,
it is where I come."351 Scharoun's building represented an innovative approach, in terms of designa-
tion, form and construction methods. His hostel for singles and newly-wed couples represented
a new, hitherto unheard of, function. A contemporary commentator observed: "There is a gap in
the thinking of housing needs: no suitable flats for an unmarried working woman or man; childless
couples find themselves in a likewise difficult situation. For this group of people there is only a fur-
nished or unfurnished room for rent in a larger flat." 352 Scharoun designed a hotel-type building for
this new category of residents. He declared: "The hotel has been discovered as a form of living char-
acteristic of the anonymity of the modern city. The hotel residentfeels like a citizen of the world.This
gets reflected in its architecture: the elegance of the hotel lobby and its street-like corridors are more
important than the rows of small flats. I would like to redress the balance between the formality of
architecture, its external appearance, and the flat's functionalism while maintaining the residents'
anonymity in order to preserve the character of hotel living. Hotel rooms, despite their minimal size,
should have the amenities of an independent flat and at the same time sufficiently large community
facilities should be available. Thus, I would like to reduce the extensive formality of the corridors con-
necting the residential quarters with the building's community section. I have designed the "small-
est flats" arranged in a row, with independent living and sleeping areas and auxiliary rooms. To have
the flats naturally illuminated from two different sides seems important for psychological reasons
and has not been dictated by any particular considerations concerning ventilation. It has created
something of 'counter-axes' balancing out the direction defined by the corridor. At the same time,
it has divided the dwelling area into different storeys and the dual use of the corridor simultane-
ously serving flats on two different levels. From this layout stem structural and formal solutions. The
building's 'house of cards' construction (Kartenblattbauweise) has freed the external walls of the
load-bearing function so the windows can occupy a large portion of their surface. It is also worth to
emphasising that the building's exterior shape has been determined by its layout."353
From the architect's perspective, the building was to test the economic viability of the new
type of residential complex and its influence on the lifestyles of its occupants. Scharoun's objective
was "to transform the approach to urban housing, with its needs so different to those in rural areas,
and to organise it on rational premises; to search for a solution that would show that urban living
is a different and specific, but certainly not abnormal, condition." 354 Reflecting on the problem of
350 Johann Friedrich GEIST, Klaus KURVERS, Dieter RAUSCH, Hans Scharoun. Chronik..., p.54. The first version of the building was developed
in 1928 for the site located in the estate's southern part, where today's ul. Karola Olszewskiego and ul. Tramwajowa meet. In the end it was
designated for Rading's high-rise apartment block No. 7. Scharoun envisioned the building as a complex arrangement of volumes, with the
four-storey middle section and two lower wings accommodating the apartments. It was to connect Paul Heim and Albert Kempter's gallery-
access block of flats with the row housing along today's ul. Tramwajowa. The axonometric projection of this version of the building is in the
collection of the Akademie der Kunste in Berlin.
351 Johannes CRAMER, Niels GUTSCHOW, op.cit., p.140.
352 'Ein neuzeitliches Wohnheim', Innen-Dekoration 1929, vol. 40, p.431.
353 Peter PFANKUCH, Hans Scharoun. Bauten, Entwurfe, Texte. Berlin 1974, p.88.
354 Hans Scharoun, 'Maison d'habitation a petits logements edifiee a Breslau pour I'exposition du Werkbund', Cahiers d'art 1929, p.413.
ing: hostel for single people and newly-wed couples (No. 31).350 The architect insisted that the rapid
development of large urban agglomerations brought the need to expand beyond the traditional
types of flats: "The modern city requires diverse housing solutions. Between the opposite poles of
the detached house and the hotel, between an adobe for the settled and a shelter for the nomads,
it is where I come."351 Scharoun's building represented an innovative approach, in terms of designa-
tion, form and construction methods. His hostel for singles and newly-wed couples represented
a new, hitherto unheard of, function. A contemporary commentator observed: "There is a gap in
the thinking of housing needs: no suitable flats for an unmarried working woman or man; childless
couples find themselves in a likewise difficult situation. For this group of people there is only a fur-
nished or unfurnished room for rent in a larger flat." 352 Scharoun designed a hotel-type building for
this new category of residents. He declared: "The hotel has been discovered as a form of living char-
acteristic of the anonymity of the modern city. The hotel residentfeels like a citizen of the world.This
gets reflected in its architecture: the elegance of the hotel lobby and its street-like corridors are more
important than the rows of small flats. I would like to redress the balance between the formality of
architecture, its external appearance, and the flat's functionalism while maintaining the residents'
anonymity in order to preserve the character of hotel living. Hotel rooms, despite their minimal size,
should have the amenities of an independent flat and at the same time sufficiently large community
facilities should be available. Thus, I would like to reduce the extensive formality of the corridors con-
necting the residential quarters with the building's community section. I have designed the "small-
est flats" arranged in a row, with independent living and sleeping areas and auxiliary rooms. To have
the flats naturally illuminated from two different sides seems important for psychological reasons
and has not been dictated by any particular considerations concerning ventilation. It has created
something of 'counter-axes' balancing out the direction defined by the corridor. At the same time,
it has divided the dwelling area into different storeys and the dual use of the corridor simultane-
ously serving flats on two different levels. From this layout stem structural and formal solutions. The
building's 'house of cards' construction (Kartenblattbauweise) has freed the external walls of the
load-bearing function so the windows can occupy a large portion of their surface. It is also worth to
emphasising that the building's exterior shape has been determined by its layout."353
From the architect's perspective, the building was to test the economic viability of the new
type of residential complex and its influence on the lifestyles of its occupants. Scharoun's objective
was "to transform the approach to urban housing, with its needs so different to those in rural areas,
and to organise it on rational premises; to search for a solution that would show that urban living
is a different and specific, but certainly not abnormal, condition." 354 Reflecting on the problem of
350 Johann Friedrich GEIST, Klaus KURVERS, Dieter RAUSCH, Hans Scharoun. Chronik..., p.54. The first version of the building was developed
in 1928 for the site located in the estate's southern part, where today's ul. Karola Olszewskiego and ul. Tramwajowa meet. In the end it was
designated for Rading's high-rise apartment block No. 7. Scharoun envisioned the building as a complex arrangement of volumes, with the
four-storey middle section and two lower wings accommodating the apartments. It was to connect Paul Heim and Albert Kempter's gallery-
access block of flats with the row housing along today's ul. Tramwajowa. The axonometric projection of this version of the building is in the
collection of the Akademie der Kunste in Berlin.
351 Johannes CRAMER, Niels GUTSCHOW, op.cit., p.140.
352 'Ein neuzeitliches Wohnheim', Innen-Dekoration 1929, vol. 40, p.431.
353 Peter PFANKUCH, Hans Scharoun. Bauten, Entwurfe, Texte. Berlin 1974, p.88.
354 Hans Scharoun, 'Maison d'habitation a petits logements edifiee a Breslau pour I'exposition du Werkbund', Cahiers d'art 1929, p.413.