The Weissenhof Estate (German: Weißenhofsiedlung) is a

housing estate A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country. Popular throughout the United States ...

built for the 1927 Deutscher Werkbund exhibition in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It was an international showcase of

modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...

's aspiration to provide cheap, simple, efficient, and good-quality housing. Two buildings designed by

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , , ), was a Swiss-French architect, designer, painter, urban planner, writer, and one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture. He was ...

were designated a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

in 2016 as part of

The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement is a World Heritage Site consisting of a selection of 17 building projects in several countries by the Franco-Swiss architect Le Corbusier.Mies van der Rohe was in charge of the project on behalf of the city, and selected the architects, budgeted and coordinated their entries, prepared the site, and oversaw construction. Le Corbusier was awarded the two prime sites, facing the city, and by far the largest budget. The twenty-one buildings consist of

terrace Terrace may refer to: Landforms and construction * Fluvial terrace, a natural, flat surface that borders and lies above the floodplain of a stream or river * Terrace, a street suffix * Terrace, the portion of a lot between the public sidewalk an ...

d and detached houses as well as apartment buildings. They vary slightly in form but display standardized design language. What they have in common are their simplified facades, flat roofs used as terraces, window bands, open plan interiors, and the high level of prefabrication which permitted their erection in just five months. Despite popular belief, only about one third of the buildings were completely white.

Bruno Taut Bruno Julius Florian Taut (4 May 1880 – 24 December 1938) was a renowned German architect, urban planner and author of Prussian Lithuanian heritage ("taut" means "nation" in Lithuanian). He was active during the Weimar period and is kno ...

had his entry, the smallest, painted in various colors. Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret's entry was white, blue, orange, and green. Van der Rohe's was painted a light pink. The

eaves The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...

of Hans Scharoun's entry were painted orange. Advertised as a prototype of future workers' housing, in fact each of these houses was customized and furnished on a budget far out of a normal worker's reach and with little direct relevance to the technical challenges of standardized mass construction. The exhibition opened to the public on 23 July 1927, a year late, and drew large crowds.

Homes

Of the original twenty-one buildings, eleven survive as of 2006. Bombing damage during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

is responsible for the complete loss of the homes by Gropius, Hilberseimer, Bruno Taut, Poelzig, Max Taut (home 24), and Döcker. Another of Max Taut's homes (23) was demolished in the 1950s, as was Rading's.

List of homes

*1-4:

Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Ludwig Mies van der Rohe ( ; ; born Maria Ludwig Michael Mies; March 27, 1886August 17, 1969) was a German-American architect. He was commonly referred to as Mies, his surname. Along with Alvar Aalto, Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius and Frank Lloy ...

*5-9: J.J.P. Oud *10: Victor Bourgeois **Originally, the lot was to be built on by Adolf Loos, but he was scrapped from the list after run-ins with and criticism of the Werkbund. Instead, Bourgeois built a home that was more traditional than the planned design by Loos, which was to have an . One unique feature is a wine cellar from

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

rather than concrete. The two-story family home was damaged during the war, and was turned into a two-family dwelling afterward. *11 and 12:

Adolf Gustav Schneck Adolf Gustav Friedrich Schneck (1883–1971) was a German architect and furniture designer as well as a member of the Deutscher Werkbund and teacher at the Bauhaus. He contributed two buildings to the 1927 Weissenhofsiedlung exhibit and has work ...

*13-15:

and Pierre Jeanneret *16 and 17: Walter Gropius *18: Ludwig Hilberseimer **Designed for a family of six, painted in light gray. For reasons of economy, Hilberseimer's planned sliding windows were replaced with cheaper, conventional ones—when Hilberseimer visited the finished house, he did not recognize it. The building was destroyed in the war; a conventional home now occupies the plot. *19:

**Taut was part of the group on the recommendation of his older brother, Max Taut. House 19 is a single-family, two-story home with a basement, designed as a "proletarian's home." His house was painted red, blue, and yellow, and was destroyed in the war. *20:

Hans Poelzig Hans Poelzig (30 April 1869 – 14 June 1936) was a German architect, painter and set designer. Life Poelzig was born in Berlin in 1869 to Countess Clara Henrietta Maria Poelzig while she was married to George Acland Ames, an Englishman. Uncert ...

**Poelzig's contribution is a single-family, two-story home with a winter garden and a sun terrace as prominent features. It was destroyed in the war. *21 and 22:

Richard Döcker Richard Döcker (13 June 1894, Weilheim an der Teck - 9 November 1968, Stuttgart) was a German architect and professor associated with the functionalist style in architecture. Biography Döcker studied architecture from 1912 to 1918 at the Univers ...

**Döcker was assigned two lots in van der Rohe's plan, between Rathenaustraße and Bruckmannweg. He originally designed two connected homes, based on his belief in connections between buildings and spaces, but changed the plans after seeing that none of the other buildings on the estate were connected. Both were single-family homes, no. 22 with one and a half stories, including a garage (the only home on the estate with one). Döcker wanted brightly colored homes; what color they were painted can no longer be determined since both were destroyed completely in the war. *23 and 24: Max Taut *25:

Adolf Rading Adolf Peter Rading (2 February 1888, in Berlin – 4 April 1957, in London) was a German architect of the Neues Bauen period, also active in Palestine and Great Britain. Career After finishing architecture school in Berlin, Rading briefly wor ...

*26 and 27: Josef Frank *28-30: Mart Stam *31 and 32:

Peter Behrens Peter Behrens (14 April 1868 – 27 February 1940) was a leading Germany, German architect, graphic and Industrial design, industrial designer, best known for his early pioneering AEG turbine factory, AEG Turbine Hall in Berlin in 1909. He had a ...

*33: Hans Scharoun **A much more curved design than the other (angular) buildings, Scharoun's is a single-family home with two stories and a basement.

References

External links

The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier, an Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement / UNESCO Official Website
*
Weissenhofmuseum

{{Authority control International Style (architecture) Buildings and structures in Stuttgart Modernist architecture in Germany Housing estates in Germany Residential buildings completed in 1927 Modernist heritage districts

Homes

List of homes

See also

References

External links