Neues Frankfurt, a 1920s affordable public housing program

Dr. Ludwig Landmann, originally from Mannheim, was elected mayor of Frankfurt in 1924. He was a member of the social liberal German Democratic Party and the first Jewish mayor of Frankfurt. He was removed from office in 1933 en died exiled in the Netherlands in 1945 two month before WW2 ended. Landmann lead a significant modernisation and expansion of the city. He reorganised the planning department and initiated the Neues Frankfurt plan, an ambitious scheme for a "New Frankfurt". This plan included improvements in infrastructure, redevelopment of former military and industrial sites, new industrial sites, new public parks and recreational areas, and most famously new affordable housing.

Immediately after become mayor Landmann hired Ernst May to head the reorganisation of the planning department and deliver the ambitious Neues Frankfurt agenda. Landmann also founded the Nassauische Heimstätte (Nassau Homes) a public housing corporation with the purpose of guaranteeing every resident access to decent accommodation. Neues Frankfurt started in 1925 and ran until 1931. At the same time a magazine was published under the same name. May set to work on an overall plan for Frankfurt and the surrounding villages. He redrew the inner-city area and made allowances for change of use and better access. The new housing he projected around the de facto ring road (Hapsburgalle-Rothschilallee-Nibelungeallee-Adickesallee-Miquelallee-Zeppelinallee-Senckenberganlage built 1898-1910) mostly close to existing villages. New tram halts or train stations were part of the planning of these new housing estates. In the German tradition of social housing allotments and sports facilities were included in the schemes as well as some amenities (schools, shops, laundry, church, community hall).

The edge of the Heimatsiedlung shows the rhythm of the long apartment blocks which comprises of 9 almost identical angled buildings. This estate is a good example of New Objectivity.

Ernst May's work is an example of modernist total planning. Under May 12.000 apartments were built some 2.000 more than initially planned. These were rented at affordable rates set by Heimstätte. By developing on a large scale with modular housing, advantages of scale could be produced, reducing the total cost. Many well-known architects of the time worked in Frankfurt on one of the Neues Frankfurt projects. Mays work is best characterised as a mix of Expressive Modernism and New Objectivity.

The 9 parallel streets that make up the Heimatsiedlung are connected by a circular road (the Heimatring) Here the long blocks end in gateways with sculptural angled sections attached. The colour also subtly changes from soft yellow to peach. Small shops are located on either side of a gateway.

The buildings are separated by public gardens with grass trees, shrubs and flowering plants along the parallel streets run between the long blocks. Each street is named after a tree and planted with the eponymous tree species. Also note the difference in treatment of the north-facing facade (right) with the entrances and the south-facing one (left) with balconies and large windows.

As part of Neues Frankfurt standards were set for minimum floor space, maximum number of residents per dwelling (on a metres squared per person basis), proximity to amenities and transport and amounts of natural light to enter the houses. Most dwellings were apartments. Some were built as Gartenhof ensembles around communal gardens, others as long blocks or middle rise blocks. Terraced housing was also included in some schemes. Other estates also had double maisonettes in four storey buildings. All houses were fitted with standard appliances like a bathroom, door and window fixtures and a Frankfurt kitchen. The projects were publicised in the magazine to inspire others.

Another famous project are the so-called Zig-Zag-Houses on the Bruchfeld Estate in Niederrad. To prevent a stern streetscape, and also to angle the dwellings towards the sun, the maisonettes have been angled creating this staggered building line. Colour blocking also works to create a sense of scale and interest with a greyish plinth on the ground floor bright white elevations topped by an orange red trim along the flat roof with the smaller windows of the attic emphasising the difference.

Neues Frankfurt has great affinity with similar large-scale housing projects in Vienna and Amsterdam. The Nazis criticised the municipal housing projects as examples of communism. When they came to power all construction activity was stopped and the standardised housing models were abandoned for the traditionalist small-scale Stuttgarter Schule or the typical monumentalist architecture. Most employees of the planning office left the country after 1933. It would take until the 1960s that new large-scale housing projects would be initiated. Ernst May planned the Nordweststadt, a large modernist satellite of middle-rise and high-rise blocks set in greenery northwest of Frankfurt near the village of Niederursel. In the 1970s some blocks by Mart Stam in the Hellehofsiedlung were demolished. This lead to public outcry and anger amongst architects and art historians, so all nine housing estates of Neues Frankfurt now have listed status as protected landmarks.

Nine large housing estates were completed before the New Frankfurt program was abandoned. These all circle the old city of Frankfurt (F). The nine housing estates are: Siedlung Westerhausen (1), Siedlung Praunheim (2), Siedlung Römerstadt (3), Siedlung Höhenblick (4), Siedlung Bornheimerhang (5), Siedlung Riederwald (6), Heimatsiedlung (7), Siedlung Niederrad (8) and Hellerhofsiedlung (9). For orientation the airport (A) and the cities of Offenbach (O), Neu-Isenburg (N) and Hanau (H) are indicated. 

From a planning perspective all the housing projects of the New Frankfurt Initiative (Neues Frankfurt) should all be classified as suburbs, They aren't separate satellites as advocated by the Garden City Movement, but are always located within travelling distance of the central city Frankfurt near an existing settlement (village). These New Frankfurt Estates are not dissimilar to Garden Suburbs, but differ in building type and density.

In German there is a difference between Siedlung (Housing Estate) and Großssiedlung (Housing Estate or Housing Project), with some of the latter known as Trabantenstadt (Satellite Town). The translation doesn't quite express the size difference implied in German. A Großssiedlung is a housing estate with amenities provided; in contrast a Siedlung is a residential estate tacked onto an existing village or urban area with few or no amenities. A Großssiedlung isn't necessarily by definition larger than a Siedlung.

 

Urban animal: Oh Deer

In times gone by, hunting was the preserve of the ruling class. Some woodland was set aside for this as a banned wood. Especially as population growth exploded after 1150 more and more land was brought under cultivation. Where the aim of the hunting forest was originally to keep people out, it would now become to keep the game animals in. In some cases hunting reserves were created by fencing off existing woodland to create a deer park. The word "park" is derived from empark : "to surround with a wooden fence or paling". Richmond park is an excellent example of a deer park.  In Austria and Germany many of these facilities known as Tiergarten survive. First such hunting grounds were stocked with Wild boar and Red deer. As the area set aside for hunting gradually decreased the smaller Fallow deer was introduced from the Balkans.

In Ludwigsburg, a baroque grid city, the residential palace was built in the place of a hunting lodge. The Formal garden took up part of the natural wood, a section was cut down for the town and the rest was enclosed as a deer park. The deer park survives to this day as an urban oases with almost tame black Fallow deer. Especially young males come up close begging for food.

The natural colour of Fallow deer varies, but they typically have a chestnut coat with creamy spots in summer and a lighter underside. In nature animals with a darker reddish brown (menil) or black (melanistic) also occur; a creamy white coat (leucistic) is also seen in captive herds. As these animals are easy to keep and breed well in captivity they also populate urban park. There they are fenced in (left Arnhem and right Eindhoven) or separated from the visiting public by a moat and wall (middle Bad Driburg).

Hampstead Garden Suburb, a fine example of Unwinesque urban design

Several architects worked on Hampstead Garden Suburb. Unwin and Parker worked as architects and planners. Other architects involved in designing this suburb were: Edwin Lutyens, George Lister Sutcliffe and John Soutar. All types of Unwinesque design principles that are such a prominent feature of garden villages and suburbs can be seen in Hampstead Garden Suburb. It is a beautiful place designed with great sense of continuity -a Gesammtkunstwerk- even in the rain...

From the Hampstead Heath Extension - truly a masterful intervention in developing the area for housing- Hampstead Garden Suburb is shown with a clear skyline of spires. The inspiration for this design came from medieval towns in Franconia like Rothenburg.

A feature called "The Wall" separates the common green space of the Hampstead Heath Extension from the garden suburb. Small turrets recreate the feel of medieval fortifications. In fact these are small garden pavilions and border walls from the housing directly behind.

On the axis of the central ensemble a special feature was designed. Here the line of the wall is set back to create a sub space with stairs. This feature is also known as Heathgate. It is one of two "gates" on the edges of the centre, again emulating historic German towns.

Vernacular and modern features are included in the design of this "gate", making it an excellent example of Arts and Crafts design. The corners of the space are emphasised by higher structures clearly inspired by the German Kornscheune (a grain store) or Saltstadl (salt store). An open walkway creates a dry place to sit and look out over the heath. The symmetrical plan is emphasises by two low benches on either side of the opening in the wall.

The street runs from Heathgate in a straight line to the Church of Saint Jude on the hill. The buildings on either side of the street emphasise this central axis and have the same footprint, but the architecture differs to create a more aesthetic streetscape.

Behind Saint Jude a large expanse of grass forms the central space of Hampstead garden Suburb. At the eastern end The Institute was built to provide adult education. It is now the Henrietta Barnett School, a secondary school.

On the other side of Central Square The Free Church stands. This building was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1911. He also designed St Jude's (1909). Although both building were quickly consecrated, it  would take decades to finish construction. This spatial set up is very formal and reminiscent of both baroque and 19th-century formal design.

The churches are surrounded by housing. Terraces with brick facades are located on both North Square and South Square. These names are a bit of a misnomer as the church stands at the centre of the space -unbound by buildings along Central Square- with  the housing along one edge.

On the west of the central area a baroque spatial device was used with three roads converging in a central point (the turret on the primary school). Here a view down Middle View with the primary school (the building with the blue turret) dwarfed by the larger building of the former Institute with the large clock tower. Raymond Unwin never adopted the preference of German town planners for continuous informality, but liked to include formal ensembles in his plans.

The housing towards Temple Fortune was designed in a different style with the facades rendered white. The roofs are covered with slates and the buildings feature many Arts and Crafts details such as hanging tiles, protruding upper floors, protruding eaves, window bays and hanging tiles. On this corner -right- a typical Unwinesque angled block comprising of four dwellings.

All family housing has a front and back garden. These gardens edged by a privet hedge, together with the narrow grass verges planted with a mix of trees, create the semirural streetscape.

The fully rendered houses can be rather simple in appearance. When brick detailing is introduced -on the left a brick door surround- the architecture is greatly improved. Another option is to combine brick and render on larger separated surfaces. Narrow footpaths lead to other streets and also give access to the back gardens.

The streets around the centre are rather formally laid out. The basic design is orthogonal, with some of the streets cut short resulting in a cul-de-sac. The result is a streetscape of buildings at right angles, but with tightly controlled short lines of site.

Unwin -like Sitte- pays great attention to the treatment of the corners. Here an excellent example of two symmetrical angled blocks creating a curved space with a small green to form the clear starting point of the street beyond. Such small greens are a common feature in the oldest section of Hampstead Garden Suburb.

Along the edges of the Hampstead Heath Extension several ensembles were used to make the most of this important green space. Most of these ensembles are formal three-winged structures with either terraced housing or apartments around a communal garden or green. Some ensembles are grand and resemble baroque palaces, others were clearly inspired by almshouses. Again a privet hedge is used to demarcate the border between public and private space.