Lockerwiesesiedlung, Vienna: visual statement and architectural unity combined

Much like Siedlung Hermeswiese the Lockerwiesesiedlung includes apartment buildings that are used along the edges of the estate as visual and spatial statements. Here two tower-like ends of apartment blocks give access to the central curved street of the housing estate as if it were a formal gate building. 

A view along one of the "outside walls" of the estate (left) shows the typical attention paid to the spatial and visual distinction of the housing project in relation to its (sub)urban context. When looking through the gateway the central verge planted with trees and shrubs of the main curved street is clearly visible.

View along the curved main street towards the central square with the markedly higher buildings (apartments above shops). A tower-like building marks the corner of the square. The buildings around this spatial pivot point in the estate have been given a specific architectural treatment, emphasising this place.

At the end of the central curved street the building has these decorative sgraffito panels with socialist themes such as industry, agriculture and education. From the central square a short street is directed at the church of the care home complex. The housing is simple in design with white render and clear perforations of the facade (windows and doors).

A view into a street of the second building phase through one of the gateways underneath one of the middlerise blocks that surround the central square. The housing is very similar to that of phase one.

These houses can be found along the eastern edge of the estate. The long terraces are connected at the corner to form a continuous facade around the street corner. These houses all have a covered protruding porch with a flat roof.

Along the central curved street colour blocking is used to create more visual interest in the streetscape. For this a central green verge planted with trees and shrubs adds to the character and also signals its special position within the whole estate.

The inner streets are not continuous in building line, nor do they display a continuous front facade. The buildings are placed along the streets in an Unwinesque manner. The buildings have been particularised by the use of brick details. These can be seen around the front doors and in between the windows. 

The buildings of the second building phase are less decorative. Here brick is used more sparingly to emphasise the corners and create more visual interest.

The houses have no front gardens. Hedges are used to edge gardens. The streets are mostly curved like in these examples of the second building phase. Some are bayoneted with an axial shift to prevent long vistas along the streets - another Unwinesque design device.

In keeping with English examples closed cave been included in the layout of the Lockerwiesesiedlung. These are basically groups or pairs of housing blocks set back from the road on a cul-de-sac.

Lockerwiesesiedlung, Vienna: a 1920s garden suburb

On pasture dotted with reeds and bulrush a new garden suburb for Vienna was planned by the socialist council in the 1920s. The site near Lainz in the 13th District of Vienna Hietzing was chosen for its proximity to the Krankenhaus Hietzing (a large hospital - 1908) and the Versorgungsheim Lainz (care home - 1902). Also the Lockerwiese Estate is only a few hundred metres north of the Hermeswiese Estate and walking distance from the Werkbundsiedlung.

The site was developed for social housing by a Building Society -GESIBA- that was founded especially for building this estate. GESIBA was founded in 1921 as the Gemeinwirtschaftliche Siedlungs- und Baustoffanstalt by the City of Vienna, the Republic of Austria and the Verband für Siedlungs- und Kleingartenwesen (Association for Housing Estates and Allotment Gardening), each for a third. The plan was that the Building Society would transfer the housing to the City Council after completion.

The design was made by Karl Schartelmüller, who had previously drawn up plans for "Am Freihof". Building work started in 1926 with a second building phase in 1938-39. This northern extension had already been designed in 1931 and -although less detailed than the housing of the first phase- fit seamlessly into the whole estate. In 1950 some former playing field near the rail tracks were developed for housing with apartment blocks designed by Franz Mörth and Otto Schönthal. The formal gates in the first building phase that connect to the streets of the second phase shows the designer had pre-empted a future expansion of the estate.

The whole estate is basically a Muthesian-inspired garden village. The layout is similar to that of Am Freihof, by the same designer. The basic structure is a curved street with family housing on either side with middlerise buildings at either end. Thus the entrances are emphasised and the spatial effect of the estate is improved. The gate-like entrance has a clear reference to the Superblocks of the Gemeindebau. Most of the buildings are two storey row houses with gardens at the back. This makes the streetscape rather urban in character.

The Lockerwiesesiedlung is a typical semi-suburban garden village with some amenities. Most prominent is the Versorgungsheimer Platz (Care Home Square - VP) near the entrance to the Versorungsheim (VH). On this garden square is one of the formalised entrances to the estate. Also the tree-lined street that gives access to the second entrance (E) is indicated by the Maria Heil Kamillianerkloster (Heeling Mary Camillian Monastery). In addition the estate features many formal gates and gateways (G).The central streets culminates in a small square with shops (S). Most buildings are low family housing arranged along curved streets. In some places small closes (C) have been included in the layout. The building phases are indicated in red: 1 (1926-29), 2a (1938), 2b (1938), 3 (1950).

After completion the housing was transferred to the Vienna Housing Authority, who are still renting out these homes at affordable rates. There are long waiting lists for this estate as it is located in the edge of the Viennese Conurbation but with excellent transport links (train and tram). As such it is still the intended garden suburb.

Hermeswiese, Vienna: an example of mixed social housing

 

The edge of Hermeswiese II consists of a long row of short terraces along a village green-like public garden. These houses mark the edge of the estate to neighbouring Speising, a former village now absorbed into the Viennese Metropolitan Area.The houses are rather simple with rendered facades in ochre tones with red clay tiles on the roofs.

The formal entrance to the northern section is formed by this gatehouse crowned with a clock tower. The housing behind is arranged in staggered rows of terraces.

The second street of the northern section also has a formalised entrance here as a gate with posts. At the entrance a text in metal letters on the side facade commemorates the Building Society responsible for this housing project.

The houses were built by the participants in the Building Society (as such it is a Building Cooperative). They are thus rather simple in construction and decor. Brick surrounds emphasise the entrances. In other places the entrances are combined and placed under a low roof in a porch. The use of simple colour blocking to create visual interest can also clearly be seen.

To make the long streets of the northern section more interesting an Unwinesque device is employed in the design. Some sections of the housing is set back from the street creating spatial division an framing of the view along the street. The front gardens are often merely a narrow strip bordered by a privet hedge.

The main entrance to the municipal section leads via this double gateway (left) through the long wall along the Speisinger Strasse. Here the architect used white render with brick detailing on corners. The whole is a sculptural predecessor of the much larger Karl-Marx-Hof. A similar but smaller gate connects the two sections of this housing estate. A simple arch in soft yellow shows some of the ochre housing behind. The building again features brick accents, mainly on the corners.

These more ornate terraces can be found in the municipal section (Hermeswiese I). Here the lengthy row of housing is broken up visually by the use of flat protruding turrets, triangular gable ends and a pergola on concrete pillars.

Two details of the front with these sensuously curved balconies which create shadows that add to the sculptural quality of this apartment building.

A cul-de-sac in the municipal section with simple housing, partly built by participants of the collective.

Around the small square behind the formal wall most of the housing is an extension of the white render and brick combination at the front. The blocks are again sculptural, but seek to form a bridge between the higher wall and the standard terraced housing. A small gateway connects the square to one of the cul-de-sacs.

A view across the small square, the first of a sequence, loosely based on the ideas of Camillo Sitte. Here the white render dominates, with on the one hand flat roofs and cubist shapes, and on the other a more vernacular idiom again with brick details.

Hermeswiese, Vienna: housing provision as a communal effort

In contrast to the very urban blocks of the Gartenhofsiedlungen (Garden Court Estates) some of the housing estates of the Rotes Wien have a more village-like feel. As with other such garden village type housing estates the Viennese council worked closely together with a so-called Baugenossenschaft in developing the Siedlung Hermeswiese. The municipal housing was designed in such a way that it would form a unit with the Colony Lainz-Speising, to be developed by the Genossenschaft Altmannsdorf-Hetzendorf. The first is also known as Hermeswiese I, whilst the second was later dubbed Hermeswiese II. The designer of the estate was Karl Ehn, who would later create the iconic Karl-Marx-Hof.

The housing was initially planned for workers at the city electricity works, but during the design process the estate was opened to a wide variety of participants. Every prospective resident had to become a member of the Building Society (a Baugenosse) and put in at least 1000 hours of manual labour. This way the housing could be built at a low cost. The council guaranteed the loan for the land and the materials. As such this garden village estate is the result of a building collective. Such Baugenossenschaften were quite common even before the publication of Ebenezer Howards seminal book on Garden Cities, but flourished as the ideas of the Garden City Movement spread across the German-speaking countries.

The estate of Hermeswiese is a introvert unit that has been designed as a single recognisable suburban entity. It was developed in meadows along the Hermesstrasse -hence the name- that leads to the Hermesvilla, a former royal residence in the beautiful Lainzer Tiergarten. At the edge of the site the Lainzer Bach -a stream that rises in the Lainzer Tiergarten- feeds a pond and then disappears into a culvert.

The whole estate was designed with the human scale in mind, creating a more intimate living environment than the bold Gartenhof Estates that would follow. Totally in keeping with Garden City ideals the housing references vernacular architecture en the spatial configuration of a village. This shows clearly in the archway that gives access to the estate from a park along a thoroughfare. The building is embellished with a low clock tower above the entrance. A fountain, replicating many such features in villages in the Austrian Alps, further enhances the scene.

Although Ehn made sure the architecture united both sections of the estate, they differ greatly in layout. The northern section is comprised of two straight streets that were laid out parallel to the elevated Hermesstrasse. To avoid formality in these streets the building line was staggered, long and short terraces were alternated and in the middle the street was widened and amenities were planned adjacent (like a school). The southern part was designed along the ideas of the Austrian architect Camillo Sitte which influenced the spatial progression of urban wall with gateway, square, street and small square with gateway, whilst the staggered building line and cul-de-sacs are typical Unwinesque design principles. In this section a sculptural winged block of apartments marks the edge of the estate along the street. It also forms a spatial pendant to the Church of the Orthopedic Hospital across the Speisinger Strasse. The architecture of the southern -municipal- section is more ornamental than the northern section. The whole estate was built in 2 building phases: 1923-1927 and 1927-1929.

The Hermeswiese Estate comprises of two sections that were built separately but under a unifying design. The design included a public park (Andreas Rett Park - R) and allotments with sheds for keeping small animals like geese, chickens, pigs and goats. These have now disappeared however. Hermeswiese I comprises of a large apartment building in several linked sections (A) at the front with a village-like street with two squares (S) and cul-de-sacs (C) behind the gateway (G) and a gateway connecting this section to Hermeswiese II. This northern section also has a long front along a street with a gateway (G) with a central section where a school was planned behind a block of flats for single workers (F). Instead new housing was built on the reserved site (N) in 1930.