Siedlung Pottgiesserhof: simple apartment blocks set in green

 

A view along one of the orthogonal ensembles of apartment blocks that make up the Siedlung Pottgiesserhof. In this section all buildings have hipped roofs with dormers and balconies in a contrasting ochre colour that contrasts with the cream colour of the rest of the facades.

In another section - around the garden square- the buildings are most decorative with facades in roughcast and precast concrete details that serve as ornaments. The play of lines betrays an influence from Art Deco. The vertical arrangement of the windows is balanced by the concrete ledges that ad a horizontal accent to the facade.

The garden square itself is surrounded by pollarded plane trees an accommodates a large playground.

The housing behind the garden square are distinctly more vertical with the arrangement of the windows emphasised by the outlines stairwells (left). This statue of a Gänsereiter reminds us of the folk sport of goose pulling. In Germany the goose was dead before the "sportsman" riding a horse tried to pull off the greased head. In Anglo-Saxon countries the goose was alive making this a cruel rural pastime.

The blocks are placed at right angles. The facades follow the line of the street but don't create a distinct street space. Communal green space flows around the blocks in this open parcellation.

In other sections the buildings follow the street. The building section which is setback on the left side is a replacement wing. These have distinctly different architecture, but blend in well with the simple architecture of the original 1930s blocks.

In some places the communal space between two blocks has been planted as a communal garden for the residents. Here space no longer envelops the blocks but the garden boundaries create a sub-space within the housing estate.

All blocks have balconies (loggias in actual fact) on the side of the communal green space, here a garden (left).The front side is often very closed, although the original outlook would be different with wide green verges instead of cars lining the streets.

In this street the original intentions of the designers come through with blocks in three storeys separated from the central street by a wide green verge.

A close-up of one of the replacement blocks with the distinctive balconies on the street side instead of the original buildings that gave the loggias at the back. A row op long blocks with hipped roofs in blue and grey (on the right) line the central street that divides the different sections of this housing estate.

Another example of the orthogonal placement of the blocks in enveloping green space. Some apartment blocks follow the line of the streets others don't. The alternating orientation within the green space binds the estate together.