Bookworming

I'm one of those people that likes to read books, yes even those without pictures. I have always read books and have no intention of stopping! Sat here I'm actually surrounded by books floor to ceiling 8 shelves high. Most of these books I've read once, some have been reread and others are often consulted. Some of these books I've actually mentioned on this blog: e.g. The Scatered City, Building the Workingman's Paradise, Garden Cities of To-morrow, Nothing gained by overcrowding,Tuinsteden, Das Englische Haus and The Garden City Utopia.

This Christmas I received a new copy of Ebenezer Howards seminal book Garden Cities of To-morrow, as I had lent my first book to a graduate student years ago and have been without since (I must mention said student is adement he returned the book, but I have moved house twice since, so it might have been misplaced rather than lost). So now the book has been returned to its rightfull place next to Tuinsteden by G. Feenstra, the must-read for understanding garden villages in the Low Countries.I am lucky to have an original from 1920. My next read will be another festive present: The Lego Architect.

The remnants of Friedrichshof, Essen

A few blocks of the Friedrichshof estate still stand. These Gartenhof-type buildings are situated along the Kaupenstrasse and Hölderlinstrasse. These buildings are the only remnants of the second building phase of this estate. Of the first building phase, with a formal square on the Mörikenstrasse, nothing remains.

The distinctive architecture of the Friedrichshof in the typical Landhaus Architektur is made all the more clear in the contrast with the later replacement blocks of flats (on the left of the picture). The Gartenhof blocks of the Friedrichshof Estate are more horizontal in design than those of the Alfredshof.

The architecture, again by Schmohl of the Baubüro Krupp, does know vertical accents, mostly in the shape of gable ends and turrets. Here the two gable ends flank  loggias. Special attention has been paid to the gables at the end of each block. These are often shapely with a scalloped edge (shown on the right).

Part of the Hölderlinstrasse still has the original blocks on either side, giving a good impression of the original intentions. There was a green verge planted with trees. Now the streets are dominated by cars, the communal gardens are, however, free from parking.

Hanging bays -or oriels- have been used to great effect to break the boxiness of the blocks and add interest on the otherwise long facades. Note how the decorative brick band runs along the bottom of the oriel. With the refurbishment of the flats new balconies have been added. As these could not be safely fixed to the building they have been constructed as a separate construction.

On the Fredrichshof Estate no gates were built to give access to the communal gardens within the super blocks, instead the buildings form separated sections with extra attention paid to the corners. Here the corners have little turrets.

The entrance on the corner with the stairwell in the turret (left) is a variation on the normal entrance treatment with an awning over a door that gives access to a  stairwell.

The communal gardens are basically small parks with trees, shrubs, grass, and the occasional playground.

The remnants of Alfredshof, Essen

Only a small section of Alfredshof 2 remains, situated around the junction of the Keplerstrasse and Simonstrasse. It is a typical Gartenhof with three storey apartment buildings wrapping around communal garden with gates and passages in between.

One of the corners of the so-called Simonsblock shows the Landhaus Architektur of Schmohl in a scenic amalgamation of gable ends dormers, turrets, banding, balconies and window bays.

The evangelical church was also bombed so a new building was erected in a modernist vernacular with a lively clock tower (left). The entrance to the inner garden of the block west of the Simonstrasse is formed by this decorative gable end set back at the corner.

A look back at the street from underneath the passage. The passage deliberately has a dark colour to maximise the effect of light and dark.

The architecture of the long blocks emphasises the vertical with the use of gable ends, window bays and the arrangement of windows in vertical lines. The architecture is very eclectic, mixing various style references into a new type with a distinctive feel.The entrances always get special treatment.

The streets are now dominated by parked cars. Originally the wide streets had green verges planted with trees between the road and the pavements on either side. The trees first planted were mainly fruit trees, but these didn't grow that well between the high blocks.

Between seperate blocks (with their own adress) these gates wer used as a way of creating a continuous building line edging either the street or the communal garden. These gardens were mostly laid to gras with trees and shrubs planted around the edges. Some gardens had statues, a fountain or a playground.

The lenght of these blocks can be clearly seen on the edge of the three remaining Gartenhöfe where long facades line the street.

Remnants of Krupp company workers' colonies in Essen

Apart from the 5 vanished workers colonies located around the Krupp Steel Works discussed before there are 3 more nineteenth century company housing projects by Krupp that have for the most part disappeared. The remnants of the Siedlung Altenhof I can be found near the Grugapark. Of the Siedlung Alfredshof and Siedlung Friedrichshof, both located in Essen-Holsterhausen, only small portions remain.

As a result of financing problems Alfred Krupp stopped the house building by the Krupp company in 1874. When his son Friedrich Alfred takes over after the death of his father in 1887 it will take 4 years before work on new housing starts. Planning for new housing, however, starts almost immediately after he takes over.

Parallel with the planning of the Siedlung Altenhof the Company Housing Department draws up plans for an unnamed housing project which are publicised as the Siedlung Holsterhausen in the 1891 publication Wohlfahrtseinrichtungen der Kruppwerke in Essen (Welfare facilities of the Krupp Works in Essen). In 1893 work starts on erecting the buildings. The housing estate was renamed Alfredshof in honour of Alfred Krupp. Between 1893 and 1918 1.700 rented accommodation was built in several building campaigns. All housing in the first building phases were designed by Robert Schmohl, the head of the Baubüro Krupp.

The first section of this large estate of company housing was built between 1893 and 1899 with mainly family housing. Some were detached dwellings (for white collar workers), most consisted of several houses within one building. Schmohl included a number of Mulhouse Quadrangles that he mixed with semidetached houses. The idea was to break away from the crowded urban environment and provide the workers with air and space. Also a garden was seen as a good way to let the workers, whom had often migrated to the city from the countryside, integrate better into their new living environment. The ideal was never to create a rural idyll but rather to realise cost-effective company housing. Later this kind of loose housing is mistaken for an example of garden city movement housing. It predates the book by Ebenezer Howard so this can't be the case!

Between 1907 and 1919 the estate was doubled by the new Alfredshof built further east. This section was very urban and was comprised of Superblocks (Gartenhöfe) of middle-rise apartments in large complexes around a communal garden. A separate park was provided for relaxation and exercise. Also the Krupp family donated a plot of land to the Evangelical Church for a new church building. Parts of the Alfredshof 1 that had not been built on were developed in the same style and with long rows of terraced housing.

Alfredshof 1 and 2 around 1940 with central in Alfredshof 1 a large public square (or market) with the company store (1). Originally beyond the kolonie a school (2) was built with a house for the headteacher (3). In the Alfrespark a music hall (4) was built. On the other side of the park villa's (5) edge the central green space. On the other side a beer hall (6) was built. On this side the estate joined Luisenhof 1 (L1) and Luisenhof 2 (L2). At the heart of Albertshof 2 we find the ensemble (7) of church, community hall and vicarage. On the edge of the estate a large company store (8) and a Wirtschaft (9).

The company housing of the Alfredshof 1 and 2 was exemplary at the time of completion. Each house or dwelling had a kitchen, toilet and separate bedrooms. The front doors were located in such a way as to never face another entrance to exaggerate the individual character of each dwelling. Special functional, robust and unembellished furniture was mass-produced. Located next to the steel works both housing estates were heavily bombed during WW2. So at present only the so-called Simson-Block of Alfredshof 2 still stands. The rest of the estate was rebuilt in de late 1950s as the Siedlung Alfredspark with blocks of flats. At the same time the central Sachsenstrasse of Alfredshof 1 was replaced by a dual carriage motorway. This also required a part of the destroyed housing estate.

The change in ideas concerning social housing for workers is visible in Alfredshof 1 where a change took place from the loose layout with family housing set in private gardens to an urban setup with apartmentblocks that wrap around communal gardens. The original layout of the streets was very formal - as can be expected from nineteenth century urban design - with a central square public open space and 8 streets radiating out from here.

Of the Siedlung Friedrichshof , named after Friedrich Alfred Krupp, more sections are still standing. But these are mere remnants of this large housing estate built between 1899 and 1900 and enlarged shortly after between 1904 and 1906. On a 2,64 hectare site 525 dwellings were realised in three storey apartment blocks. The houses were comfortable for the time, with a kitchen sitting room, dining room, larder and toilet. The buildings were positioned to be flooded with daylight and had windows that could be opened to let the fresh air in. The communal facilities included a bath house, library, company shop, beer hall and schools.

The first building phase was designed in a highly ornamental Heimatstil (Homeland Style) with half-timbered walls, dormers, hipped roofs and decorative roofhoods. The high demand for housing meant that a different approach was chosen by the Baubüro to provide as many comfortable dwellings as possible on the site. So the ideal of an open housing estate (like Altenhof 1 and Alfredshof 1) was abandoned in favour of a denser development comprising of apartment blocks. The first building phase saw several multiangular blocks built around communal gardens and playgrounds. As such these blocks are predecessors of the super blocks built after 1904. These apartment buildings were basically U-shaped complexes, again 3 storeys in height, that wrapped around a communal garden. Of these Gartenhöfe built in a decorative combination of brick and roughcast a few section still remain. All other housing in this estate was to severely damaged by bombing and was replaced by blocks of flats in the 1950s.