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.
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