Werkbund Siedlung: a modernist showcase

The highest building was designed by André Lurcat. It is a very sculptural block of 4 row houses that serves as the entrance to the model housing estate. As is common in Vienna the name and year of completion are displayed in large lettering on the side of this building.

The rounded shapes of the Lurcat building are not often associated with modernism, although in the 1920s Bauhaus also incorporated an expressionist tendency. The cubist treatment of the building mass is what is generally known as modernism. It later became the international style, when it spread beyond northwest Europe into Great Britain, the Americas and Australia.

Terraced housing also became more sculptural. Every architect reacted to the design of the neighbouring property. In the middle two cubes with windows seek to define the very basis of a dwelling. On either side of these are more expressive houses. The long window band on the left is very typical of Bauhaus.

The basis of the still recognisable modernist idiom are a cubist treatment of the building mass in combination with flat roofs and the absence of eaves. The clean lines are enhanced by the regular placement of the windows.

Although post war modernisme (the international style) is best known for the white or slight grey colour of the facades, in earlier modernism no such dictate concerning a lack of colour existed. Especially in Germany and the Netherlands many architects experimented with block colouring on the walls. Here an example by the Dutch architect and designer Gerrit Rietveld, who was well known for his grafic work using primary colours in blocks.

A part of the wall around the white entrance is painted white to emphasise the entrance and at the same time give better proportion to the whole facade. The windows are often recessed into the outer walls of the building to compensate for the reflection of sunlight of the light walls and also to emphasise the window shape.

Monotony is avoided by using blocks of colour on the separate dwellings within a row of terraced housing. Also the building line and building height varies to add interest. The roofline is, however, kept at the same level to unify the separate dwellings into a single urban block (or unit).

The baroque tradition in Germany and Austria in colouring the wall in soft tones of pink, yellow, green and blue is also picked up in some of the buildings in the Werkbund Siedlung.

This semidetached house displays a new form for this well known housing type. This single storey building (in effect a bungalow) has a roof terrace. The entrances are emphasised by higher glazed sections that flood the low building with light. Providing natural daylight, fresh air and easy access to nature (in the form of a garden, a public park or allotments) was an important premise of the Bauhaus-movement.

Werkbund Siedlung, Vienna

In 1907 the Deutscher Werkbund (German Association of Workmen) was founded in Munich on the instigation of Hermann Muthesius. Muthesius (1861-1927), a former diplomat, is also known for his book Das Englische Haus (1904) promoting the ideas of the Arts and Crafts Movement in Germany. He published many articles on architecture emphasizing functionality, understated design, honesty in the use of materials and modesty on behalf of the architect. He also sought to introduce a sense of craftsmanship to industrial design, something he saw as of national economic benefit. From his stance on design it was no great leap to setting up the Werkbund which was aimed at bringing the highest standards of design and construction to mass-produced industrial output. The Werkbund should not be seen as an artistic movement.

Although the Werkbund was founded to further the cooperation between manufacturers and designers, it quickly became a major factor in the development of modernist architecture and industrial design, especially through the Bauhaus school for applied design. The cooperative of architects, artists and (grafic) designers that was the Werkbund existed until 1934.

The Werkbund was famous for the building expositions it organised. Incited by  the earlier expo's in Stuttgart (1927) and Breslau (1931) and examples of housing estates built in the modernist idiom in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, Vienna was chosen to host a building exposition. The project was lead by Josef Frank who also selected the architects and designers that would take part. In total 31 architects were selected. Most built more than 1 house (often two, sometimes a small series). The architects taking part in the building expo were: H Wagner - Freynsheim (01), Otto Breuer (02), Josef F. Dex (03), A. Grünberger (04), G. Schütte - Lihotzky (05), M. Fellerer (06), J. Groag (07), Hugo Gorge (08), Ernst Lichtblau (09), Oswald Haerdtl (10), J. Wenzel (11), E. Plischke (12), J. Jirasek (13), O. Wisch (14), W. Sobotka (15), André Lurçat (16), Josef Hoffmann (17), R. Bauer (18), (Hugo Häring 19), Oskar Strnad (20), Anton Brenner (21), Josef Frank (22), Bieber & Niedermoser (23), Walter Loos (24), E. Wachberger (25), C. Holzmeister (26), Gerrit Rietveld (27), B. Guevrekian (28), Adolf Loos (29), H. Vetter (30) and Richard Neutra (31).

On a triangular piece of land bound on two sides by preexisting streets the Werkbund Siedlung was constructed in little under a year. The houses follow the lines of the street on the outside. The internal streets are short and jagged. The buildings here are often designed to be viewed from more than one angle. The layout is very basic, without an underlying idea on  the placement of the blocks.

In the summer of 1932, during the course of two months, 71 model homes complete fitted with furniture and appliances were open to the public. The aim of the building expo was to present an exemplary palette of modern types of houses and domestic culture for future housing estates. Although the original intention was to sell off the houses after the building expo, the Austrian public proved conservative so the houses were taken over by the city of Vienna. They are still part of the cities stock of rental accommodation.

The small neighbourhood on the outskirts of Vienna was named Werkbund Siedlung. It consists of 71 dwellings. As a result of WW2 65 original buildings remain, 6 were lost. The devastated houses (shown with a red outline) have not been rebuilt. Instead new houses in a similar style were built between 1948 an 1952. The whole housing estate has heritage status and is mostly in good condition. This is aided by the fact that there is a single owner: the municipal housing coop of Vienna. One house has been turned into a museum.

Late flowers

For most people nature slips into a dormant state as the leaves are turning hues of yellow orange, red and purple. Autumn however is also the time some plants are at their peak. The Chrysanthemum being a well known example. The mounds of magenta flowers can hardly be missed. Less auspicious but still brightly coloured, the large cups of the Colchicums (middle) adorn the ground in semi-shaded places. Almost hidden from view, nestling between the fallen leaves the humble Cyclamen are in full flower now. A little plant well worth kneeling for!

Bright leaves

The recent stormy winds have blown the leaves of most trees. Some leaves are still clinging on, but will end up on the ground. This is inevitable. Some shrubs also show great autumn colours; being closer to the ground the leaves last longer on the stems.

La Cité Moderne, foreboding the new way of living

La Cité Moderne is a flag bearer for what modernist and socialists alike saw as the future of living for the masses. This progressive élan was made evident in the architecture and the distribution of the housing along the streets. Built between 1922 and 1925 it partly predates the first Bauhaus Exhibition in Weimar of 1923. The shift in the positioning of the later buildings towards the sun can probably be attributed to the influence of this exhibition.

The buildings have been designed in an angular cubist style with flat roofs. These two examples show that such building need not be uniform boxes, but can have a very interesting sculptural quality. All buildings have been constructed in poured concrete with rendered walls.  Most buildings have a darker base (as can be seen on the left). Not all buildings have the white colour Some have been rendered in a sand colour (on the right).

A few low apartment buildings are part of this modernist model neighbourhood. Here an example in a sandy render with large windows to let in the air and light. This slab-like block is located on the aptly named Rue de Grand-Air (or Open Air street).

In some parts the buildings have hipped roofs instead of the flat roofs that are associated with Bauhaus. The core of the neighbourhood consists of flat roofed buildings; it is at the edged towards pre-existing buildings that the hipped roofs are used as a go-between. In brick modernisme -a style of architecture popular in the Low Countries between 1910 and 1930- hipped and pitched roofs are often used. So the use of these hipped roofs would not be a great leap for the architect.

A view along the central axis of La Cité Moderne. On the corners the building height is raised to give a greater sense of depth in the vista and also create a sense of place. The shape of the blocks also creates a gate like feature.

The architect cleverly thought about variation, both in the plasticity of the architecture as well as in the use of colour. The banding is predominantly slate grey against a white wall, but in places a beige earth tone is used instead. The variation in roofline is also visible in this picture; some flat roofs have deep eaves other run flush with the facade.

The westernmost part of the neighbourhood shows a shift in thinking about the orientation of the buildings. On the Place des Coopérateurs two rows of jagged terraces were built to better the orientation of the buildings towards the sun. The public space still has the orthogonal layout. The buildings beyond the green square are also angled towards the sun. Here the orthogonal position has been abandoned.

Although mainly aimed at providing affordable accommodation for working class people, a few semidetached houses have been built. This one being an attractive example of the sculptural quality of the architecture. These houses for middle class workers were fitted with a garage, an amenity not provided for the factory workers.

In two places a small close is part of the orthogonal layout. These additions can be traced back to Garden City examples and show clearly that the layout of this modernist neighbourhood was conceived by a landscape architect and not an architect. In The comparable Weißenhofsiedlung (1927 - Stuttgart) and Werkbund Siedlung (1932 - Vienna) no such garden squares are provided. The continuous privet hedges are part of the original design.

On the large Place de l'Initiative two low apartment buildings stand either side. A lower terrace of family houses closes the public space in the south. On the north the garden square used to connect directly to the Zavelenberg a large expanse of open countryside on a low hill. The apartment buildings combine both a vertical and a horizontal accentuation in the design. The same can be said of the terraced housing (on the right) with the wide eaves and opened corners.

Some of the housing blocks border directly onto the pavement. These buildings are designed around courtyard gardens within the blocks. This does not mean however that the outside is treated with less attention. Windows in varying shapes and sizes are used as an ornament.

In the last 5 years the Cité Moderne has been expanded by adding new buildings. These have been designed in a sympathetic style, owing much to the sculptural approach to architecture of the older buildings. The pristine facades contrast uncomfortably with the neighbouring monumental buildings, that look run down in comparison.

Another example of the new buildings added to the estate in recent years. Here the cubist architecture wears a modern robe, but spatially they are very similar to the ground breaking architecture of Victor Bourgeois.