Scale Models 1: 1

2024 Author: David Durham | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 02:26

The Austrian village of Werkbund (1930-1932) on the western outskirts of Vienna, in the Hitzing district, is much less known than its German counterpart, Weissenhof in Stuttgart. However, it was in this complex that the features of interwar Austrian modernism were clearly manifested - as well as the ideas of its creator, architect Josef Frank. The Werkbunda settlement was supposed to be a showcase for the achievements of national architecture, but an equally important goal was to create a harmonious space where houses are connected with the surrounding gardens, a synthesis of convenience with a minimum of cost, individualism and a sense of community will be achieved. When designing, they proceeded from the needs of the inhabitants, and not from the ideology; thus, Frank criticized the German modernists for being excessively principled, as a result of which their projects turn out to be “lifeless”.

Another - and the main - object of criticism, which was expressed in the very project of the village of Verkbund, was the construction program of "Red Vienna", within the framework of which huge residential complexes of the Karl-Marx-Hof type were erected for workers and other poor citizens. Frank considered such a scale far from ideal and proposed green low-rise buildings in response. Since we were talking about an alternative to the existing social housing, the village of Verkbund was made up of small-sized houses (therefore, the critics even called them "housing for dwarfs") - however, comfort was the most important factor. A variety of types served the same purpose - only thirty-three, to fit any site and contingent of residents.

Initially, 70 houses were erected on the triangular territory of the village; during the Second World War, six of them were destroyed, and in the following years, other housing appeared in their place. The developer was the municipal firm GESIBA, Josef Frank provided the architectural direction, the colors for the houses were chosen by the artist Laszlo Gabor, the executive secretary of Werkbund (light yellow, blue, bottle green, pink).

"The largest architectural exhibition in Europe" was held from June 4 to August 7, 1932; Austrian journalists criticized her more often, foreign ones praised her, and during these two months 100,000 people visited the village - despite its remote location. After it was planned to sell houses according to the scheme of affordable housing, but the severe economic crisis made even preferential conditions unaffordable for most Viennese (the first installment was 40% of the total cost, 25-65 thousand shillings, with an average salary of 220 shillings). Therefore, only 14 houses were sold, and the rest of GESIBA (and after 1938 - the municipality) rented out.

Since 1978, the village has been protected by the state as a valuable heritage site. In 1982-1985 it was restored and a small museum was built there, but already in 2010 the complex was included in the list of monuments under threat, which is annually made by the World Monuments Fund: its experts were outraged by the lack of proper care of the village, functioning as a municipal housing. The city authorities and the Federal Heritage Service have listened to them and initiated a restoration with a budget of 8.5 million euros (2010-2016) under the direction of architects P. GOOD (Praschl-Goodarzi Architekten). At the same time, as far as possible, the materials and techniques used in 1932 were used, the comfort of the residents was taken into account (new bathrooms in the basements were added, etc.). In addition, the houses were made resource efficient, which was not so easy. their facades could not be covered with polystyrene panels. The foundation was insulated, modern ventilation (with heat recovery) and heating systems were installed (initially, houses were heated by stoves), and as a result, even without facade insulation, the heat consumption was reduced by almost half.

Despite the fact that the Weissenhof was the model for the Viennese village, Josef Frank did not invite any of the architects involved in cooperation to cooperate - in order to give other architects a “say” on the topic of modern dwelling. The Austrian designers included Frank himself, Adolf Loos, Joseph Hoffmann, Clemens Holzmeister and others. Foreign participants were, among others, Gerrit Rietveld from the Netherlands, the Frenchman Andre Lursa, the German Hugo Häring. In addition, the projects of the houses were completed by the Austrians who were already working abroad at that time, Margarete Schütte-Lichotzky, Richard Neutra and Arthur Grünberger.

The foundations were most often brick, less often concrete; the walls were made of bricks, the ceiling of the basement was made of concrete, the floors were made of concrete or wood. All received full interior decoration and furnishings.

Among the 33 types, 22 were block houses, seven were semi-detached houses, three were independent villas, and there was also one "special" type. Out of 70 structures, 53 were built in lines, fourteen were erected in pairs, three were separately. Twelve houses were one-story, 37 two-, 21 three-story. The area of the dwellings varied between 57 and 125 m2, most were 75 m2; the plot reached an average of 200–250 m2. Initially, the village received a solid numbering of houses, but later it was changed to the usual city numbering along the streets.

Semi-detached houses # 6-7, architect Richard Bauer

Fightingergasse 75 and 77

For drawings and historical photos, see here.