Wohnzeile, Weissenhofsiedlung | Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Germany | 1927 | soft form

Description

In Mies van der Rohe's apartment block for the Weissenhofsiedlung, the initial floor plans are completely open plan apart from one or two internal structural columns. To one side of the stairs is a smaller apartment of 45m² or and to the other side a larger one of 72m². Bathrooms and kitchens are pushed against the party wall and stair enclosure. Four identical of these units, staircase plus small and large apartment, are set repetitively next to each other (Haus 1, Haus 2, Haus 3 and Haus 4) into one long Zeile or row. The combination of open plan spaces and services arranged around a core is similar to the flexible principles of the speculative office block, where generic space is provided for the client to fit out as they wish.

Van der Rohe then called on others to finish these raw spaces with internal partition walls, demonstrating both the ideological basis and the real practicality of his approach to flexibility.

The large apartment on the ground floor of Haus 1, designed by Lilly Reich, features two living rooms, one bedroom, a kitchen and one bathroom. On the first floor of Haus 3, the Austrian architect Franz Schuster planned a apartment for a childless couple: one bedroom, living room, a large kitchen and a bathroom. On the second floor of Haus 4, the Schweizer Werkbundkollektiv proposed a bachelor apartment with a room for a piano and a small study separated from that room by a moveable partition wall. Next door, the larger apartment is fitted out by the same architects to accommodate two bedrooms (one with a double bed and the other one with two single beds), a small dining / living room and a study. Other architects engaged in Mies van der Rohe's project included Adolf Meyer, Rudolf Frank, Richard Lisker, Arthur Korn, Brüder Rasch, and Adolf Schneck.

References

Berger, P., 'Für die Zukunft planen', Wohnen, 2003, pp. 43-44.
Kähler, G., 'Kollektive Struktur, individuelle Interpretation', ARCH+, 1989, pp. 38-45.
Kirsch, K., Die Weißenhofsiedlung : Werkbund-Ausstellung »Die Wohnung« – Stuttgart 1927, Stuttgart: Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt GmbH, 1987.
Periàñez, M., L’habitat évolutif: du mythe aux réalités, Paris: PCA, 1993.
Schneider, F., ed., Grundrißatlas Wohnungsbau - Floor plan atlas: housing, Basel: Birkhäuser, 1994.
Simon, C., and T. Hafner, eds., WohnOrte – 50 Wohnquartiere in Stuttgart von 1890 bis 2002, Stuttgarter Beiträge, Stuttgart: Landeshauptstadt Stuttgart, 2002.
Stankard, M., 'Re-covering Mies van der Rohe's Weißenhof : The Ultimate Surface', Journal of Architectural Education, 55, 2002, pp. 247-56.