The book accompanying the exhibition "Bauen und Wohnen. Die Geschichte der Werkbundsiedlungen" at WerkBundHaus Berlin from September 24, 2016 - April 30, 2017. Under the overall responsibility of Paul Kahlfeldt and Claudia Kromrei, curated by Matthias Schirren with the scientific assistance of Bettina Held.

Texts: Renate Flagmeier, Ruth Hanisch, Bettina Held, Claudia Kromrei, Hans-Dieter Nägelke, Bernd Nicolai, Matthias Schirren, Wolfgang Sonne, Jörg Stabenow
Photographs: Martin Tervoort

With the project of the Werkbundstadt Am Spreebord in Berlin, the Werkbund - almost one hundred years after Stuttgart-Weißenhof - is once again confronting the question of the architecturally appropriate form of a residential quarter. Earlier Werkbund estates have long been regarded as landmarks in architectural history. As experimental housing estates with a model and exemplary character, they were built from the late 1920s onwards, primarily in German-speaking countries or in their immediate vicinity, in order to find exemplary answers to the pressing question of contemporary living and building. With the famous Weissenhof Estate (1925-1927) in Stuttgart, the Brno colony "Nový Dům" (1927/28), the Grüneiche Estate in Breslau (1927-29) and the Werkbund estates in Zurich-Wollishofen (1928-1932), Prague (1928-1932) and Vienna-Lainz (1929-1932), their geographical spread corresponds to the spread of the Werkbund idea in Europe. It was not until long after the Second World War, and then already in the postmodern era, that the title of a "Werkbund settlement" was claimed again. However, with the "Dörfle" in Karlsruhe (1978-1992) and the Werkbundsiedlung Am Ruhrufer in Oberhausen-Alstaden (1984-1989), only two of the numerous plans were built.

The comprehensive publication accompanying the exhibition of the same name shows the path from the Werkbund Estate to the Werkbund City. In its catalog section, it documents realized and unrealized Werkbund estates as well as - with the Niederrheinisches Dorf at the Cologne Werkbund exhibition of 1913-1914 and the Gartenstadt Dresden-Hellerau (1906-1913), whose development was often linked to the founding of the Werkbund - two of its predecessors. In the essay section, renowned architectural historians discuss, among other things, the conditions and preliminary stages of the Werkbund's model housing projects, the specifics of their urban appearance and their reception. A photo documentation by Berlin photographer Martin Tervoort shows the current state of their buildings.

ISBN: 978 3 8030 0815 2