Stuttgart: Scharoun House

1927

Architect: Hans Scharoun

Hölzelweg 1, Stuttgart, Germany

Weissenhof Estate

The Weissenhof Estate was built in 1927 as part of the “Die Wohnung” building exhibition, organised by the Deutscher Werkbund and financed by the city of Stuttgart.

During the exhibition, visitors could view the 33 completed houses from the inside and outside. Afterwards, the city rented them out.

Model Houses

Under the artistic direction of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, seventeen international architects presented their innovative designs for modern, healthy, affordable and functional living.

Alongside the model houses in the Weissenhof Estate, there were three other exhibitions: one on modern building worldwide, one on interior design, and one on new building materials and constructions.

Within just four months, the exhibition attracted 500,000 visitors and received worldwide attention.

Avantgarde

The Weissenhof Estate showcased the latest developments in architecture and housing.

A sense of formal coherence was achieved through the avant-garde architectural designs of the contributing architects and the specification of flat roofs.

Scharoun House

Hans Scharoun‘s sculpturally modeled, 107-square-meter single-family house forms the eastern end of the Weissenhof settlement.

The exterior of the house appears asymmetrical and freely dissolved.

Individual rooms stand out as geometric shapes, making the movement sequences inside visible.

The single-flight staircase connecting the first and upper floors appears on the outside as a curved element of the façade.

The iron sheet staircase, similar to those used in shipbuilding, and the porthole-shaped terrace window demonstrate Scharoun’s enthusiasm for the aesthetics of naval architecture.

The two-story dwelling closes with a rounded facade to the north and south.

The steel skeleton is insulated with boards and covered with plaster and pumice boards on the outside. Inside, it is clad with gypsum boards.

Interiors:

The house was designed from the inside out and takes into account the surrounding environment.

Its design is based on living functions, marked by built-in furniture.

Scharoun used geometric color surfaces and spatial axes to connect interior and exterior spaces.

The red ceiling highlights the dining area in the living room and the seating area on the terrace.

The basement contains the heating and coal room, laundry room, and storeroom.

The first floor has an entrance, a cloakroom, a WC, a living room, a dining room, a workroom, a terrace, a kitchen, a utility room, and a bedroom.

Upstairs, there are three bedrooms, a bathroom, and another terrace.

1933–1945

During the Nazi dictatorship, the housing estate was threatened with demolition and sold to the German state for this purpose.

However, the outbreak of war prevented this from happening.

In response, the Kochenhofsiedlung was built within sight of the Weissenhof by representatives of the Stuttgart School.

Three further examples of the Neues Bauen style had previously been built in Stuttgart: the Ziegelklinge estate (1927–1928), the Inselsiedlung (1929–1930) and the Wallmersiedlung (1929–1931).

During the Second World War, an anti-aircraft position was established below the Weissenhof estate. Parts of the estate were destroyed during the air raids on Stuttgart.

After 1945

Some buildings that were only slightly damaged were demolished following the war, while others were severely altered by the addition of gable roofs.

In 1958, the settlement was designated a historical monument.

The remaining buildings were renovated in the 1980s.

The Scharoun House was the first building in the Weißenhofsiedlung to be refurbished. This refurbishment took place between 1979 and 1981, and it was done in accordance with the preservation order.

Le Corbusier World Heritage Site

In 2002, the city of Stuttgart acquired the semi-detached house designed by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret from the federal government.

After three years of faithful restoration, the Weissenhof Museum, which houses historical documents and architectural models, opened on 25 October 2006.

In July 2016, the house was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List alongside the Citrohan House, as part of a total of 17 sites designated as The Architectural Work of Le Corbusier – An Outstanding Contribution to the Modern Movement.

The Weissenhof Estate today

In January 2019, the Stuttgarter Wohnungs- und Städtebaugesellschaft mbH (SWSG) took over the Weissenhof estate from the Federal Agency for Real Estate Services (BImA).

A total of 37 buildings containing 87 apartments are now under municipal ownership.