Stuttgart: Weissenhof Estate Residential Complex Mies van der Rohe

1927

Architect: Mies van der Rohe

Am Weissenhof 14–20, Stuttgart

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

During the exhibition, the 33 realized houses could be viewed from the outside and inside. Afterwards, they were rented out by the city.

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

In addition to the model houses in the Weissenhof Estate, there were three other exhibi­tions on modern building worldwide, interior design and new building materials and constructions.

Within just four months, 500,000 visitors came to see the exhibition, which had a worldwide resonance.

The Weissenhof Estate showed the then current develo­pment of archi­tecture and housing.

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

The four-story apartment block, designed by Mies van der Rohe, contains twenty-four apart­ments ranging in size from 48 to 80 square meters of living space.

The construction was done as iron framework with brick infills.

Only stair­cases, kitchens and bathrooms are unalterable.

All other areas can be used flexibly through non-load-bearing interior walls made of pumice boards or plywood panels.