Stuttgart: Peter Behrens

1927

Architect: Peter Behrens

Am Weißenhof 30-32, Hölzelweg 3-5, 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.

Peter Behrens Terrace House

The four-story residential complex designed by Peter Behrens consists of four houses with twelve 54- or 60-square-meter apartments.

The stepped structure ensures that the flat roof of the lower house forms the terrace of the upper house.

Behrens intended this type of terrace house to provide access to light and sun, and he considered it the prototype of the urban residential building.

Bau und Wohnung

In 1927, he wrote about his project in the publication Bau und Wohnung (Construction and Housing), which was released for the Werkbund exhibition.

“The greatest building misery exists in the mass rental houses of the large cities to date. …

The ‘terrace house’ I designed is a combination of one-, two-, three-, and four-story houses that are arranged so that the flat roof of the lower house forms a terrace for the higher house behind it.

All first-floor apartments have open spaces in a front garden, which is separated by a wall from the nearest one.

The first floor has balconies that are two meters deep and project from concrete slabs. The second floor has terraces that are the size of the rooms below, with the front wall set back by the depth of the rooms.

On the third floor, some of the second-floor rooms remain as terraces.

Above the third floor of the central wing, a large 144-square-meter roof garden stretches out, providing the benefits of urban open spaces through planting and play areas in the inner city.

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 Behrens residential complex sustained minor damage during the war. In 1950, gable roofs were added to parts of the building and some terraces were enclosed.

Between 1983 and 1984, the building was renovated 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.