Wasserhaus (Münchenstein)
The Wasserhaus-Siedlung is a residential area in the Neue Welt quarter of Münchenstein in the Birseck area ( half-canton Basel-Landschaft ) in Switzerland .
location
New World is the name given to the area that arose with the settlement of industry on the uppermost part of the St. Alban Pond . The canal was artificially created in the 12th century. In 1624/25 it was extended upwards through the Brüglingen plain in the direction of Münchenstein to the Birswasserfall. Here the water for the canal is diverted from the Birs .
At the beginning of the 20th century the big turning point came, water use declined as a result of electrification. Today, also for this reason, there is a small power plant ( hydroelectric power plant ) at this point .
The Wasserhaus settlement is located on the left bank of the Birs between the industrial plants of the New World and the waterfall.
history
During the 20th century, the Basel agglomeration developed for the first time beyond the cantonal borders into rural communities. Shortly after the First World War, the plains along the left bank of the Birs saw intense construction activity.
The Wasserhaus settlement was built by the building cooperative of the same name, which emerged from the Basel Association for Industrial Agriculture and Internal Colonization. The Wasserhaus cooperative was founded by industrialists. During the war, the cooperative mainly focused on the production of food, and after the end of the war it began building housing.
As a counteraction to the hopeless hygienic and social conditions in the overcrowded tenements in Baselstadt, attempts were made to explore social and ethical goals with the resettlement of the rural communities.
The water house settlement project was not subsidized by the federal government, but financed and organized by regional industrial companies. The settlement represented a private-sector alternative to the Freidorf settlement in Muttenz , which was built at the same time and financed by the federal government . The Freidorf settlement, built in 1919–1921 by Bauhaus architect Hannes Meyer, is one of the most important settlement buildings in Switzerland from the period between the First and Second World Wars. These single-family house districts were characterized by a high quality of living, also because they were extensively green.
The Wasserhaus settlement is still considered a model case today and, because of its model character, was included as a special case in the inventory of protected sites in Switzerland (ISOS).
architecture
The plans were drawn up by the architect Wilhelm Eduard Brodtbeck from Liestal on the basis of drafts by Hans Benno Bernoulli . The first project envisaged a clearly structured settlement with 100 houses. The center of the settlement should be a rectangular communal house, which should be surrounded by trees together with a meeting place. For financial reasons only part of this plan could be realized in 1920/21 without the connecting central elements.
The original development plan was based on two parallel access roads, which were lined on both sides by eight blocks of houses. The north-south orientation of the streets resulted in optimal tanning of the houses. Between the blocks were deep strips with a double row of gardens. The first project envisaged a large plot of land for horticulture in addition to the settlement. On this "planting land" further houses were built in 1995-98.
Personalities
Roger Federer spent his childhood in the Basel suburbs of Riehen and in the Wasserhaus (Münchenstein).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Inventory of protected sites (ISOS)
- ↑ Star Database - Roger Federer. September 11, 2013, accessed July 2, 2016 .
Coordinates: 47 ° 32 ' N , 7 ° 37' E ; CH1903: 613,701 / 263977
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