Werkbundsiedlung Brno

The Werkbundsiedlung Brno , also known as the Nový Dům Colony ( New House ), is an ensemble of sixteen modern single-family houses that was built in Brno in 1928 by nine members of the Czechoslovak Werkbund . The settlement was built as an architectural exhibition on the southern edge of the Brno-Žabovřesky ( Brno-Sebrowitz ) district.

Emergence

The "Nový Dům" settlement was the first Werkbund settlement outside of the German Reich and the second ever to be built based on the model of the Weissenhof settlement in Stuttgart . The suggestion came from the developers Čeněk Ruller (1886–1956) and František Uherek (1880–1946), who built the settlement on their own.

As early as October 1927, they invited nine mostly young architects, except for Josef Štěpánek, local architects to plan the settlement. The planning applications were submitted before the end of the year. In February 1928 the houses were approved and construction work began. On August 28, 1928, the settlement was opened for inspection. Unlike in Stuttgart, the houses were not presented furnished.

The settlement took up two trapezoidal building sites between Petřvaldská, Bráfova and Šmejkalova streets , which are separated by Drnovická street . It consisted of two detached single-family houses, four semi-detached houses and two rows of terraced houses . All buildings were three to four storeys high, had no basement, were plastered and mostly painted white. The house projects were strongly influenced by the Weißenhofsiedlung. Above all, motifs from the two houses of Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret were used repeatedly. As in Stuttgart, the houses only had flat roofs, some of which were to be used as roof terraces.

Involved architects and their buildings

Surname Works Status photography BAM link Bohuslav Fuchs (1895–1972) Houses 1, 2, 3 (row houses) various smaller conversions, changes to the historical window layout. The picture shows houses 1–2. C192 Josef Štěpánek (1889–1964) Houses 4, 5 (duplex) receive C193 Jaroslav Grunt (1893–1988) Houses 6, 7, 8 (row houses) Mostly in the original state, only the entrances and the adjacent windows have been slightly changed. C194 Jiří Kroha (1893–1974) House 9 (single family house) Massively changed, the huge porch was added later, the original terrace was added, as was the previously vacant ground floor. C186 Hugo Foltyn (1906-1944) House 10 (semi-detached house) heavily rebuilt, window layout changed, structure enlarged, hardly recognizable. Image wanted  C187 Miroslav Putna (1904-1994) House 11 (semi-detached house) heavily rebuilt, window layout changed, structure enlarged, hardly recognizable. Image wanted  C188 Jan Víšek (1890–1966) Houses 12, 13 (duplex) Extension of the free ground floor, enlargement of the building. C189 Jaroslav Syřiště (1878–1950) House 14 (single family house) Brick decorative tape plastered over in the area of ​​the upper floor windows, extension of a garage. left building C190 Arnošt Wiesner (1890–1971) Houses 15, 16 (duplex) largely preserved, two garages added. C191

Another fate of the settlement

The developers intended to sell or rent the houses after the exhibition closed. Since the houses were characterized by numerous planning deficiencies such as bedrooms without daylight and ventilation, they did not find any buyers for the time being. Only one house could be rented. As a result, the payment of the architects' fees was postponed.

The settlement, which is now under monument protection , shows major changes in the building fabric.

literature

• Wilh. Bisom: "The new house". A model settlement in Brno . In: Der Baumeister, Vol. 27, 1929, pp. 71–93.
• Jan Sedlák: Kolonia “Nowy Dom” w Brnie / 'The New Home' housing estate in Brno . In: Stanisław Lose (ed.): Ten wspaniały wrocławski modernizm / That wonderful Wrocław Modern movement , Wrocław 1998, ISBN 83-86642-73-4
• Jindřich Chatrný, Dagmar Černoušková, Pavel Borský (eds.): Nový dům Brno 1928 / New house Brno 1928 , Brno: Muzeum města Brna ve spolupráci se společností INFRAM, as 2018. ISBN 978-80-86549-74-3

Web links

Commons : Werkbundsiedlung Brno  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Arclife: Nový Dům model settlement
• Archiweb.cz: Nový dům Colony (Czech)
• Žabovřesky (Sebrowitz) in the Brno Architecture Manual ( German / Czech / English )

Coordinates: 49 ° 12 ′ 21 ″  N , 16 ° 34 ′ 16 ″  E