Werkbundsiedlung Prague

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maule House - architect J. Gočár
House Kytlica - architect J. Gočár
Suk House - architect H. Kučerová-Záveská
Palička House - architect M. Stam
Mojžíš-Lom house - architect J. Gočár
Zaorálek House - architect L. Žák
Janák House - architect P. Janák

The Werkbundsiedlung Prague or Siedlung Baba (Czech: Výstavní kolonie na Babě , Osada Baba ) is a model housing estate opened in 1932 in the Dejvice district of Prague . It has been under urban protection since 1993.

history

The organization of the Werkbundsiedlung took place at a time of upheaval (1928–32). The global economic crisis had just left deep marks in export-oriented Czechoslovakia and the initially ongoing boom in the construction industry was fading. Architectural greats like Le Corbusier , who once had a significant influence on Czech modernism, were overthrown by their admirers and various other currents such as B. Russian constructivism had its influence in Prague.

Although no major architectural concepts were developed in the Vltava metropolis in this area of ​​tension, the ideas that came together from both East and West played a major role. The framework planning for the settlement was the task of the Czech architect Pavel Janák ; the individual houses were not planned according to a unitary principle, but individually. Nevertheless, basic principles can be found in the various architects.

About a month after the end of the Vienna Werkbundsiedlung , the Werkbundsiedlung in Prague opened on September 7, 1932. The exhibition, also called Baba , was the first of its size in Czechoslovakia. An exhibition planned in 1928 by Václav Havel, the grandfather of the future president, failed because only two villas were built.

Choice of location

A south- facing slope north of Prague in the Dejvice district offered itself as building land . With a gradient of approx. 20% to the Vltava lowlands, Prague lies at the foot of the settlement. This became one of the main criteria in the urban development. Pavel Janák suggested building in a checkerboard style, with the access roads following the contour lines . The two streets Na ostrohu and Na Babě are therefore relatively flat and Nad Paťankou , Jarní ulice down the slope.

Project work

The planning efforts for urban development took about three years to reach the final solution. In the end, a concept prevailed in which the buildings were erected “on a gap”, which enables each building to have a view of the Hradschin .

In a competition on December 16, 1929, the Czech Werkbund announced the buildings to be constructed. These were free-standing minimal houses in a row. Ultimately, none of the designs awarded in the competition were pursued. The initial concept was subject to constant changes, building owners rejected basic structures in the drafts, left the project or some also exchanged their plots.

Construction phase

The groundbreaking ceremony took place on April 25, 1932. From then until the opening in autumn, seven companies built the first 20 houses:

  • Munk, Řezáč, Zaorálek, Vaváček, Lisý, Joska, Bouda, Dovolil, Letošnik, Suk, Čeněk, Poláček, Herain, Balling, Heřman, Palička, Uhlíř, Sutnar, Maule and Janák

The Lužná, Bautz and Kytlica buildings were started in autumn; Košťál, Jirouškova, Moravec and Linda were added in 1933-34. 1934 added Julius happy one his house, in the years 1935 /36, the villas Bělehrádek and Lom were added. Four row house groups planned to the north were replaced by six single-family houses in 1935-40. When looking at the settlement, the building by the architect Antonín Černý catches the eye with its wide cantilevered cornices and a hipped roof , which are atypical in the settlement .

Monument protection, Baba today

The Werkbundsiedlung is still very well preserved today. Several houses are still completely in their original condition (House Herain (22), Mojžíš (21), Bouda (8) and Maule (32)). Only in a few cases, garage extensions have an extremely negative impact, and some additional layers and porches have to be built To be criticized. However, it is extremely positive that only three houses, namely Suk, Špíšek and Zaorálek, have undergone extensive renovations.

architecture

Basic principles in the designs

The structure is cubist and box-shaped, with all buildings facing south towards Prague in accordance with the topography . This can be seen both in the floor plans and in the opening behavior. Most of the houses that were built until late autumn 1932 have a strict two-wing scheme with the functional rooms in the north and the living areas facing the view. The facades initially give a uniform appearance with smooth plastered surfaces, but rustic stone plinths and reef plastered facades can also be found in buildings erected later . With one exception, the roofs were designed as flat roofs , which are mostly used as roof terraces.

Space program

The spatial programs of the individual designs were individually tailored to the client's wishes, so residential buildings were created from the minimal house for the childless couple, as was intended in the design competition, to the single-family villa with caretaker's apartment. Multi-family houses and collective houses were also considered. The space economy was applied particularly to minimal houses (mostly two-wing types) through remarkable solutions in relation to multi-purpose rooms and their variability .

Vila Sutnar

Construction and materiality

In contrast to the other Werkbund settlements, there were no experiments in the field of building technology in Baba . Since the builders had little confidence in the new building methods - the thin walls of the skeleton construction were not convincing - the constructions were mainly determined by them. Ultimately, 12 houses were built as reinforced concrete skeletons, some as mixed constructions and again 13 as completely solid structures . The floor slabs were cast in reinforced concrete with a thickness of 8 to 22 cm throughout Baba . The insulation of flat roofs was usually with cork, the outer walls with Heraklith accomplished. The steel construction , which is widespread in Czechoslovakia , was not used, as was the topics of prefabrication and industrialized construction .

Building technology, equipment, surfaces

The houses are mostly heated by a coal-fired hot water central heating system, and the first hot air central heating system developed at the time was also used (in the house of the publisher Polacek). The window constructions used range from the traditional wooden box windows to the double-glazed steel accordion windows to the steel-wood composite sashes installed by Ladislav Zák. After prior agreement between the architects and builders, five smooth plywood models were installed as interior doors throughout Baba.

When it came to floor coverings, a choice was mainly made between linoleum , rubber, xylolite or, in some cases, traditional parquet floors . The interior walls were generally smooth, white-painted plaster.

Furniture and partitions

Most of the model houses were presented to the visitors furnished, as was usual with Werkbund estates. The houses of the architects Ladislav Žák, Antonin Heythum and Hana Kučérová-Záveská, who otherwise also worked as interior designers, stood out. Some examples:

  • Hana Kučerová-Záveská uses design methods similar to those used in general buildings in Baba for her furniture. The room-dividing furniture and built-in cupboards can be opened / closed with scroll bars or can be expanded with opening flaps and sliding elements. Whereby the highest precision is required from the craft.
  • Jan Evangelista Koula , who has also dealt theoretically and journalistically with topics relating to furnishings and living, works with relatively free and variable floor plans. The kitchen and living area on the ground floor and the bedrooms on the 1st floor are only separated by furniture and cupboards.
  • Ladislav Žák works in the Zoralek house with fold-out wall cupboards and deals with the topic of seating. The repertoire ranges from the couch, which is once connected to the wall, another time free in the room as well as a night camp, to simple contrasting themes such as light and heavy, angular and round or it covers a simple, gently curved tubular steel frame with voluminous cushions. In this way he emphasizes the beneficial balance between the soft fabric edges and the angular linoleum-covered room.

Outside areas, gardens

Only five of the houses have direct access to the surrounding outdoor area, but this cannot be justified with the sometimes very steep slope, as relatively flat gardens can only be reached from the street. In Baba, the inside-outside relationship was thematized, although there are large bands of windows and generously glazed areas, there is a clear separation between nature / garden and living. Open areas were generously laid out in the form of roof terraces and balconies, which of course also has to do with problems with the topography (slope of the slope up to 20%). It is interesting that the residents have changed a lot in 60 years of use, but have retained this separation between garden and living. This suggests that this concept is in no way perceived as a disadvantage or a limitation.

Builders and residents

The entire settlement was financed by private builders, which was not a matter of course with such model settlements. This also led to a more individual design of the individual houses, which led to criticism from “scientific” architects such as Karel Teige . The builders came completely from the ranks of the Czechoslovak Work Federation. Almost all genres of art were included, names such as Cyril Bouda for painting, Pavel Janák for architecture, Ladislav Sutnar for graphics and design. Furthermore, ministerial councilors, artists, craftsmen, art historians , writers , translators , publishers , composers , sociologists , the historian and university professor Julius Glücklich , and the physician Jan Bělehrádek were represented. When the Nazis occupied Prague during the Second World War , not a few had to leave Baba. a. the director of the Prague sample fair František Munk to the USA , where Ladislav Sutnar was able to gain a successful foothold as a graphic artist. The communist regime from 1948 to 1989 interpreted Baba as a bourgeois intellectual experiment of the Masaryk Republic (1918 to 1935).

Involved architects and builders

literature

  • Stephan Templ : Die Werkbundsiedlung Prague 1932 / The Werkbund Housing Estate Prague . Birkhäuser, Basel / Berlin / Boston 1999, ISBN 3-7643-5991-9 (German and English ISBN 0-8176-5991-9 (Boston)).
  • Stephan Templ: Baba . Osada Svazu Čs. díla Praha. Zlatý řez, Praha 2001, ISBN 80-901562-4-X (Czech, original title: Die Werkbundsiedlung Prague 1932. Translated by Jana Tichá).

Web links

Commons : Osada Baba  - collection of images, videos and audio files

swell

  1. ↑ Funkční krása vilových domů dejvické Baby oslňuje Pražany již 80 let

Coordinates: 50 ° 6 ′ 55 ″  N , 14 ° 23 ′ 11 ″  E