A Chronicle of Developments in Housing | Oliver Heckmann, Eric Zapel
1889 Humane Housing Standards Shortly before the advent of modern architecture, ideas on social reform led to improved living standards for the working class throughout Europe. While in England, private enterprises and philanthropic foundations operated freely in the market economy, in 1889, the Société Française à Bon Marché in France and the German Cooperative Law established the pillars for more humane living conditions.
Housing Types for the Urban Bourgeoisie With the industrialization and the growth of cities, specific housing types arose for the urban bourgeoisie as well. Initially laidout with palace-like suites of rooms and built for the upper class, more specific solutions in smaller units were developed for the growing middle class – with representative sequences of rooms along the street and, in many cases, separately organized entrances and areas for servants.
Housing Types for the Urban Bourgeoisie Approx. 1870 Casa Blocco, Via Assarotti, Genoa (IT) This building type emerged from the tradition of city palaces for wealthy families and was adapted to an urban, multi-story residential construction for the middle class. The two apartments per floor are laid out with similarly sized rooms partially offset to one another, revealing an almost use-neutral floor plan organization.
Housing Types for the Urban Bourgeoisie 1897 Brückenallee 4, Berlin (GER), Apartment Types for the Middle Class In essence, most block edge residential buildings in Berlin are morphologically similar, with a load-bearing middle wall parallel to the street facade and a front and rear building with side wings. They often housed residents of diverse economic standings under the same roof. The wealthy looked out over the street, low-paid workers into generally dark courtyards. Apartments for the middle class and substantially larger ones for the wealthy were equipped with separate circulation routes for servants – with their own staircases, hallways, and wings; the living areas of the wealthy were linked in open enfilades.
1897
New Building Type: Apartment House (USA) The row house dominated the streetscape of American cities until the early 19th century. A tenfold increase in the urban population between 1830 and 1870 led to rising land prices. Thus, despite a general distaste for multifamily dwellings, socalled “French flats” were introduced and by 1875 regarded as an acceptable residential model for the middle class. Over time, these buildings expanded in size to cover entire blocks and were equipped with luxurious inner courtyards, penthouses and roof gardens in order to appeal to more wealthy segments of the population.
Apartment House/Housing Types for the Urban Bourgeoisie 1870 The Stuyvesant Flats, New York (USA) – Richard Morris Hunt Manhattan’s first multifamily dwelling had a two-part circulation core – with a main staircase for residents and a second for servants. While the representative rooms looked out over the street, a long corridor led to the rear of the building, where narrow courtyards provided the private chambers with some daylight.
Workers Settlements 1879 Bournville, Birmingham (UK) – George Cadbury (Owner) Spacious semi-detached house type in a workers village with recreational facilities, schools and its own train station.
Apartment House/Housing Types for the Urban Bourgeoisie 1890–1930 Chicago courtyards (USA) The organization of a U-shaped building around a courtyard open to the street became a typical convention for numerous, primarily three-story apartment buildings following the Great Chicago Fire in 1871. Double-loaded staircases are accessed directly from the landscaped courtyard, which serves as a semi-public transition from the street to the individual units.
Urban Housing Shortage 1870 Perleberger Strasse 14, Berlin (GER) Common building type for working families, with shared kitchens and WCs on the intermediate stair landings.
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