Homes must be primarily functional, economical, sustainable, to have ample spaces and to own different facilities only for the inhabitants. At the beginning of the twentieth century appeared the trend for functionalism, which was manifested by reducing some decorative elements of a building in favor of the extension of inhabited spaces. Van der Rohe’s concept “less is more” has been applied since then. I always liked the old houses, but if we talk about some homes from the past that can be easily built today, then I think we can apply these methods from the beginning of the last century.
I found an interesting example of housing for low-income lone citizens in the city of Strasbourg, where I live now. The difference between the panel housing from the 1960s and those built in the 1910s is huge, and the awareness that the architecture is degrading is painful.
In 1910, in a city at the edge of the German Empire, the capital of the Land of Alsace-Lorraine, the plan of redesigning some streets on the Grande Île neighbourhood was implemented. In Strasbourg work began on the Neu-Strasse, which was interrupted by World War I and ended in the 1960s. It is important that the work started under the German administration, which managed to demolish the unhealthy dirty old houses and build new ones instead. The main idea was to make a systematic route for the trams, but at the same time the appearance of the boulevard was modernized. After the demolition, there was a need to build new homes for those who were left homeless. The people from those old houses represented the working class, too poor fo the new apartment buildings that replaced their homes. Thus, the new buildings for them had to be compact, simple and cheap, but at the same time they had to comply with the modern housing standards of that period. One such building is the Ledigenheim which today is called Foyer du Célibataire (Home of the single).
The Ledigenheim building was built for the single people expelled from the demolished houses and, of course, was equipped with small apartments. The main entrance of it was designed to refer to the new buildings on the Neue-Strasse (New Street). Construction of the building began in 1909 and was completed in 1911. German inscriptions were removed after the city passed under the French administration in 1918.
The rooms offered good living conditions. They were much cleaner and functional. Each room has a window that allows permanent ventilation of the room. Residents also benefit from electric lighting.
The building also had a restaurant based on the Reform-Restauration system. This facility was influenced by the Lebensreform movement which, as a reaction to urbanism and materialism, proposes a return to nature.
It was also equipped with a popular education space that gives the residents ways to keep their cultural growth. It also had a table games track, which helped the residents to escape from the temptations of the city.
🖋️ Text by Cătălin C. Crețu
📸 Photography via Archives de Strasbourg
📌 The Bunget Arts & Culture 2020
The Bunget Arts & Culture 