Gropiusstadt: Sun and Concrete

When Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius was hired to design a housing estate in West Berlin, the wind of change was blowing: the ideas of Modernism – as seen in the nearby Hufeisensiedlung – were to be implemented on a large scale in southern Berlin as a satellite city. Here, too, the motto of “light, air, and sun” was to be realized through modern urban planning, modern technologies, and modern infrastructure, replacing dense tenement blocks and coal fumes.

The guided tour explores the diverse aspects of this ambitious urban development project, highlights contradictions between planning and realization, and provides an insight into the current situation on the ground. The architectural walk leads from the 30-story residential high-rise through expansive green spaces, past public buildings such as schools and churches, and on to contemporary architecture: with the “Center for Language and Movement,” the Berlin architectural firm AFF has added a recently opened project to the post-war modernist buildings.

In cooperation with the Bauhaus Archive / Museum of Design

HIGHLIGHTS
From Vision to Reality Modern urban planning in West Berlin
AFF and the Center for Language and Movement Berlin architects shape what’s next

Project selection

Urban Planning, Infrastructure, Housing, and Culture in Gropiusstadt, including
Ideal High-Rise
Gropius House
Rudower Vogelwäldchen Green Corridor
St. Dominicus Church
Center for Language and Movement AFF Architects