Berlin exported its modernist aestheticof the 1920s around the world but its own examples of Bauhaus-stylesocial housing had long gone unrecognized. Until now. On Monday UNESCOgave six properties in Berlin the World Heritage seal of approval. The 1920s marked Berlin`s golden age when it became the creativecenter of modernism in art, literature and architecture. It is,therefore, fitting that the United Nations Educational, Scientific andCultural Organization {UNESCO} has now added six prime examples ofmodernist architecture in the German capital to its list of WorldHeritage Sites. On Monday the UNESCO committee, meeting in Quebec City, Canada decided to award the World Heritage status to the six housing estates dotted across Berlin {more...}.The justification was that these buildings were an "outstanding exampleof the building reform movement that contributed to improving housingand living conditions for people with low incomes." What made thesesocial housing projects particularly special was that they weredesigned by the leading architects of the day, including Bauhausfounder Walter Gropius, as well as Bruno Taut and Hans Scharoun. The estates were built between 1913 and 1934, and include thefamous horse-shoe-shaped complex in Britz, the Siemensstadt and WhiteCity estates, the Schillerpark settlement and the Falkenberg GardenCity, as well as the Carl Legien estate in Berlin`s trendy PrenzlauerBerg district. Their construction took place at a time and place when socialcommitment and the modernist aesthetic combined: the Berlin of theWeimar Republic. The right to decent housing had been enshrined in thenew 1919 constitution and in Berlin particularly strict newconstruction rules were enforced. All new apartments in the city had tohave a separate bathroom and kitchen, as well as a balcony. While thatmight not seem particularly revolutionary by today`s standards, at thebeginning of the 20th century, most of Berlin`s working classes livedin dark, unhygienic and over-crowded tenement buildings.
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