würdigen Unterkunft harren. Wären sie damit einverstanden, dass eine geringe Zahl von
ihnen grosse Wohnungen bekommt, während die Masse dafür Jahre und Jahrzehnte lang
ihre Elend zu tragen verurteilt wird, oder nähmen sie lieber mit einer kleinen Wohnung vor-
lieb, die trotz räumlicher Beschränkung den Anforderungen genügt, die wir an eine
neuzeitliche Wohnung zu stellen haben, wenn dafür in kurzer Zeit das Übel der Woh-
nungsnot ausgerottet werden kann?”
67 See Giorgio Grassi, “Das Neue Frankfurt et l’architecture du Nouveau Francfort,” in Grassi,
L’architecture comme métier et autres écrits(Liège: Mardaga, 1983), pp. 89–124.
68 See Ernst May, “Stadsuitbreiding met satellieten,” in Henk Engel and Endry van Velzen,
eds., Architectuur van de stadsrand. Frankfurt am Main 1925–1930(Delft: Technische Uni-
versiteit Delft, 1987), pp. 23–31.
69 The program of the Siedlungenwas by no means confined to housing projects; amenities
such as creches, schools, neighborhood centers, shops, and laundries were also planned.
Shortage of money, however, prevented the building of many of these amenities.
70 During his short time in office (1925–1930), May concentrated primarily on the problem of
housing. It was, however, his intention once the worst housing shortage had been allevi-
ated also to deal programmatically with the infrastructure. Building the Siedlungenon the
outskirts of the city was partially defended with the argument that good road and rail links
with the center would soon be provided.
71 Manfredo Tafuri, “Sozialpolitik and the City in Weimar Germany,” in Tafuri, The Sphere and
the Labyrinth(Cambridge: MIT Press, 1987), pp. 197–233.
72 See Grassi, “Das Neue Frankfurt et l’architecture du Nouveau Francfort”; and Gerhard
Fehl, “The Niddatal Project: The Unfinished Satellite Town on the Outskirts of Frankfurt,”
Built Environment9, no. 3/4 (1983), pp. 185–197.
73 May had worked for some time in Unwin’s office, which gave him firsthand experience of
his ideas and concrete production.
74 The original intention was to build a road linking the Hadrianstrasse with the city center.
(See Dreysse, May-Siedlungen, p. 14.) This never happened, however, and the present
character of the Siedlungof Römerstadt is largely determined by the expressway that cuts
it in two at right angles to the Hadrianstrasse.
75 This little building has turned out to be a meeting place for the residents of this Siedlung,
even though it was not designed for this purpose either functionally or in terms of its site.
See Dreysse, May-Siedlungen, p. 21.
76 See J. Castex, J. C. Depaule, and P. Panerai, De rationele stad. Van bouwblok tot wooneen-
heid(Nijmegen: SUN, 1984), pp. 147–174; G. Uhlig, “Sozialräumliche Konzeption der
Frankfurter Siedlungen,” in V. Fischer and Rosemarie Höpfner, eds., Ernst May und das
Neue Frankfurt 1925–1930(Frankfurt: Deutsches Architektur Museum, 1986).
77 With future developments in mind, the floor plans of the low-rise flats were designed to
include the possibility of making a single family flat out of two small flats on top of each
other. At the end of the 1980s this transformation was in full swing. See Dreysse, May-
Siedlungen, p. 21.
78 Sixty years later there is in fact no longer any question of “monotony”—the alterations,
large and small, that the residents have introduced and the overgrowing of gardens and
lawns make for a scene with plenty of variety. In Westhausen a range of lively community
activities has sprung up and very few of the residents seek rehousing. Dreysse also in-
forms us that Westhausen was a working-class estate (the rents were low enough here
for it to qualify as such!) that was among the most socialistic of the Siedlungen, continu-
ing to be a center of resistance during the Nazi era. See Dreysse, May-Siedlungen, p. 20.
79 Ernst May: “Wir bemühen uns, ruhige, klare Strassenräume zu gestalten, die einzelne
Fassade der Gesamtwirkung des Strassenzuges einzuordnen.” Das Neue Frankfurt,
5/1926–27; rpt. in Hirdina, ed., Neues Bauen, Neues Gestalten, p. 123. (“We aimed to
achieve a calm and clear design of the street areas by subordinating the individual facades
to the effect of the whole.”)
80 W. Boesiger and H. Girsberger, eds., Le Corbusier 1910–1965(Zurich: Editions d’architec-
ture, 1967), pp. 44–46.
Notes to Pages 46–64