Architecture and Modernity : A Critique

The result is a Siedlungin which all the elements are present that will later

lead to a trivializing and instrumentalizing of the functionalist principles, but still one

where the freshness of the ideas and the enthusiasm of the designers strikes one

immediately. The repetition of the same units over and over leads to a monotony

here that is not cheerless, but makes for an atmosphere of solidarity.^78 The extreme

simplicity and asceticism of the design were less a result of the need to keep costs

down than of a desire to invite the residents to participate in a new and contempo-

rary style of living.

To sum up, the architecture of Das Neue Frankfurtis calm and not at all ex-

treme. The contrast with tradition is striking but not totally pervasive. The rejection

2

Constructing the Modern Movement

34

Plans of the low-rise buildings
in Westhausen: one apartment
on the first floor and one on
the second.

35 Plan of a typical apartment

in the four-story blocks

designed by Ferdinand Kramer.