2.4 The Dwelling for Minimum Existence
A
ll of Aalto’s significant designs from his Turku period were underway before
he came into direct contact with CIAM, in other words, before the 1929
conference in Frankfurt am Main, and some were even completed before this.
Both Aalto and Markelius attended the second CIAM conference, Die Wohnung für
das Existenzminimum, which was held in Frankfurt am Main October 24–26, 1929
with “Minimum Apartment” as its theme. The conference was attended by 130 archi-
tects from 18 countries. The Nordic countries were represented by seven delegates.^365
The New York Stock Exchange crashed on the first day of the CIAM conference. The
timing most likely also caused personal difficulties for Aalto, as he was to finalise the
master drawings for Paimio Sanatorium by the beginning of December. Yet the timing
was also most opportune from the perspective of developing the carrying themes in the
Paimio Sanatorium designs.
Frankfurt had been selected as the CIAM conference location owing to its excep-
tionally progressive housing policy, which had been put into action since 1925 under the
leadership of architect Ernst May.^366 The seminar programme included an excursion
to the new Frankfurt residential developments of Höhenblick, Praunheim, Römerstadt,
Bornheimer Hang and Niederrad, which were based on serial production.^367 May suc-
ceeded in engaging many different stakeholders and institutions with either a direct or
indirect interest in aesthetic design. He extended his reformist programme to include
interiors, furniture and home fittings as well as marketing, communications and typogra-
phy relating to the dwellings.^368 The homes were well-appointed and the costs incurred
by the conveniences were deliberately compensated with efficient spatial design.
The international exhibition which was held in conjunction with the conference
on the minimum apartment exhibited some one hundred floor plans from different
countries, designed to the same format. These were also introduced in Die Wohnung
für das Existenzminimum conference publication, with examples grouped by typology
into detached, semi-detached, multi-family houses and special cases. Each example
had their floor area, volume and window area specified. The conference publication also
included English summaries of the key papers given in French or German. The exhibi-
tion then went on tour in several European cities following the conference.^369 Finland
365 Edvard Heiberg and Poul Henningsen (1894–1967) for Denmark; Aalto for Finland; Lars Backer (1892–1930) and
Fritjof Stoud Platou (1903–1980) for Norway; Sven Markelius (1889–1972) and Gunnar Sundbärg (1900–1978) for
Sweden. Giedion 1930a, p. 40.
366 The Mayor of Frankfurt, Ludwig Landmann, had invited architect Ernst May to work as the City Architect and to
lead the housing programme. In the numerous suburbs designed and executed by May and his staff during the
latter half of the 1920s, much attention was devoted to the natural setting, the creation of hygienic living spaces,
proximity to work places, and industrial mass production of housing. Curtis 1996 [1982], p. 249; See also Mohr
2011, pp. 51–67.
367 Nina Blum’s email to the author, December 6, 2011.
368 Barr and May 2011, pp. 91–97.
369 Giedion 1930a, p. 42.