Gropiusstadt

Gropiusstadt is an area in Neukölln, designed by Walter Gropius. Gropiusstadt's planning began in the 1950s, but the building of the Berlin Wall in 1961 necessitated serious amendments to the plan. Because the neighbourhood stood on the border with East Germany, the buildings could not be as spread out as was originally planned. Gropius believed the buildings should be no more than five stories high, but because of the lack of space they had to be much higher--Berlin's highest residential building is in Gropiusstadt, with 30 floors. The final design also had much less green space than Gropius had intended, and the Berlin Senate made changes to the plan against Gropius's wishes.

After visiting Gropiusstadt, I was left with mixed feelings regarding the aura and layout of the space. With only a prior knowledge of Gropius from his article, “Who Is Right? Traditional Architecture or Building in New Forms” my group and I were left to discover Gropius’ manifestation of the ideas he presented in 1926. While walking through what was Gropiusstadt, I was quickly able to recognize what Gropius perhaps had in mind for his utopia. Although the Bauhaus architect actually wished to have his design spread out over a larger amount of land, the general positionality he was aiming for, I believe, was achieved. Much of the land being used exploited space in the way he wished to, with large connections of housing. However, many of these buildings were taller than the architect originally had intended; this perhaps plays into the eerie feeling a visitor might experience when walking among the maze of functionalist housing on Johannesthaler Chaussee. Gropius also argued that mass prefabrication would not diminish individuality amongst housing units, as only structural elements would be copied and not whole buildings. However, I was aroused by a diverging impression of Gropiusstadt. I felt many of the buildings to be similar to the point of conformism. Although decoratives and variety are aesthetic, I feel that their presence is essential to human life. Being expressive is – in my opinion – a healthy way to continue existing in an often oppressive world, wherein artistic creativity is a cathartic outlet. Therefore, I do not believe that, in the words of Gropius, “variety exhibits senseless waste”. -Michelle

While walking through Gropiusstadt I couldn’t help but feel very isolated. The area was a ghost town, with inner streets that wound through the interior of the apartment complexes. It seemed desolate and shops were rarely seen. Instead of creating uniqueness from within unity, monotonous structures bared down on the viewer. Gropius’ vision to exploit the surrounding area with standardized buildings can certainly be felt in Gropiusstadt. All the buildings seemed to be built from the same building materials, and although most of the buildings were not exactly the same, they seemed to have a sense of uniformity about them. His dream to make a living area “orderly and calming through unity” fell short for me. Instead, it seemed oppressing and lacked a sense of community. In fact, the buildings seemed to create a wide gap that isolated people from reality. I believe spaces that seem to be more compact and individualistic create a stronger sense of community. The citizen is constantly surrounded by people and can create distinctive areas through the distinctive change of scenery. -Max