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Concept of the exhibition and the WuWA housing estate
3.1 The Werkbund exhibitions and model housing estates In the interwar period, the Werkbund was preoccupied with finding new solutions for affordable houses and flats that were much in demand at the time. The exhibitions in the 20s and 30s acted as a kind of review whose crucial elements were the model housing estates presenting new concepts of form, colours, materials, construction technologies, and interior design of the dwellings. The new solutions for living space, which were totally different from the existing ones, became the subject of research. The designers wanted to achieve the maximum effect with minimal surface area and minimal cost. On the initiative of the German Werkbund and its regional Swiss, Austrian and Czechoslovakian counterparts, many of the model housing estates were built within five years. They were the following: in 1927 – Weissenhof housing estate in Stuttgart for the exhibition ”Contemporary Dwelling” (”Die Wohnung”); in 1928 – housing estate ”New Home” (”Nový Dům”) in Brno in the district of Žabovřesky, for the exhibition ”Contemporary Czechoslovakian Culture”; in 1929 – housing estate in Wrocław for ”the Living and Work Space Exhibition” (WuWA – ”Wohnung und Werkraum” Ausstellung); in 1931– housing estate ”Neubühl” in Zurich in the district of Wollishofen; in 1932 – housing estate ”Baba” in Prague in the district of Dejvice; and in 1932 – housing estate ”Lainz” in Vienna. Each of the estates had its own regional and national characteristics and were influenced by the then prevailing situation in the Werkbund. Their construction took place from 1927 to 1932 so at the time of economic growth and crash. The estate authors were not given the same full artistic freedom in each location. For example: in Stuttgart, the only imposed element was the flat roof; in Brno, Prague and Vienna
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