there is insufficient data on its colour schemes. Not even the slightest fragments of the original colours were left in any of the WuWA houses. Even before the war, some of the buildings were re-plastered. The only pieces of reliable information come from the pre-war professional press. Paint layer testing was only carried out in Hans Scharoun's house which made it possible to determine precisely what colour scheme was used by the architect102. Ilse Molzahn wrote about a glistening white housing estate103. Gustav Wolf also mentioned the uniformity of colour schemes. He believed that the architects accepted the preference for pale colours inside and outside, from white to light pastel shades104. The buildings from the Wrocław estate can be easily considered examples of ”white architecture” which was spreading in popularity across Europe at the beginning of the 30s. Heinrich Lauterbach's house no. 35 confirms this concept. It was arranged in white, black and many shades of grey in which red bookcases and a yellow table were placed, which created a brave and lively contrast. We also know the colour scheme of a multifamily house no. 7 by Adolf Rading. The architect applied three contrasting colours: white, black and red. Using these saturated colours, he divided the rooms into functional sections. To achieve this he not only used the wall surfaces, but also the ceiling which he painted black105. This solution was close to Le Corbusier's concept of colour in architecture, or Mondrian's colour palette taken from the Dutch group ”De Stijl” and from Bauhaus106. Similar combinations of colours were used in house no. 36 by Morits Hadda which proposed red contrasted with black bookcases107. There were also WuWA houses that did not follow the trend of ”white architecture”. Georg Münter commented on the gallery-access house no. 1 by Paul Heim and Albert Kempter, writing that ”on the ceiling of the galleries there was a boarding laid radiantly and thus a pattern was created, highlighted by a grey paint”108. In this case, the approach to the materials used is closer to the expressionist concept by Hans Peolzig (The Four Domes Pavilion and square house in Ofiar Oświęcimskich Street in Wrocław) and to Max Berg (The Centennial Hall)
94 WuWA
5. The 1929 WuWA housing estate
102 Jan Maciej ŻELBROMSKI, Badania stratygraficzne ścian zewnętrznych i wnętrza. Dom dla ludzi samotnych, małżeństw bezdzietnych, projekt Hansa Scharouna, rok 1929, Wrocław ul. Kopernika 9. typescript, Wrocław 1993. Research carried out to assess the need for a historical-conservational study. Jadwiga URBANIK, Agnieszka GRYGLEWSKA, Studium historyczno-konserwatorskie budynku hotelowego przy ul. Kopernika 9 we Wrocławiu. Published research for the National Labour Inspectorate (owner of the building), v. 1–4, typescript, Wrocław 1993. 103 Ilse MOLZAHN, Eine Frau durchstreift die ”WuWA”, ”Schlesische Monatshefte”, Sondernummer – Wohnung und Werkraum, vol. 6, no. 7, 1929, p. 316. 104 Gustav WOLF, Die Versuchs-Siedlung Grüneiche auf der Breslauer Werkbundausstellung 1929, ”Die Wohnung, Zeotschrift für Bau- und Wohnungswesen”, vol. 4, no. 6, 1929, p. 181–196. In: Lubomir ŠLAPETA, Vladimir ŠLAPETA, op.cit., p. 1435. 105 Ibidem. 106 This architect used similar solutions in his other projects. 107 Edith RISCHOWSKI, op.cit., p. 401. 108 Georg MÜNTER, op.cit., p. 443.