Le Corbusier House at Weissenhof Estate
construction
- 1927
- Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret
renovation
- 1983 — 1984
- Staatliches Hochbauamt Stuttgart
renovation
- 2002 — 2005
- Architektur 109, Arne Fentzloff, Mark Arnold
The Weissenhof Estate is one of the world’s most important architectural monuments of classic modernism. It was built in Stuttgart in 1927 as part of the German Werkbund exhibition “Die Wohnung” (The Dwelling). Under the direction of Mies van der Rohe, 17 architects from five European countries participated, among them prominent representatives of the New Architecture movement, such as Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier and Hans Scharoun. The unique ensemble that established lasting standards for modern living was created in just 21 weeks of construction.
When the housing complex was built, the now world-famous architects were known only in professional circles. With the clear, austere and minimalist architecture of its white, cube-like buildings, the Weissenhof Estate attracted international attention. Striking, recurrent features are also the typical flat roof and long strip windows as well as the materials glass, steel and concrete.
Among the best-known buildings at the Weissenhof Estate are the single house and double house by Le Corbusier. Both buildings, with their roof terraces and bright, airy rooms, embody Le Corbusier’s theory of proportion. They demonstrate his functional maxim of a “New Architecture”, according to which houses are not representational objects but utilitarian ones – so-called “machines for living in”. Together with 16 other works by Le Corbusier, they were inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2016.
The estate as a whole has been listed as a historical monument since 1958. The Le Corbusier House has been open to the public since 2006 as the Weissenhof Museum, giving visitors a unique chance to view inside. The history of the Weissenhof Estate, which has sparked many architectural and political debates over the decades, is presented in the left half of the double house.
In the other half, its mirrored twin, there is a walk-through exhibit that reproduces the original furnishings from the time of the 1927 Werkbund Exhibition. Here, visitors can see Le Corbusier’s innovative and variable design of space and colour, which is exemplary for the economically efficient and radically modern ideas of urban “New Living” that were formulated at Weissenhof. [KM/DK]
Map
Map legend
- UNESCO world heritage site
Contact and opening hours
Address
WeissenhofmuseumRathenaustraße 1-3
70191 Stuttgart
conveying formula
Förderformel
Die Sanierung und Wiederherstellung wurde gefördert durch die Wüstenrot Stiftung Ludwigsburg.
