Siedlung Römerstadt, new objectivity in muted colours

This social housing estate, built after plans by Ernst May as part of the New Frankfurt Initiative is located north of the city centre of Frankfurt between Praunheim and Heddernheim. It is a good example of early modernism, especially New Objectivity. Römerstadt (literally City of the Romans) was so named after the Roman Castrum Nidda that was n part situated here.

This housing estate was designed with the aim of maximising the site at low cost. Thus the slope was terraced and the housing was arranged along long residential streets that follow the slope. The north-facing entrances -on the right) have a porch. The opposite side of the street is graced with a public garden planted with attractive (fruit) trees.

 

The family houses all have a back garden and a simple awning over the front door. The family houses were built in long rows as terraced housing in two storeys with a flat roof. The south-facing facades (left) make most of the sun and look out over greenery. North-facing facades (right) across the street have smaller windows and a more elaborate entrance with a double porch.

 

Another typical residential street with the difference in facades. On the right a sliver of a higher apartment block that emphasises the corner. These 4-storey blocks segment the long streets and give them a sense of rhythm. The plans originally didn't consider parking spaces, hence the cramped profile. Luckily the strip of green wasn't sacrificed to make more room for car parking!

Streets are interconnected by footpaths that are on a slope and hence have steps. They are indicated by openings -on the corner- of the long rows of housing. In contrast to later modernism, the houses have colourful facades, here a pink tone is used.

On the corners and where the line of the street jumps higher buildings are used to emphasise these point within the whole estate, thus providing a better sense of place. The apartment blocks on the ends of the long rows of family houses are all four storeys with a light sienna render that contrasts with the lighter colours used on the facades of the family houses.

The high apartment blocks follow the curve of the central downward road that links the two sections of the Römerstadt Estate. These buildings in white render are foreboding what will later be typical modernist architecture. The horizontality of the design with the ribbon windows is broken by the stairwells with the round windows

A longer block of apartments, with a high retaining wall along the street to manage the slope, is broken up by the protruding sections indicating the stairwells. Vertical ribbon windows emphasise these features adding to the segmentation of the long facade.

Towards the Forum -all streets are named in accordance with the Roman heritage of the site- stairs provide access to this street further up the slope. Concrete square arches are used to demarcate these pedestrian passages.

In the eastern section of the estate the streets all curve. The family housing in several muted colours -soft pink, green and off-white- closely follow the curve of the street. Internally all houses have a similar floor plan, except for these houses that are of a slightly bigger type.

Also in the eastern section long stepped paths connect the streets at the different levels. A gateway in the long row of terraced housing indicates the passage. The south-facing houses have the same concrete awning as those in the western section. The expanse of grass is a communal strip of greenery aimed at providing a controlled streetscape. This is often more successful than relying on front gardens. This was realised in German urban planning of the 1920s.

Another image of a street on a curve. The concrete porches on the north-facing facades are clearly visible. The walls in front of the entrance are lower than in the western section as these houses were built on a lesser slope.

The high wall on the southern edge of the estate was designed with protruding bastions. These have been planted with trees that give shade, so these spots are better suited as a vantage point towards the city beyond the Nidda river. Each bastion is emphasised by an apartment block with facades rendered sienna. On the outside the wall is clearly visible as a 3 metre high sharp edge to the estate.

On the footpath along the wall one has a lovely view across the allotment gardens towards the city of Frankfurt. The skyline is clearly visible in the distance. The high-rises didn't exist yet when this estate was built however.