Piotr Kaczynski, awarded our 3DReid Lee Harris Bursary 2021, presented his photos and findings to our London studio last week.
Piotr’s visit took in a selection of the Werkbund-inspired estates designed in the 1920s & 1930s:
Osada Baba (1932) – Prague, CZ
Kolonie Nový dům (1928) – Brno, CZ
Werkbundsiedlung – Vienna (1932), AT
Weissenhofsiedlung – Stuttgart (1927), DE
Before moving to London & joining 3DReid Piotr was living in Wroclaw, Poland, the location of one of these exhibitions (Wohnungs- und Werkraumausstellung (WuWa) back in 1929, when the city was part of Germany). Knowing the history of Wuwa – he was always curious what other estates were like.
Modernists faced the poor quality of housing from XIXth century and were under the influence of the Great War, influzenza pandemic & were facing ever-growing cases of tuberculosis. Nowadays – we might be in a different place – but we have again faced a great pandemic and realized how important the living environment is for both physical & mental health. Additionally, as back then – architecture is facing a new change/shift to more sustainable goals. Piotr was inspired to review this previous transformation now, when we are on the precipice of a new, green era.
Piotr took us with him on a journey of his experiences, memories, thoughts, new books and hundreds of pictures – not only from the estates but also from the cities they are located in. We are pleased to share some of those photos with you too.
