Brahmshof

The developer, the Protestant Women's Association, wanted to offer flats for those residents who – for economic or social reasons – were excluded from the housing market. In addition to the subsidy requirements of the federal government, the city and the canton (construction costs below CHF 500), the programme demanded sophisticated flat types (with changeable living forms and flat distributions) and a diverse range of services (café, school, crèche, maternity centre, offices, studios, available rooms). Beyond the individual case, this programme has general significance – at least for urban outer quarters (which would have justified a public competition instead of a competition by invitation). El promotor, la Asociación de Mujeres Protestantes, quería ofrecer pisos a los residentes que, por razones económicas o sociales, estaban excluidos del mercado de la vivienda. Además de los requisitos de subvención del gobierno federal, la ciudad y el cantón (costes de construcción inferiores a 500 CHF), el programa exigía tipos de pisos sofisticados (con formas de vida y distribuciones de pisos cambiantes) y una gama de servicios diversa (cafetería, escuela, guardería, centro de maternidad, oficinas, estudios, habitaciones disponibles). Más allá del caso individual, este programa tiene un significado general, al menos para los barrios periféricos urbanos (lo que habría justificado un concurso público en lugar de un concurso por invitación). The executed project offers design learning material by illustrating its own and immanent problems of traditional courtyard perimeter developments. The old residential courtyards – such as the Erismannhofin Zurich or the Hufeisensiedlung in Berlin – are characterised by architectural ambivalence: they are neither private nor public. Often they lie fallow, are subject to prohibitions, sometimes they are en vogue and overcrowded.