Architecture and Modernity : A Critique

houses no longer built face to face, but giving them all an identical orientation, so that
front and back facades look out on each other. The main argument for this Zeilenbau
is its attractive orientation and the possibility of creating identical dwellings everywhere,
this implying not only that money was saved but also that each individual was
treated equally.
Open row design is nonhierarchical; it is not centralized but based on seriality,
with identical rows of identical housing units, reminding one of the factory line. In
Riedhof an extremely interesting modification of this principle was applied. The
Zeilenbau, which theoretically can be extended to infinity, is locked into highly articulated
boundaries. At the eastern end of every row there is a hook-shaped enclosure,
which in an initial movement increases the space between the rows, forming a court-
27 Public space on a bastion in
Römerstadt, looking into the
underpass leading to a footpath.
2 Constructing the Modern Movement