Architecture and Modernity : A Critique

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interpenetrate and the boundary is not clearly drawn. In Praunheim, on the other
hand, “inside” and “outside” are very clearly defined.
The formal idiom of the architecture of Das Neue Frankfurt, then, cannot be
described as one of the most radical examples of avant-garde design principles. 82
Perhaps this is also the reason why Giedion displayed relatively little interest in Frankfurt.
83 What is built here does not reach the same level of innovation that Giedion detected,
for instance, in Le Corbusier’s work in Pessac. 84 Even so, taken as a whole,
Das Neue Frankfurt displays a passionate commitment in its treatment of the city
and of urban space. It is not for any unique, dazzling architectural feats that we remember
it. Its qualities lie rather in the fact that it is an example of how to design a
correct and attractive architecture on a larger scale—that of the urban space, the
public domain. The Siedlungen of Frankfurt form a residential environment in which
variety is combined with neutrality, where there is room for both anonymity and involvement,
where one can find a whole range of types of both homes and public
spaces, and where good connections with the city center are combined with the
availability of parks and sports facilities. As far as these qualities are concerned, the
achievements of Das Neue Frankfurt can still be described as exemplary.
Das Neue Frankfurt as Avant-Garde
The magazine Das Neue Frankfurt clearly regarded itself as participating in the international
avant-garde. One can deduce this not just from its rhetoric but also from the
list of its (occasional) contributors that included famous names such as El Lissitzky,
Willi Baumeister, Sigfried Giedion, Adolf Behne, Hans Schmidt, Marcel Breuer, Johannes
Itten, Oskar Schlemmer, and others. Typical is the fact that the dadaist Kurt
Schwitters was invited to give a performance in Frankfurt during the second CIAM
congress in 1929. 85
The international character of the magazine was stressed right from the start.
As May put it:
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Design in the city of Frankfurt am Main will be the main object of our
study. That does not mean, however, that we will limit our circle of contributors
to this city. On the contrary, our aim is to make our pages available
to important figures from all parts of our country and from abroad
who have similar aims in both theory and practice. They will serve as a
stimulus, supplementing what we create here. 86
This explicitly stated affinity with the international avant-garde does not alter the fact
that what was at stake in Das Neue Frankfurt was quite specific. Unlike visual artists
or theater directors, this group had to deal with a sociopolitical and physical context
that limited their freedom of movement. Both the requirements and expectations of
their client—the city government—and the physical presence of the existing city of