魏森霍夫住宅Weissenhof Houses No.14/15
This asset is created by 玉子米糕Marscarpone
Architecture is the masterly, correct, and magnificent play of masses brought together in light.
Architectural Design : Le Corbusier, Pierre Jeanneret
Construction Year : 1927
Project Location : Stuttgart, Germany
In 1926, Le Corbusier was invited to contribute to the Weissenhof Siedlung Exhibition. Initiated by the Deutscher Werkbund and curated by Mies van der Rohe , the exhibition opened in Stuttgart the following year. Mies planned the site on a city viewing hill, shaping the entire complex as an abstract sculpture of elemental rectangular volumes. At its core stood his own apartment with a "compact plan + open interior." The two ends of the site featured distinct styles — Hans Scharoun’s work exuded expressionist dynamism, while J.J.P. Oud created human-scaled row houses through modular design.
Le Corbusier was tasked with designing two adjacent houses in the southeast corner of the exhibition area. For this, he developed two upgraded versions of his Citrohan House concept: one single-family residence and one duplex house consisting of two side-by-side units. The former was supported by cylindrical concrete pilotis, while the latter rested on slender steel columns — their exaggerated length appearing somewhat unconventional. To ensure quality light and views, Le Corbusier also emphasized ribbon windows and roof terraces.
The three-story "duplex house" provided living space for two families. The two units were nearly symmetrical in structure, each with a central core serving as the staircase. The entrance was located on the ground floor, beneath the elevated pilotis platform. Upon entry, a foyer connected to a cloakroom, boiler room, underground coal storage, laundry room, maid’s room, and storage space. The upper floor featured a living room. Behind the staircase was a small dining area, with a kitchen and bathroom at the end of the corridor.
The main space was a large, flexible living area, flooded with natural light during the day through horizontal ribbon windows. The roof level included a roof garden and sunbathing terrace. Another distinctive feature was a study hidden behind the staircase — placed there so users could work late at night without disturbance. Meanwhile, the narrow corridors sparked controversy. Le Corbusier responded: "Like a train corridor, movement is not cramped" — his intention was to compress circulation space to create a more open, light-filled core area for daily living with unobstructed views.
When the organizers first saw Le Corbusier’s representational drawings, they were struck by their lyricism and claimed to perceive a "distinctive French character" in them. In the subsequent myth of modernism, the Weissenhof Siedlung Exhibition came to be seen as a landmark event marking the international recognition of the new architecture. At the time, critics and observersly recognized the methodological differences between Le Corbusier and his peers—such as Walter Gropius’s relatively rigid buildings, the more constrained functionalism of some other German architects, and Hans Scharoun’s freer formal experiments.
The Weissenhof Siedlung Exhibition in Stuttgart was immensely popular in Germany, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors within just a few months. Le Corbusier intentionally designed his two exhibition buildings to challenge the status quo and inspire reflections on alternative lifestyles. They succeeded brilliantly, eliciting a wide range of responses—from enthusiastic praise to the sharpest criticism. Hans Hildebrandt claimed to see in them "architecture that honors the ages and national identity" as well as "contemporary symbols pointing to the future." The Swiss architect Hans Schmidt praised the open floor plans but questioned whether the sliding internal partitions could guarantee the privacy needs of families. He admired the lyricism of the forms yet suspected the residences might be impractical during Stuttgart’s winters. Walter Riezler, editor-in-chief of Die Form and official correspondent of the Deutscher Werkbund, hailed Le Corbusier’s buildings as "the best works of the exhibition—the only truly pure expression of the new ‘architectural attitude’: a testament to maturity, boldness, and the genuine modern spirit." He also praised the concept of elevating the upper structure on pilotis: "It is a highly intelligent idea to use all available construction technologies today to lift the house off the ground and connect it with sunlight, views, and open spaces, thereby creating an entirely new type of dwelling unit."
This exhibition served as a practical manifesto for Le Corbusier’s Five Points of a New Architecture :
1. Pilotis : Raising the building on steel/concrete columns to free up ground space;
2. Free Plan : Walls no longer constrained by load-bearing, allowing flexible layouts as needed;
3. Free Facade : Exterior walls independent of load-bearing, enabling free window placement based on light and views;
4. Horizontal Ribbon Windows : Creating transparency through full-length glass strips;
5. Roof Garden : Compensating for occupied ground space with greenery.
"A house is a machine for living in" — Le Corbusier interpreted this phrase through precise design, and Houses No.14/15 are a prime example. Serving as a transition between "Towards a New Architecture" and the Villa Savoye, they stand as a manifesto of Le Corbusier’s architectural revolution. The Weissenhof Exhibition itself is a core historical record of modernist architecture.
The Weissenhof complex suffered damage from aerial bombings during World War II. After restoration efforts by various sectors of society, the original appearance of the buildings was preserved. Today, Houses No.14/15 operate as an open museum, showcasing their interior spaces and the history of the Weissenhof Exhibition.
Information about the corresponding Low-Density Residential Building Model :
Main Mesh Polygons : 2344
LOD Polygons : 200
Textures: 1024*1024, Diffuse, Specular, Normal, Ambient Occlusion
Optimized and tested, this asset has been uploaded to the Cities: Skylines Steam Workshop, available for free to all players. You can place it on a quiet forest hillside to create a vacation villa (some critics argue the building would be even more perfect by the sea), or use it as a low-density residence for organic growth, adapting to various scene needs.
For inquiries, please contact via QQ: 2179067523. Thank you!
Update 1: Optimized the building’s exterior facade
Update 2: Changed the cover
Update 3: Reduced the file size
