Urban infill housing in a post-WWII landscape : housing in the City of Dresden, Germany

Abstract

The goal of this thesis is to develop an approach to reconfigure a district of former socialist housing with two intentions. The first, to create a stronger urban framework in the form of a master plan that is based on the planning department assumptions and values based on my research and analysis. The second, to design housing prototypes that work with the existing housing to achieve the first intention. The basis for the design is in the research of the city and its context, both in the past and present. Essentially, the development of the city can be viewed in distinct periods of growth, each having distinct block and building typologies. The most drastic change in growth occurred during the destruction of the city through fire bombing on February 13/14, 1945. History and context were erased and Dresden's 's were presented with two paradigms of rebuilding. The first was based on the principles of socialist planning and the second based on the order of the city before the war. The first paradigm was chosen as a new approach to urban design during this time period up until the fall of the Berlin Wall on November 12, 1989. This date signifies the rethinking of past ideals and traditions of the socialist city by the Germans, prompting a change in the physical form of the city in the minds of the urban planners and architects of Dresden. Based on an urban structure plan stating development guidelines, competitions were held to redesign specific areas and a master plan was created. This is the premise of this thesis. Unfortunately, their intention in the plan was to develop the major spaces and their edges, leaving areas of socialist housing untouched. Through the understanding of past and present conditions, this thesis focuses on the Seevorstadt West sector with a similar stance as the urban planners and architects in Dresden. The goal is to resolve the architecture and urbanism of socialist Dresden through the addition of new building types not to resurrect the "Florence of the Elbe", but shape the city for the future.