PROJECT DETAILS

Gottfried Böhm: Chorweiler Housing Estate, 1965D–1975

  • Cologne, Germany, Show on map
  • #RES #Precast #Public #EdgeCase #Western Europe
  • Part of a large housing estate, with a reliance on a small human scale. The fair-faced concrete was combined with Pop colors. Among other things inhabitants have complained about the overly idiosyncratic footprints that are almost inflexible – such as unit kitchens in oriels. The project broaches the question of devising strategies for large-scale modernization. Many unusual details also raise the question if the project can be even considered Brutalist in the first place.

  • Exposed concrete painted gray since about 2010. Initiative to preserve the estate. High heating costs, in need of modernization.

    This building was included in the red list, published in our exhibition catalog SOS Brutalism: A Global Survey (September 2017). After a status review on November 22, 2024, it is still classified as red (endangered) in the online database.