Walther Rist, Waldenbuch, Germany, 1927-28
OfHouses guest curated by AMUNT : “This weekend house was built by Walther Rist, a
rather unknown government architect, for his brother Fritz. During that time,
Rist was lead architect for the Swabian Housing Cooperative (Schwäbischer
Siedlungsverein) and built a house for the Deutscher Werkbund exhibition of
1927, in Pankokweg on the Weissenhof Estate. He also applied his modern
approach and a well-developed system of prefabrication to the weekend house. He
even used the same distinctive two-colored asbestos slate boards for the
facade. Specifically
conceived and optimized for the site, the weekend house in Waldenbuch is very
remarkable in terms of its modernity and in its typological aspects. Instead of
designing an expanded folksy bower or a diminutive farmhouse, Rist designed a
building type according to the tangible needs of living in a weekend and
vacation home. Luckily the house survived intended demolition
during the Third Reich. The
Rist House anticipates the lightness and playfulness of an architecture to
come. Here you can already sense the spirit of 1950s architecture.” (Photos: © AMUNT, Rist Archive.)
