Gropius

During my whole childhood in Brazil I envied kids who lived in high buildings. There seemed to be something magical and sophisticated about those standard homes where neighbours would share the same entrance, the same elevator, greet the doorman and, in some particular cases, even swim in the same pool.

I was a house-kid. My entrance was only mine, my dog had enough space to run around the house and the playground was the charming stone-paved little alley where my three-story house was located. A much better way of living, but that did not impress me at all.

I wanted to live like Christiane F. Call me insane, but her miserable life in Gropiusstadt in Berlin was fascinating to me, an 11 year-old Rio de Janeiro medium-class girl with no severe family issues, let alone drug addiction and prostitution in her everyday suburban life.

Today is Walter Gropius`s 125th birthday. The German archictect founded Bauhaus and opened the way to so many others like Kandinsky and Klee. He introduced the idea of economy in the use of land and habitational construction, applying prefabricated parts previously used in industrial construction for the sake of the working class.

Nowadays I don`t feel particularly attracted by such massive home solutions anymore. And feel relieved to have lived in my boring house in Brazil, not like Christiane F in Germany.

Photo by Gropiusstadt e.V.