Neues Bauen (New Building) was the German architectural movement of the 1920s and early 1930s that applied industrial methods and social ideals to the housing crisis. The movement produced some of the most influential social housing estates of the 20th century — Siedlungen designed by Ernst May, Bruno Taut, Martin Wagner, and Hans Scharoun.
Berlin's Horseshoe Settlement (Hufeisensiedlung) by Taut and Wagner, Frankfurt's Römerstadt by May, and Stuttgart's Weissenhof Estate (a demonstration project featuring Le Corbusier, Mies, and Gropius) defined the vocabulary: flat roofs, standardised plans, communal gardens, and bright colours. Neues Bauen was architecture as social reform — the belief that better housing would produce a better society.
