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GEDOK House Stuttgart - The Architecture

The first competition in Stuttgart, maybe the first even in the whole of the Republic, to be wholly aimed at women architects; the first house in Germany that was built exclusively for women artists; the first female architect to independently build a house in the state capital: All of these “firsts” occurred in the creation of GEDOK House in Stuttgart. The studio and residential building with its lower ground exhibition and event hall, is part of an ensemble consisting of the five-storey main building, being curiously stacked into a Stuttgart slope of land, adjacent to its enchanting garden with an additional (1958) three-studio terrace; furthermore, situated above another lower ground aspect, the dance hall.

In 1953 the competition jury of GEDOK Stuttgart awarded and commissioned the young architect Grit Revellio, b. Bauer (1924-2013) with the construction; by the beginning of 1955 the artists were able to take up occupancy. In 1958 the house received the prominent Paul Bonatz Architecture Prize. Today the listed building is one of the most outstanding works of post-war modernism.

The architecture meets the requirements of a multi-disciplinary house. There are three variants of studios and studio apartment; the even light on the north, street facing side is particularly appreciated by visual artists. The divided rooms on the south side, with their balconies and the panoramic view over the city combine both a place to live and work. The gallery and event hall on the lower ground are cleverly developed in terms of urban planning. Objective and functional, yet cheerful and open - Grit Revellio has succeeded in finding the perfect balance with GEDOK House Stuttgart.

Text: Kerstin Renz

Further reading about the house and the architect:

• dies.: „Sind die Pläne durchgesehen?“ Grit Bauer-Revellio und das Haus ihres Lebens, in: Frau Architekt. Seit mehr als 100 Jahren: Frauen im Architekturberuf, hrsg. Mary Pepchinski u.a.,Ausst. Katalog Deutsches Architekturmuseum Frankfurt am Main 2017, S. 173-177.

• Kerstin Renz: Raum schaffen für die Kunst – Betrachtungen zum GEDOK-Haus in Stuttgart, in: 50 Jahre GEDOK-Haus Stuttgart, hrsg. Christiane von Seebach, Rita E. Täuber, Tübingen/Berlin 2005, S. 10-27;

• dies.: „Ich war der Schnittpunkt“. Kerstin Renz im Interview mit Grit Revellio, ebd., S. 29-32;