Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky's Innovative Schools: the modern revolution of objects

Abstract

Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (Vienna, 1897-2000) is recognised in the canon of Modernity thanks to her Frankfurt Kitchen (1927), designed to technify and compact household tasks within the home. This innovation responded to the urban expansion of Frankfurt and the need for housing construction in post-World War I Europe. Simultaneously, the magazine Das Neue Frankfurt (1925-1930) promoted the vision of the idea of Neuer Mensch and a vast social reform that Schütte-Lihotzky extended to countries such as the USSR, China, Turkey, and Cuba. The term object in her work not only refers to the kitchen as a replicable prototype but also to its relationship with the architectural space and the city and how these mobilis can transform life rituals. Some notable examples are their innovative kindergartens, designed with a modular construction system that included cribs, changing tables, chairs, tables, planters, and other objects that make the space more flexible as an organizational and material expression of large-scale progressive education projects. The contemporary relevance of these buildings for children lies in the current global need to rethink educational spaces. Grete implemented these pedagogical pavilions for children in numerous places and revolutionized educational environments with modular and flexible design concepts. Her kindergartens connect the outdoor garden and a large hall where children experience community and celebrate. Children could play everywhere. For the Austrian female architect, kindergartens were like a bridge between home and school life, guiding children from their family environment into the broader community. Her modular construction system facilitated flexibility and adaptability in kindergartens, transforming daily rituals and the relationship between objects and urban environments and demonstrating the social impact of her work by influencing broad social reforms. Schütte-Lihotzky's work remains of ongoing interest and relevance in architecture and education, highlighting her enduring contribution to shaping educational spaces.