Spanish flu was an influenza pandemic that had a huge effect on 1920s Vienna. Before the pandemic, Vienna was the most populous city of Austria, but approximately 1/3 of the world’s population have died because of the flu. Also, there was World War I going on those years. Everybody was taken to war, so all society was now part of the war. So in the end, the Spanish Flu together with World War I, caused lots of damage for Vienna like economic decreases, lack of food, the need for socialization and jobs, and lack of hospitals. The basic things of living were now a dream. As a cause, the municipality and the state decided to provide social housing for all those people.
Unlike Paris’ change with Haussmann, there were no strict rules about what to build and how to build. Buildings with different heights and different facades were built. So the city was built with diversifications. Lots of huge building blocks take their place in the city. For example, Winarskyhof is the most well-known social housing project of the era. It is a perimeter block with two city blocks, and also the first modern building. Those huge blocks have also huge courtyards, big gardens. That reminds the garden city idea. They have tried to create as much green area as they can.
The Spanish Flu is very similar to today’s pandemic, Covid-19. With this lecture, I saw that we are not in a different situation. With the Spanish Flu, the biggest change was in housing blocks. Now, people had clinics in their apartments, because they have understood the importance of health issues. And another aspect was, each unit of the block was working on in itself. They all get light and natural ventilation. Big courtyards also helped with this issue. A courtyard that big is obviously helps every unit to get light. I wonder if we will also see those transformations in buildings after Covid-19. Probably we will, because even we, the architecture students are started to design projects considering this kind of health issue. I think the designers who have dealt with Covid-19 will be more caring about the health, and this will be the future effect of Covid-19.
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