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<p>Social policy in the interwar Czechoslovakia focused on the development of social housing. In Bratislava the establishment of new institutions and the related arrival of the Czech middle class of civil servants induced social change in the city population and its housing conditions. This necessitated the construction of modern residential blocks, which stabilised the internal urban structure and urbanised the outer city. A significant contribution to that field would be attributed to construction entrepreneur Rudolf Frič. Although the Slovak historiography exclusively presents him as a builder of civil engineering structures, his portfolio was more complex. The aim of the paper is to identify and critically evaluate Frič’s both architectural and construction work in the field of social housing in interwar Bratislava. The study focuses on projects of housing cooperatives, private rental blocks and partly on examples of city social housing. Cooperatives with the highest socio-economic relevance were set by the Bank of Czechoslovak Legions, for which Frič designed or constructed several buildings, such as the residential urban structure “Legiodomy”, housing colony in Koliba or the polyfunctional buildings of Legiopojišťovna and LUXOR. Frič's construction portfolio also includes individual projects of rental houses for smaller cooperatives, both in the compact city centre and at the then urbanising outer city peripheries. A specific case was housing for members of the army, like the residential blocks for military veterans in Bratislava. A critical category was social housing for the poorest and unemployed represented by the City rental house with habitable kitchens and the smallest-size flats. Finally, the paper examines private houses, the rental residential block of Irma Hanke and Helena Hudečková and the Trojan &amp; Švarc polyfunctional department. Frič, as a construction entrepreneur, designed rental houses for his own employees, which all reflect the influence of private investors on the social and urban changes of the then modernising Bratislava metropolis.</p>
</abstract>

Social policy in the interwar Czechoslovakia focused on the development of social housing. In Bratislava the establishment of new institutions and the related arrival of the Czech middle class of civil servants induced social change in the city population and its housing conditions. This necessitated the construction of modern residential blocks, which stabilised the internal urban structure and urbanised the outer city. A significant contribution to that field would be attributed to construction entrepreneur Rudolf Frič. Although the Slovak historiography exclusively presents him as a builder of civil engineering structures, his portfolio was more complex. The aim of the paper is to identify and critically evaluate Frič’s both architectural and construction work in the field of social housing in interwar Bratislava. The study focuses on projects of housing cooperatives, private rental blocks and partly on examples of city social housing. Cooperatives with the highest socio-economic relevance were set by the Bank of Czechoslovak Legions, for which Frič designed or constructed several buildings, such as the residential urban structure “Legiodomy”, housing colony in Koliba or the polyfunctional buildings of Legiopojišťovna and LUXOR. Frič's construction portfolio also includes individual projects of rental houses for smaller cooperatives, both in the compact city centre and at the then urbanising outer city peripheries. A specific case was housing for members of the army, like the residential blocks for military veterans in Bratislava. A critical category was social housing for the poorest and unemployed represented by the City rental house with habitable kitchens and the smallest-size flats. Finally, the paper examines private houses, the rental residential block of Irma Hanke and Helena Hudečková and the Trojan & Švarc polyfunctional department. Frič, as a construction entrepreneur, designed rental houses for his own employees, which all reflect the influence of private investors on the social and urban changes of the then modernising Bratislava metropolis.

Contribution of Rudolf Frič to the social architecture of interwar Czechoslovakia

Slovak University of Technology, Faculty of Architecture and Design

Architecture Papers of the Faculty of Architecture and Design STU

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Social policy in the interwar Czechoslovakia focused on the development of social housing. In Bratislava the establishment of new institutions and the related...

Contribution of Rudolf Frič to the social architecture of interwar Czechoslovakia

Publié en ligne: 19 juin 2023

Pages: 47 - 59

Reçu: 14 avr. 2023

Accepté: 06 juin 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/alfa-2023-0012

Mots clés
social policy, social housing, housing cooperatives, block of flats, apartment block, rental house, interwar Czechoslovakia, Rudolf Frič

© 2023 Matúš Kiaček, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Contribution of Rudolf Frič to the social architecture of interwar Czechoslovakia

Publié en ligne: 19 juin 2023

Pages: 47 - 59

Reçu: 14 avr. 2023

Accepté: 06 juin 2023

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/alfa-2023-0012

Mots cléssocial policy, social housing, housing cooperatives, block of flats, apartment block, rental house, interwar Czechoslovakia, Rudolf Frič

© 2023 Matúš Kiaček, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Mots clés
social policy, social housing, housing cooperatives, block of flats, apartment block, rental house, interwar Czechoslovakia, Rudolf Frič