Ehn, Karl (1884-1957)

Austrian architect. He trained at the Wagnerschule, Vienna (1904–7), and emerged as one of its most promising students. After completing military service in 1908, he worked for the city of Vienna as architect to the XXII district until 1914. After World War I he returned to the city architect’s office, where, in the aftermath of defeat, social issues and housing problems in particular dominated the city’s building programme. He joined the Sozialistische Partei Österreiches (SPOE) and as an architect was drawn into the debate over the rival merits of suburban low-density cottage developments, often self-built, and those of high-density city-centre block housing. He generally identified himself with the policy of the latter although he built some low-density housing. In 1922, when funds for housing first became more readily available, he designed a six-storey block on the Balderichgasse, a restrained interpretation of traditional Viennese urban design. In the next year he planned the Hermeswiese Siedlung, a low-density, predominantly two-storey suburban development in a simplified vernacular manner.