Monopitch roofs

The term refers to the predominant roof form in the World Heritage housing estates. Strictly speaking, a monopitch (or pent) roof is the most common variation of the flat roof. The usual inclination of a monopitch roof is about 4 degrees, just enough to allow rainwater to run off to one side. This model has two distinct advantages: First, it increases useable living space on the upper floor and second, construction is much cheaper than for a traditional triangular gabled roof, which is elaborately tiled by hand. However, proponents of traditional design thought it strange to ditch the triangular gable and roof truss, and fierce disputes erupted between the two camps. Construction of the Horseshoe Estate, for example, was halted when it became clear that gables, which were perceived as typically German, should be eliminated from the design of the "Red Front" section of homes. The same conflict was bitterly thrashed out around the leafy housing estate in Berlin-Zehlendorf called Onkel-Toms-Hütte. The "Zehlendorf Roof Controversy" pitted traditionalists of the neighbouring Fischtalgrund Estate against advocates of the Modernist housing style as practised by Bruno Taut, Otto Rudolf Salvisberg and Hugo Häring.

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