The Hufeisensiedlung (literally, Horseshoe) is an architectural development in the south-easterly area of Berlin-Britz. The project, which created 1,000 homes, was carried out by famed German architect Bruno Taut in 1925. In 1924 Taut was hired to direct GEHAG (a private real estate developer, who to this day use the horseshoe image as their trademark) in order to inject the city of Berlin with his signature Bauhaus modern designs.

The horseshoe shape created an encompassing spacial effect, which also allowed for a natural pond to hold center stage in the U. Taut’s designs were truly for the people—his motto, “light, air and sun,” played a key role in his work, which employed flat roofs (often controversially), green space and plenty of window space for the sun to shine through.

Once built, many city residents complained that the developments were too nice for the working class, and the working class were quite pleased. Over 80 years later, some original residents still remain and GEHAG continues to rent out the UNESCO site apartments.