In this Bauhaus centenary, one often gets the impression that this laboratory of modernism was a trailblazer for pretty much everything. Its combination of industry, art and craft, its teaching methods, publications, the notion of the Gesamtkunstwerk... And last but not least, a holistic understanding of aesthetics, which many architects still value today as their personal guiding principle.

Conservators at the Bauhaus Dessau do not only handle steel, glass, or concrete, but also plastics such as Triolin. How far are they willing to let plastics show their age? And what does the centenary imply for future conservation work?

The Bauhaus shifted perspectives further afield. Modernism turned familiar perforated façades into glass envelopes – thereby providing an unobstructed view of the outside world. What role does the outdoors play in the Bauhaus? What is its understanding of the countryside and green areas we live in? And how does the Bauhaus period inspire the design of open spaces today?

The Gutenberg Museum in Mainz presents the special exhibition “ABC. Avant-garde – Bauhaus – Corporate Design”, documenting Bauhaus typography that revolutionised graphic and communication design and remains globally influential to this day. We took the opportunity to talk to the font designer Erik Spiekermann. Together with typographical experts and students, he has completed and continued to develop classic fragmentary fonts by several Bauhaus masters. 

100 Years of Loheland colony. The Loheland colony in the foothills of the Rhön mountains was seen in the Weimar Republic as a provocation: here, women were empowered through gymnastics training to live self-determined lives. Like the Bauhaus, Loheland is also celebrating its hundredth anniversary this year. Elisabeth Mollenhauer-Klüber, together with Michael Siebenbrodt, has curated the anniversary exhibition in Vonderau Museum and explain what the emancipatory project was all about.

The foundation stone for Lafayette Park was laid in Detroit on 22 November 1956. It was here that Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Ludwig Hilberseimer turned their ideas of flowing space and a New City into reality. Today the former industrial metropolis is the iconic image of a shrinking city – and Lafayette Park is an island in the middle of the eroding city.

From the rhythmical noise of the Bauhaus band to the inspiring art of the fugue, to the performances of contemporary composers: Life at the Bauhaus was always accompanied by background music, though it was not even on the curriculum.

An Interview with Jean Molitor

Since ten years the photographer Jean Molitor has travelled all over the world to capture modernism’s architectural testimonies for posterity. His archive against decay documents both Bauhaus icons and many unknown treasures. On the occasion of his exhibition in Chemnitz – which includes many regional buildings – we spoke to him about 100 years bauhaus and 10 years bauh1haus.

In the research project “The Bauhaus in Oldenburg – avant-garde in the province, which was launched in 2016, we set out to find traces and to take a closer look at the regional Bauhaus history. The findings show: Oldenburg is a must on the Bauhaus map!

Hardly any discipline added to the regular teaching curriculum at a later stage, was as present at the Bauhaus as photography. John Grimes, professor emeritus of the Institute of Design, the New Bauhaus’ follow-on institution, and expert for the development of computer-supported digital imaging, gives an overview of 100 years of enthusiasm for imaging – from Dessau to Chicago, from the darkroom to the Cloud.

The Bauhaus did not only bring together art and craftsmanship, but also surprisingly many couples. On the occasion of Valentine’s Day we will have a closer look at some of the love stories at the Bauhaus.

The grand Bauhaus Year 2019 will be inaugurated with a large-scale opening festival in Berlin. For one week, international artists from the fields of dance, theater and music will be devoting their attention to contemporary topics within the context of the Bauhaus’s performative inquiries.