Bauhaus Dessau Foundation

The Bauhaus Dessau Foundation is a foundation under public law. It is a place of research, teaching and experimental design. The Foundation was established in its present form in 1994 by the federal government, the state of Saxony -Anhalt and the city of Dessau and has its headquarters in the historic Bauhaus building in Dessau. The foundation has about 60 employees.

History of the Foundation

After the closure of the historic Bauhaus in Dessau on September 30, 1932 went 44 years until the Bauhaus building was re- used in the spirit of its original purpose. For the 50th anniversary of the Bauhaus building in 1976, the East German government had let the house landmark status reconstruct and establishes a "Scientific and Cultural Centre ". In addition, we started to build up a collection on the history of the Bauhaus and played back on the Bauhaus stage. In the workshop space, training and design seminars of the GDR Academy of Architecture, the College of Architecture and Civil Engineering Weimar and the Office of Industrial Design took place. 1986 celebrated the GDR, the reopening of the Bauhaus as a "Center of Design ", docked at the East German Ministry of Construction.

With German unification seemed completely open for several years, as it should go in Dessau. On 9 February 1994, the Federal Government, the State of Saxony- Anhalt and the city of Dessau founded, finally, the " Bauhaus Dessau Foundation ."

The new institution was included in the list of cultural lighthouses in the new federal states and was henceforth regarded as the " total state significance ". The foundation has been applied, " to preserve the legacy of the historical Bauhaus and made ​​available to the public and to convey " and " to contribute to the problems of shaping today's living environment, given the ideas and approaches of the historic Bauhaus ".

Line

From 1994 to 1998 Rolf Kuhn was director of the Foundation, his successor Omar Akbar was until 2009 in office. Since 1 March 2009, the management of the foundation was in the hands of the Berlin architect and journalist Philipp Oswalt; Deputy Director was Regina Bittner, at the same time responsible for the area of the Academy. In November 2013, the Board of Trustees, a new tender for the post of Director for 2014 decided, as confidence was disturbed to Oswalt. Oswalt left the Bauhaus after five years from March 1, 2014 will be succeeded by the Berlin-born Claudia Perren, currently Architecture professor in Sydney. It is expected to take office on 1 August 2014.

Order and structure

In addition to preserving, studying and promoting the Bauhaus heritage, the Foundation is devoted to the city - its contradictions and cultural force in the tension between population growth, globalization and technological revolution. The new Bauhaus is thus the urban challenges of our time, explores options for the future and develops pulses of Architecture, Design and Performing Arts.

Collection and Archive

The Foundation's work is based on three pillars of content. In Dessau is the second largest collection on the history of the historical Bauhaus with about 26,000 objects, particularly in relation to the Dessau period 1925-1932. A " treasury " store objects, graphics, sculptures, paintings, drawings, photographs, furniture, teaching and writings of members of the Bauhaus discounts. Historic building elements and materials, photos, documents, plans and reports of witnesses to support the work of scientists at the site. Some of the objects from the collection can be viewed in a permanent exhibition, which is located in the basement of the Bauhaus building.

The Academy

The Academy is the pillar of teaching. In 1999, with the International Bauhaus Kolleg a one-year interdisciplinary curriculum in English that teaches architects, urban designers, artists, culture, humanities and social scientists from around the world regularly. The Bauhaus Kolleg XIII, which starts in October 2011, will deal with the so-called Levittown, American suburbs, designed by William Levitt and his company Levitt & Sons. In addition to the program addresses the Academy every year an international summer school from where employ young participants from all over the world the example of the Dessau Bauhaus buildings with actual questions of architecture, urban planning and design.

The workshop

The workshop is devoted to in the context of the Bauhaus heritage of present projects. Here intertwine research and design. One of the biggest projects of the workshop area has been the International Building Exhibition on Urban Redevelopment Saxony -Anhalt 2010, which has developed in 19 medium and small cities of Saxony- Anhalt projects to address problems of population decline. Subsequently, the workshop is currently addressing future scenarios for the shrinking region of Saxony- Anhalt.

Other activities

With the Bauhaus stage as a platform for contemporary forms of music and dance, and with the exhibition spaces, the Foundation is dedicated also to the equally historic heritage as design issues of the day. 100,000 visitors from all over the world come every year to Dessau to visit the famous Bauhaus by Walter Gropius, Hannes Meyer, Carl Fieger, Georg Muche and Richard Paulick. In the course of over 5,000 guides in this knowledge is mediated by the cultural heritage. Guests of the Bauhaus, the Foundation offers a wide range of day visit to the one-year college stay. In addition to the inspections of buildings and exhibits them to participate in the numerous events, workshops and other educational opportunities, conduct research in the library or spend the night in the studio wing of the Bauhaus building in the world cultural heritage.