100 years of Bauhaus: traveling installation takes the school to 4 cities

The Bauhaus school in Dessau, Germany, was founded in 1919 and conceived by founding director Walter Gropius. The aim was to incorporate the school's fundamental principles and to discuss art and design. In 1923 the institution was forced to close due to the growing Nazi Party. Today, the building functions as a design, research and education center, as well as operating a hotel. To celebrate its centenary in 2019, the institution is launching a challenging project that will take the school’s history to different regions. It is called Wohnmaschine (which means Living House). A 15 m² building-bus that presents the same features as the original building in Dessau, designed by the Berlin architect Van Bo Le-Mentzel.

The mobile building will travel to four cities: Dessau, Berlin, Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of Congo) and finally Hong Kong. During the 10-month tour, the design collective Savvy Contemporary will host a series of symposia and workshops, which aim to challenge and "unlearn" colonial attitudes towards modernity, to develop a more global interpretation of school teachings. Open to the public, the installation begins with four workshops in Dessau, between January 4 and 22, exploring the relationship between colonialism and modernity. "We will confront the relations of coloniality and design, as well as their various visibilities and invisibilities," the professionals explained. from Savvy Contemporary. Wohnmaschine will be in Berlin from 24 to 27 January to coincide with the opening of the 100 Years Bauhaus festival, before arriving in Kinshasa for workshops from 4 to 12 April. Five representatives from the workshops in Kinshasa will travel back to Berlin to share their surveys with 40 students at the Savvy Contemporary headquarters, between July 22 and August 18. &feature=youtu.be