The Bauhaus and associated sites in Weimar, Dessau and Bernau

Description

Between 1919 and 1933, the Bauhaus revolutionised the architectonic and aesthetic appreciation of architecture which had prevailed since the Renaissance, as well as existing methods of design and construction. The buildings erected and furnished by the Bauhaus masters (Walter Gropius, Hannes Meyer, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy and Wassily Kandinsky) laid the foundations for a modernist movement which had a wide-scale impact on 20th century architecture. That is why the Bauhaus and its sites in Weimar und Dessau have been inscribed on the World Heritage List on the basis of cultural criteria ii, iv and vi. This acknowledges the extraordinary universal value of both the underlying pedagogical ideas and the actual architecture itself.

Hannes Meyer, the second director of the Bauhaus, was greatly instrumental in bringing about this revolution. The finished building was the ultimate objective pursued by the Bauhaus in its work, and it was with the new designs produced by the Department of Architecture that this end could first be realised. Hannes Meyer developed a training programme founded on scientific criteria, in which systematic and detailed analyses were made of design problems, for instance by calculating precisely the position of the sun or by examining how people actually used their homes; academic fields such as sociology and psychology were also drawn into the equation. Designs evolved after first organising buildings rationally in accordance with their functions. A central element of the students’ training was a hands-on approach. Consequently, the only surviving buildings to be completely planned and realised as a collaborative project by the Bauhaus are unique testimonials to the Bauhaus concept: the Laubenganghäuser in the housing estate at Dessau-Törten and the federal school of the General German Trade Union Confederation (ADGB school) in Bernau.

(1) Laubenganghäuser (housing with balcony access) in the housing estate at Dessau-Törten (Peterholzstrasse 40, 48, 56, Mittelbreite 6, 14, 06849 Dessau, Sachsen-Anhalt, 51.80299 N, 12.24348 E)

The five Laubenganghäuser, which were first occupied in 1930, together with a construction plan for the expansion of the housing estate at Dessau-Törten, were designed by Hannes Meyer‘s Department of Architecture at the Bauhaus. By combining multi-storey homes connected by balconies and single-storey family residences, an attempt was made to add diversity to the urban landscape, as well as to create a good social mix.

The ninety apartments arranged in rows on three levels, each with a floor space of 48 m2, were designed to have all their living areas facing south, with the adjoining rooms off the balcony facing north, so they could benefit from the sunlight depending on their function. The small apartments enabled residents to enjoy a good quality of life, thanks to features such as bathrooms with enamel tubs, central heating, coal bins and a waste disposal system. Cellar rooms, cycle sheds and tenants’ gardens as well as communal wash-houses with a drying area and a children’s playground were also provided.

The approach to training adopted for the design and construction project was such that theoretical and practical building work went hand in hand. Hannes Meyer described it as the first true ‘collective endeavour’, in which the work of their students – who were paid for their contribution – included design, site management, and settling accounts. The functional optimisation of the floor plans resulted in a utilitarian design of outstanding architectonic quality, while the quantity of materials and components required was reduced to a minimum. With its unplastered façades, the materials and industrial manufacturing process used were visible to the naked eye, and the clarity and close attention to detail of the design could be truly appreciated.

(2) ADGB school in Bernau (Hannes-Meyer Campus 1, 16321 Bernau, Brandenburg, 52.70637 N, 13.54378 E)

The design for a trade union school with accommodation for boarders and teachers was the entry by Hannes Meyer and Hans Wittwer in a competition organised by the General German Trade Union Confederation (ADGB) in 1928; its harmonious setting was to give the impression of a natural landscape. Their plans met the social and teaching challenges set by the ADGB, and they managed to beat off competition from leading architects such as Max Taut and Erich Mendelsohn.

The competition entry was prepared by Hannes Meyer and students from the Department of Architecture at the Bauhaus. The results of using a basic scientific approach to tackle the challenges presented by the physics of the building and meet parameters in terms of lighting, ventilation, acoustics, etc., as well as the studies made of various scenarios, movement patterns and spatial requirements, meant that the building’s spatial geometry and the sequence of rooms could be optimised when the project came to be fleshed out with the help of the students. This was to culminate in the unique umbrella concept of ‘gebaute Pädagogik’ (‘built education’).

The complex includes rooms for communal use – the auditorium, canteen, kitchen and common rooms – as well as a school block with classrooms and a gymnasium. The two areas are linked by a glazed corridor from which the residential accommodation can be accessed. Living quarters for the teachers, sports facilities and an open-air swimming pool on the lake complete the picture.

The architectural language which was adopted, with its close interplay of form, materials and colour and varied lighting scenarios, aimed to stimulate all the sensory perceptions of the students, facilitate community learning, and thereby – in a quite special way – bring about the desired type of social conduct. The same purpose was served by the sensitive integration of the grounds into the surrounding landscape.

If inscribed, the Laubenganghäuser and the former ADGB school would be the final pieces in the jigsaw for the Bauhaus as a World Heritage Site. These are the only surviving buildings to be completely planned and realised as a collaborative project by the Bauhaus. Consequently, they are unique manifestations of the Bauhaus concept under its second director Hannes Meyer, and illustrate the scientifically based design process, which was also influenced by socio-political attitudes and which resulted in the highest standards of architectonic quality being achieved.

Justification of Outstanding Universal Value

The Laubenganghäuser in the housing estate at Dessau-Törten and the former ADBG school in Bernau bear testimony to a scientifically-based design process which was also influenced by socio-political attitudes; they are the unique outcome of the convergence of research, practice and teaching which the Bauhaus strove to achieve. The systematically developed design process resulted in a functional organisation of the floor plans as well as in outstanding architectonic quality as regards the buildings themselves, with their concise, utilitarian forms.

The systematic development of a design based on scientific and social criteria – a considerable achievement on the part of the Head of the Department of Architecture and Director of the Bauhaus Hannes Meyer – was to have a lasting influence on the training of architects and on design methods in the 20th century. The working methods developed here and the buildings designed in accordance with this blueprint had a major impact on later generations of architects. Standard textbooks on design, such as Ernst Neufert’s Bauentwurfslehre, and buildings such as the Ulm School of Design are a case in point.

Criterion (ii): The Laubenganghäuser and the ADGB school bear unique testimony to the approach to architecture favoured by the Bauhaus under the directorship of Hannes Meyer. They are representative of the brief upheaval in architecture and design in 1920s Germany, which still, however, resonates today, and which radically altered aesthetic and architectonic conceptions and values which had prevailed since the time of the Renaissance.

Criterion (iv): In a quite unique way, the Laubenganghäuser in Dessau and the ADGB trade union school in Bernau document the ambition to improve living conditions by developing a new type of construction; they were to have a decisive impact for decades to come.

Criterion (vi): Both the Laubenganghäuser and the ADGB school are representative of the idea embraced by the Bauhaus and by modernist architecture that they could change individuals and society and improve social conditions. They witness to modern architecture’s radical break with the design and construction methods of the past. Increasing the role played by science in the design process and the vital importance of combining theory and practice for trainees at the Bauhaus were innovative achievements on the part of both the institution and its director Hannes Meyer, which had a considerable impact on the later development of design methodology and educational concepts. The high standard of architecture which evolved from this approach is also an outstanding achievement by virtue of its uncompromising aesthetic discipline.

Statements of authenticity and/or integrity

The original, singular quality of the architecture exhibited by the Laubenganghäuser and the wash-houses with their drying area has been well preserved. The brickwork and exposed concrete remain characteristic of these cube-shaped buildings by virtue of their materiality and vibrancy. The apartments, which have been in continuous occupation since 1930, have been repaired and modernised in a low-impact way. The buildings have been under a preservation order since 1987. As a result, the unique architectonic clarity of the buildings, which testify to the rational and scientifically structured approach to architecture favoured at the Bauhaus under Hannes Meyer is still very evident today.

During the period after 1945 in particular, large areas of the former ADGB trade union school were substantially altered or extended. During renovation work carried out at the school for conservation purposes between 2002 and 2006 – and then in 2010 at the teachers’ houses too – it was possible to rediscover the vast majority of the original fabric and, by stripping away later additions, to experience it again in all its integrity and authenticity. Most of the main entrance, which had been covered over in the 1940s and 1950s, had survived, creating a window into another time. It was an integral part of the overall concept, which included altering the position of the main entrance to meet the requirements of the time. The buildings demonstrate that even modernist buildings can mature, and that they can still impress us eighty years on with the quality they display in terms of function, construction and design.

Comparison with other similar properties

As the only surviving buildings to emanate from the Department of Architecture at the Bauhaus, the Laubenganghäuser and ADGB school bear unique testimony to the ideas promulgated by the Bauhaus. Unlike other buildings of this structural type, their importance goes further, because with the innovative approach to training and the design process which they embodied, they had a lasting influence on the development of architecture in the decades to come. Consequently, no comparable buildings exist.