First Prize ex-aequo for a spanish team in the Bauhaus Museum Dessau

Assessment of the Jury for project by Gonzalez Hinz Zabala.

The new Bauhaus Museum – an elongated bar  running parallel to Kavalierstrasse – can  be seen as an iconographic legacy – “less  is more”. The glazed foyer level provides a  link between urban city life and the City Park, inviting visitors into the museum.

Its specific setting within the city space  continues inside: an easy-to-read, floating, black exhibition space, the definition of the black box.

The glass envelope cloaking the building  defi nes both the reception area with its  visitor services and temporary exhibi- tion space and provides maximum curatorial  freedom in terms of fl exibility of use. It  draws on the Bauhaus’s desire to be an “open  school”.

The design sees itself as a new form of  Bauhaus stage for the public with all age  groups being invited to take part in the  life of the museum. It is possible to reach  the outside from the museum’s educational  facility and visitors to the café also have  direct access to the green space.

Visitors reach the upper floor via two stair-way areas. They are very compact in design  and the interplay between the spaciousness of the foyer and the intimacy of the stairways creates a tension which heightens  curiosity about the collection display.

The flexibility of the first floor provides a genuinely multi-use exhibition space - from  traditional cabinets to large-scale installations and projections. At the end of the exhibition visitors return to the ground floor with access to the museum shop.

The logistics and administrative areas are  logically sited in the northern part of the  ground floor and on the mezzanine. A convenient delivery route is provided from Friedrichstrasse.

This design is an excellent entry in terms  of both the functionality and flexibility of the space, creating a museum building that is a tool for the expression of activity and productivity, creativity and social interaction.

It remains to be seen how the desired  openness of design on the ground floor can be  reconciled with the need to set boundaries  and create space in the temporary exhibition area.

As the exhibition space on the upper fl oor is  a little small, a slight increase in depth  would be an option.

The facade illustrated is not advantageous in energy terms and a successful overall  climatic design is required.

Despite the slight vertical exaggeration of the enclosed space, the design would appear to be feasible within the specified budget.  But with the suggested design higher operating costs can be expected.

The design makes a successful contribution  to the question of the exhibition machine and the museum as a place of learning. 

Description of the project by Gonzalez Hinz Zabala.

The new Bauhaus Museum Dessau links an iconographic heritage ("Less is More") with a manifesto of contemporary culture ("The Age of Less").

A bridge structure in which the collection will be presented, hovering as a closed body over a permeable public space for temporary exhibitions, events and workshops.

The glass covered and protected volume allows the continuity of the Bauhaus not only as part of the museum activities but also as part of the city of Dessau.

On the one hand, the volume includes an urban space, on the other hand, its transparency allows an interaction between street and museum, between city and park.

Our project offers playful contrasts as heaviness and lightness, opacity and transparency, system and flexibility, order and spontaneity.

The museum is an instrument and a catalyst for expressing activity and productivity, creativity and social interaction that altogether corresponds with the idea of the Bauhaus.