nacho gias blends kandinsky and van der rohe for bauhaus museum entry

nacho gias blends kandinsky and van der rohe for bauhaus museum entry
all visuals courtesy of nacho gias 

to celebrate its 100th anniversary (in 2019), the bauhaus dessau foundation has announced an international competition for the construction of a bauhaus museum. for the first time, the outstanding collection will be presented to the public in a permanent setting. spanish architecture firm nacho gias’ entry is a friction between two of the school’s most distinct trains of thought, wassily kandinski and mies van der rohe.

brightly colored interior 

kandinsky created a formal and unique language based on music, color, and shapes while van der rohe experimented with transparency, silence, and geometric purity. on one side of the conceptual structure, gias has created a glass box, oriented to the site’s park space to invoke a sense of calm and serenity. however, the colorful palette of kandinsky comes through in full force, actively engaging with the city at large. gias’ goal was to create a unique space, easily identifiable as bauhaus, with an internal rhythm that brings history into the present. 

exhibition area 

kandinsky and mies 

distribution 

urban concept  

sections 

plan 

master plan

project info:

client: dessau city council
type: museum
architects in charge: ignacio gias
collaborators: borja fernádez dominguez, martin tubiana, claire tournier, felicia V ocke
location: dessau, germany
design year: 2015
budget: N/A
size:4.100 m²
program: museum, cafeteria, workshop, offices
status: competition, concept 

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