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Bauhaus Masters Estate
Isometric plan by Walter Gropius
Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin
© VG Bildkunst Bonn |
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Topping-out ceremony
15. November 1925
Photo: unknown
© Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin |
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Introduction
In 1924 the State Bauhaus in Weimar was in crisis as a result of the
political opposition of the Thuringian government. Negotiations concerning
the takeover of the institute were conducted with Frankfurt am Main,
Mannheim and Dessau. In 1925 Walter Gropius dealt with the mayor,
Fritz Hesse, about the establishment of the Bauhaus in Dessau. He
was not only promised a building for the school, but also a row of
houses for the lecturers or 'masters' of the Bauhaus.
A site on the then Burgkühnauer Allee, within walking distance
of the Bauhaus, was chosen for the director's house and 3 semi-detached
houses. As with the Bauhaus, the contract was awarded by the City
of Dessau. The Bauhaus masters were tenants but their demands as to
size and special furnishings were not exactly modest.
Large ateliers were available for the artists here. Their glass
fronts are the most noticeable design element of the houses. Alongside
the unity of form and function there is a remarkably intensive rendition
of colour - Kandinsky and Klee used their rooms for fascinating
experiments with the design element of colour.
A new style of living was also to be demonstrated in the Masters'
Houses. Gropius' house especially had a number of details worth
noting, from the walk-in wardrobe to the hot water pressure spray
in the scullery and the double sofa which could be opened out. This
was to confirm the forecast Gropius made in 1930 with reference
to the interior furnishings of the Masters' Houses, "today's
luxuries are tomorrow's norm".
"the organism of a house evolves from
the course of events that have predated it. in a house it is the
functions of living, sleeping, bathing, cooking, eating that inevitably
give the whole design of the house its form... the design is not
there for its own sake, it arises alone from the nature of the building,
from the function it should fulfil" "...architecture has
not exhausted its raison d'etre, unless we consider our emotional
needs for harmonious space, for melodious sounds and for room to
move, that first bring the space to life, as the purpose of reaching
a higher order".
(Gropius 1930, bauhausbauten dessau)
"The
Bauhaus Society and its Guests"
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