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1987 |
1st International Walter Gropius Seminar: Building in the City (experiments for compatible
modes of construction) |
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1989 |
2nd International Walter Gropius Seminar: Inner-City Renewal based on the example of the
Bauhaus City of Dessau The idea for an Industrial Garden Realm takes shape |
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1990 |
Plans are designed for Wallwitz Harbor - a wasteland The K.I.E.Z. project is launched |
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1991 |
3rd International Walter Gropius Seminar: (Bauhaus City -the first module of the Industrial
Garden Realm Project) The »first public claim« of Wallwitz Harbor Urban renewal projects are launched in the Bauhaus environs and in historically important parts of Dessau |
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1992 |
International competition »future bauhaus« (the »academy of tomorrow«) is held |
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1993 |
The idea for a »path of urban development« takes shape |
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1994 |
An international congress, »People's Economy«, is held on urban renewal and local economy K.I.E.Z. receives the Freiherr vom Stein Prize |
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1995 |
Initial preparations are launched for relocating the Federal Environmental Protection Agency
in the former »gasworks district« |
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1996 |
/ 97 Brainstorming workshops are held on urban renewal |
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1998 |
/ 99 The »path of urban development« is opened for the EXPO Brainstorming workshop is held for a masterplan for Dessau |
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from a modernist »city« to urban culture of the future
Dessau is the city of the Bauhaus. The city, located on the Elbe and Mulde rivers, is the place
of reference of Modernism. In 1925-26, the Bauhaus made Dessau its home, establishing itself as
a school of design. For the first time in its history, the Bauhaus had the opportunity to
realize the architectural ideas it had developed and propagated. Even today, the buildings
erected here continue to attract tourists from all over the world. Bauhaus City is the
Modernist »dream« or design of a city or a totally new model, intended to replace the old
city completely.
Modern urban development in the 20th century promised light, air, sun, a home, a car and work
for everybody. This was a progressive goal. However, the historical city - its spatial quality
and cultural diversity - lost out, even on a conceptual level. The constructed result was the
desolation of an amorphous automobile-compatible settlement which had got out of hand. And it
was the same everywhere! Although the Bauhaus was not to blame for this calamitous state of
affairs, it had certainly contributed its share. And it was only in the sixties that Bauhaus
teacher Ludwig Hilberseimer made a retrospective, critical evaluation of the urban-planning
achievements of Modernism: »The result was more of a necropolis than a metropolis, a sterile
landscape of asphalt and cement, inhuman in every respect.«
Modern industrial developments also left behind wastelands, disused buildings, and industrial
plants destined for demolition today they offer astonishing perspectives for (re-)claiming a
city fit for humans. Using them imaginatively opens up new possibilities for urban culture.
Examples: Wallwitz Harbor is a desolate former industrial harbor at the edge of town
which has
inspired a number of ideas and designs for a residential, commercial
and recreational area.
The first public »claim«,
a »wasteland festival«, changed people's perception and prevented
overhasty demolition and construction work. The site is still »lying fallow«, and waiting for
suitable solutions.
With the K.I.E.Z. project, the first municipal information and residents' center was established
in North Dessau in a residential area dating from the Gründerzeit (the rapid phase of industrial
expansion in the latter third of the 19th century). Today the K.I.E.Z. has a theater and a
cinema, a media workshop, a café and other amenities.
The »path of urban development«, which arose from a Bauhaus idea, is a path for information and
activities that runs through the city. Urban development and artistic enactment of public space
combine to create new elements of urban culture. Apart from having become the site of Bauhaus
festivals, the path also provides space for numerous other activities.
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