A New Bauhaus?
Bauhaus and the 21st Century University
In September of this year, the Mi:Lab team attended the Building the Post-Pandemic University Conference held by the University of Cambridge. In it, we were struck by Professor Clive Holtham’s call for a new Bauhaus — an alternative kind of university of practical wisdom, creativity and co-creation unmoored and untainted by the market forces of the 21st century neoliberal university.
It was an evocative statement and a call to action directly echoed the following month by European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, albeit with contrasting usage and visions. In her speech on the 15th October 2020, von der Leyen called for a ‘new European Bauhaus — a co-creation space where architects, artists, students, engineers, designers work together’ in order to kickstart Europe’s transition to a circular economy.
Bauhaus, the early 20th century design school founded by Walter Gropius, was groundbreaking in many ways, but it was undeniable in ushering in a “spiritual weight to the revival of society through design” (NY Times, 2019). In evoking Bauhaus, von der Leyen, and Holtham were, explicitly and implicitly, calling on the power of design to construct new and better futures. We at Mi:Lab are inspired by Bauhaus’ spirit of experimentation, co-creation and most importantly, Bauhaus’ philosophy of design for democracy, unity and for reimagining post-crisis futures.
We’re also keen to reconcile a 20th century Bauhaus with the 21st century. We know the women of Bauhaus, such as Anni Albers and Marianne Brandt, did not receive the same acclaim or respect owed to their male counterparts. We want to explore how we can bring the spirit of Bauhaus into the modern era with new principles for a more equitable and democratic vision of design. As we mill these questions, we’d love to know your thoughts and what Bauhaus means to you!
What does Bauhaus mean to you? Can Bauhaus inspire us to reimagine our post-crisis futures? How can we redefine Bauhaus for the 21st century?
