The Bauhaus was both a forward-looking project and a child of its time. Against the background of industrialization and modernization, it defined an anthropocentric philosophy of design which was permeated by a positivist belief in progress, a better future, the emancipatory potential of science and technology, and improvement through renewal. Given the obvious contradictions between ideal, practice, and impact, “projekt bauhaus” critically examines the ideas of the Bauhaus by using its methods: In a preliminary course (2017) and a workshop (2019), it exposes the internal contradictions of the Western idea of progress and discusses alternative approaches. How can we decolonize our understanding of technology? How can we develop and disseminate other ideas of progress and renewal? And how can design change society and everyday life?

Project Bauhaus team: Jesko Fezer, Christian Hiller, Anh-Linh Ngo, Philipp Oswalt, Joanne Pouzenc, Jan Wenzel

Co-curator Preliminary course: Knowledge: Claudia Mareis
Co-curators of Project Bauhaus: Preliminary Course, Workshop, Funeral: Armen Avanessian, Chris Dercon, Elodie Evers, Claudia Mareis

Participating artists: Morehshin Allahyari, Bianca Elzenbaumer & Fabio Franz (Brave New Alps), Olaf Nicolai