The architecture of the Bauhaus Museum Dessau
by addenda architects from Barcelona

The Bauhaus Museum Dessau is being built by addenda architects (González Hinz Zabala), an up-and-coming architecture office from Barcelona. Their design was selected from 831 submissions in an open international competition held in late 2015. The jury were convinced by the museum concept – a building within a building – comprising a soaring steelwork block in a glass envelope. On the upper floor, a hermetic ‘Black Box’ will enable the presentation of the collection. The museum tasks of collecting, preservation and conservation will be performed here. The transparent ground floor, the museum foyer, will serve as an open platform offering among other things curatorial freedom for temporary exhibitions of contemporary works and events. The museum is located in the city park in the centre of Dessau, where it will establish a connection between the built-up part of the city on the Kavalierstraße and the green periphery of the park.

The foundation stone for the new museum was laid on 4 December 2016 during the festive weekend to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the Bauhaus Building. Work on the new museum building has been progressing since then. In October 2017 the foundation pit was completed and the structural work on the ground floor began. In September 2018, the upper floor and roof area were completed. At the same time the facade work was started. In December 2019, the building and facade will be completely finished. By the end of the 1st quarter of 2019, the finishing work is to be completed.

The new building will cost 28 million euros, borne equally by the Federal Government and the federal state of Saxony-Anhalt. The site is provided by the municipality of Dessau-Roßlau. The principal is the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation.