Bauhaus: The Latest Architecture and News

In late 2024, an important addition was made to the growing literature on Modern architecture in Africa. "Modernism in Africa: The Architecture of Angola, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda" was published by Docomomo International and Birkhäuser, shedding light on multiple previously unpublished buildings. The book has a focus on education, although other building types are included. Amongst these are several university buildings in Nigeria which are explored here. Like other Modern buildings on the continent, they illustrate historical narratives of independence, decoloniality, international relations, and architectural education.

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In 2024, a diverse range of topics have been comprehensively explored, some focusing specifically on architectural details and construction systems. These articles provide valuable insights into architecture's often-overlooked technical and functional aspects. By shifting attention away from aesthetics, materials, and spatial massing, they reveal the importance of intricate details and the construction systems underpinning contemporary projects' larger architectural vision.

Executing these seemingly small elements is crucial in shaping how architecture is perceived and experienced. Specifying and drawing a thoughtfully designed detail is not dissimilar to determining the correct screw in building a car—its thread count, material, and length—can dramatically influence not only the success of an architectural design but also the quality of the human experience it fosters. Such details, while often dismissed as mundane and may not be the most recognizable features of stellar projects, profoundly impact the cohesiveness and functionality of architectural projects.

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This article was originally published on Common Edge.

Auction houses, secondhand furniture stores, and realtors make small fortunes from a nomenclature that, despite the fuzziness surrounding its indeterminate span and whether everything made during its indefinite duration ought to be stamped with the same label, continues to demand attention. Years from now, serious collectors of architectural magazines may search for that single issue of the 21st century magazine Dwell, absent a major spread of a house designed in the midcentury modern (MCM) manner or a restoration of a building from that era. MCM is the very blood that pulses through the publication’s arteries, promulgating a view of a squeaky-clean and well-lighted lives lived almost invariably by (often childless) ectomorphic couples, blissfully happy under a flat roof with floor-to-ceiling windows affording fine views of distant landscapes best enjoyed behind insulated glass in an ambient temperature of 72 degrees Fahrenheit. But what are we to make of this term, this period—some even call it a “movement”—so well-known globally it goes by initials?

Architectural education has always been fundamentally influenced by whichever styles are popular at a given time, but that relationship flows in the opposite direction as well. All styles must originate somewhere, after all, and revolutionary schools throughout centuries past have functioned as the influencers and generators of their own architectural movements. These schools, progressive in their times, are often founded by discontented experimental minds, looking for something not previously nor currently offered in architectural output or education. Instead, they forge their own way and bring their students along with them. As those students graduate and continue on to practice or become teachers themselves, the school’s influence spreads and a new movement is born.

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The Women Bauhaus is a new art collective of five female artists led by mentor Sabine Marcelis, who are taking inspiration from the legacy of women in the Bauhaus movement. The project was commissioned by luxury skincare brand La Prairie as part of its ongoing patronage of the arts. The projects developed are taking inspiration from Bauhaus icons such as textile artists Otti Berger, Benita Koch-Otte, and sculptor, metalsmith, and designer Marianne Brandt. The initiative also hopes to bring attention to the often-overlooked legacy of women who joined the Bauhaus movement, and whose struggles to affirm themselves as artists and designers are rarely recognized.

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In a way, classic furniture is like a mixture between a work of art and a gold bar: it is a safe investment and can often even increase in value with age. In our second selection of design icons from the 20th century, we present Ray and Charles Eames, Marcel Breuer, Arne Jacobsen and Mario Bellini and some furniture pieces from the past century that remain more modern today than ever, in terms of not only design but also comfort. Find out more on the Architonic Platform.

The “Reconstructing the Future for People and Planet” Conference, hosted by Bauhaus Earth and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences (PAS), has begun at the Casina Pio IV in the Vatican Gardens. The conference opened with a speech from Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission. The extensive program brings together renowned scientists, architects, spatial planners, and policymakers to discuss the transformation of the built environment from a driver of climatic and societal crises into a force for regeneration.

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The Architecture Film Festival London, now at its third edition, fosters conversations around architecture, society and the built environment through the medium of film. Along with the International Film Competition, the 2021 programme, debuting on June 2nd and held online, will feature a collection of diverse thematic screenings, essays and events titled "Capsules", which offer a platform to multiple curatorial voices.

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One of the most highly regarded architects of the 20th century, Walter Gropius (18 May 1883 – 5 July 1969) was one of the founding fathers of Modernism, and the founder of the Bauhaus, the German "School of Building" that embraced elements of art, architecture, graphic design, interior design, industrial design, and typography in its design, development and production.