VR-Installation: Bauhaus Reflected in the Mathildenhöhe
An exhibition timed to coincide with the Bauhaus anniversary showed how closely Darmstadt's Mathildenhöhe was interwoven with the protagonists of the Bauhaus. In it, a virtual reality installation reconsidered design history: What would the design school have looked like if the Bauhaus had been built on Mathildenhöhe instead of in Dessau?
CASE STUDY
The Bauhaus, founded over 100 years ago, has come to be closely associated with its three locations in Weimar, Dessau and Berlin. The many connections to Darmstadt's Mathildenhöhe are not as well known. Yet Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, for example, all worked in the architectural office of Peter Behrens, who was active as an Art Nouveau artist at Darmstadt's Mathildenhöhe. Gropius, the young architect who went on to found Bauhaus left Behrens in 1910, after only two years. A lively exchange between the protagonists of the Bauhaus and Mathildenhöhe carried on even years later – in professional and romantic relationships, discourses and conflicts.
These connections were the subject of the exhibition "Gestalt and Hinterhalt. The Bauhaus in the Reflection of Mathildenhöhe" at the Designhaus Darmstadt. The show was curated and designed to mark the Bauhaus anniversary by the Design Department of the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.
CLIENT
Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences
PROJECT
VR-Installation: Bauhaus Reflected in the Mathildenhöhe
TYPE
Conception and Realization of a VR-Installation
ROLE
Professor for Human-System-Interaction
YEAR
Summer Semester 2019
A missed opportunity becomes reality in 2019t
One of the rooms in the exhibition was equipped with an interactive virtual reality installation. As part of a semester-long project in the Human-System Interaction course, six students from Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences conceived and realized an intense, immersive experience that responded to the question: What would the Bauhaus have looked like if it had been in Darmstadt?
The concept was by no means far-fetched. When the Bauhaus in Weimar was threatened with closure, there were discussions about reopening in Darmstadt; the city rejected it due to costs. Gropius had also originally designed the architecture of the famous Bauhaus Archive with the Darmstadt site in mind, though ultimately it was built in 1954 on Berlin's Landwehr Canal. With its five-fold articulated roof form, the architect makes an allusion to the five-finger tower of Mathildenhöhe. With this in mind, the students developed an impressively naturalistic simulation of Walter Gropius' Dessau Bauhaus building – albeit with a view of the artists' colony.
History rewritten, with attention to detail
The students did extensive research on the historical conditions of the relocation and the planned location of the Darmstadt Bauhaus, which was right next to the old School of Arts and Crafts and within view of Mathildenhöhe. Precise measurements of the were taken of the building site with the help of drones in order to create a replica that was as close to reality as possible. Thanks to historical photos, floor plans and other documents, the students recreated the architecture, including the interior, in great detail using the virtual reality development platform Unity and animated it with the 3D software Blender.
Human, all too human
Equipped with VR glasses and a controller, visitors could explore the school building, workshops and offices across several floors. Through numerous charming details, life at the Bauhaus came alive: Designs from Johannes Itten's course in fundamentals could be examined, machines could be used, the sounds of the gramophone could be heard, documents (such as a love letter from composer Alma Mahler in Walter Gropius' desk drawer) could be read, or an experimental film by László Moholy-Nagy could be viewed. In this way, the VR installation succeeded in continuing the exhibition's focus on the interpersonal, the personal in the virtual.
AWARDS
The Bauhaus in Dessau was built according to plans by Walter Gropius as a school building for the Bauhaus art, design and architecture school between 1925 and 1926.
Darmstadt's Mathildenhöhe is considered the birthplace of art nouveau, or Jugendstil. The wedding tower from 1906 and the exhibition building from 1908 were designed by the architect Joseph Maria Olbrich.
LEARNINGS
Immersive experiences require an implementation that goes above and beyond. Especially simple concepts require perfect, detailed elaboration and attractive aesthetics to have an intense effect.
VR-Installation: Bauhaus Reflected in the Mathildenhöhe
An exhibition timed to coincide with the Bauhaus anniversary showed how closely Darmstadt's Mathildenhöhe was interwoven with the protagonists of the Bauhaus. In it, a virtual reality installation reconsidered design history: What would the design school have looked like if the Bauhaus had been built on Mathildenhöhe instead of in Dessau?
CASE STUDY
The Bauhaus, founded over 100 years ago, has come to be closely associated with its three locations in Weimar, Dessau and Berlin. The many connections to Darmstadt's Mathildenhöhe are not as well known. Yet Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier and Walter Gropius, for example, all worked in the architectural office of Peter Behrens, who was active as an Art Nouveau artist at Darmstadt's Mathildenhöhe. Gropius, the young architect who went on to found Bauhaus left Behrens in 1910, after only two years. A lively exchange between the protagonists of the Bauhaus and Mathildenhöhe carried on even years later – in professional and romantic relationships, discourses and conflicts.
These connections were the subject of the exhibition "Gestalt and Hinterhalt. The Bauhaus in the Reflection of Mathildenhöhe" at the Designhaus Darmstadt. The show was curated and designed to mark the Bauhaus anniversary by the Design Department of the Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences.
CLIENT
Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences
PROJECT
VR-Installation: Bauhaus Reflected in the Mathildenhöhe
TYPE
Conception and Realization of a VR-Installation
ROLE
Professor for Human-System-Interaction
YEAR
Summer Semester 2019
A missed opportunity becomes reality in 2019t
One of the rooms in the exhibition was equipped with an interactive virtual reality installation. As part of a semester-long project in the Human-System Interaction course, six students from Darmstadt University of Applied Sciences conceived and realized an intense, immersive experience that responded to the question: What would the Bauhaus have looked like if it had been in Darmstadt?
The concept was by no means far-fetched. When the Bauhaus in Weimar was threatened with closure, there were discussions about reopening in Darmstadt; the city rejected it due to costs. Gropius had also originally designed the architecture of the famous Bauhaus Archive with the Darmstadt site in mind, though ultimately it was built in 1954 on Berlin's Landwehr Canal. With its five-fold articulated roof form, the architect makes an allusion to the five-finger tower of Mathildenhöhe. With this in mind, the students developed an impressively naturalistic simulation of Walter Gropius' Dessau Bauhaus building – albeit with a view of the artists' colony.
History rewritten, with attention to detail
The students did extensive research on the historical conditions of the relocation and the planned location of the Darmstadt Bauhaus, which was right next to the old School of Arts and Crafts and within view of Mathildenhöhe. Precise measurements of the were taken of the building site with the help of drones in order to create a replica that was as close to reality as possible. Thanks to historical photos, floor plans and other documents, the students recreated the architecture, including the interior, in great detail using the virtual reality development platform Unity and animated it with the 3D software Blender.
Human, all too human
Equipped with VR glasses and a controller, visitors could explore the school building, workshops and offices across several floors. Through numerous charming details, life at the Bauhaus came alive: Designs from Johannes Itten's course in fundamentals could be examined, machines could be used, the sounds of the gramophone could be heard, documents (such as a love letter from composer Alma Mahler in Walter Gropius' desk drawer) could be read, or an experimental film by László Moholy-Nagy could be viewed. In this way, the VR installation succeeded in continuing the exhibition's focus on the interpersonal, the personal in the virtual.
AWARDS