transparent pavilion welcomes visitors to UNESCO bauhaus monument in germany

Steimle Architekten FORMS visitor center for UNESCO Bauhaus Monument

Steimle Architekten BDA has designed a new visitor center for the Bauhaus Memorial Bernau, Germany. In summer 2017,  the building ensemble designed by Bauhaus director Hannes Meyer and Hans Wittwer has been marked as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Since then, more and more guests are finding their way there, which created the need for a new pavilion, introducing visitors to the theme of this remarkable place.

The design team sought to create a high-quality urban architectural structure that carries its own character but simultaneously integrates into its surroundings. To achieve this, the architects added generous amounts of glazing and played with simple robust geometries. Thus, the transparent body is topped by a solid roof construction, that paradoxically seems to hover above the structure.

all images ©Brigida González

EMPHASIZING TRANSPARENCY AND OPENNESS

The town of Bernau launched a competition for the visitor center at the end of 2017. Steimle Architekten BDA (see more here) won the first prize, with their building marking the beginning of an appropriate World Heritage experience. The final building fits effortlessly into the Bauhaus Campus Bernau thanks to its generous transparency. Integrated into the pine forest scenery, the pavilion provides a first gaze at the architectural monument, guided by the long-stemmed pines of the forest. 

‘The visit is comprehended as a sequence of experiences in analogy to the effects that Hannes Meyer called ‘psychological effects’ and which are intended to emphasize the physically temporal dimension of architecture.’

The center is designed ‘as a linear moment in the form of a simple stationary structure’. A spacious reception terrace with a massive cantilevered canopy welcomes visitors to the pavilion and invites them to enter. Subtly elevated, its interior takes shape as an open-flowing sequence of rooms with floor-to-ceiling openings that offer sufficient space to experience the special atmosphere and to linger.

Towards the ‘Bundesschule’ in the east, the large showroom, which occupies the entire length of the building, can be divided completely flexibly. Thanks to its open façade, it is in constant visual contact with the listed building. The ancillary rooms are compactly oriented as a sequence of rooms to the west toward the parking areas. The chosen design language of the building is inspired and reflected by the graphic systems and technical equipment of the Trade Union School and achieves an independent aesthetic by following its function.

Due to the materiality of the insulating concrete, the roof gives the impression to float above the building. Barely perceptible filigree round steel supports in front of the glass façade, which is embedded in the circumferential roof edge at the upper support, and the wall panels of the ancillary rooms contribute decisively to this static balancing act.

like a ‘welcoming gesture’, the massive cantilevered canopy above the terrace invites its audience to enter

it leads directly into the special place by framing and directing the viewer’s gaze

an open-flowing series of rooms

project info:

name: Visitor Centre UNESCO World Heritage Bauhaus Monument Trade Union School Bernau
designer: Steimle Architekten BDA

location: Bernau, Germany

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edited by: christina petridou | designboom