On the occasion of the Bauhaus centennial, the Goethe-Institut presents Virtual Bauhaus, an exhibition on the German school of art and design using the medium of virtual reality. Taking place within the Dessau building, which was constructed in 1925–26 according to designs by the school’s first director, Walter Gropius, Virtual Bauhaus offers visitors a one-of-a-kind experience, transporting them into the architectural space of the building as it existed in the 1920s. Through this immersive environment, visitors explore the school’s central ideas through encounters with its architectural interior. One can construct a material study in the school’s preliminary course, inhabit the dormitories where students lived and worked, engage with an experimental performance in the stage workshop, and ascend the building’s iconic staircase, a remarkable architectural element that simultaneously played host to photo-ops, drawing courses, and the school’s infamous parties. The exhibition’s goal is not only to provide visitors worldwide a chance to experience the Bauhaus first-hand, but also to convey through a contemporary medium the lasting relevance of one of Germany’s most important cultural legacies. Accessible to a wide-ranging audience, including those with no prior experience using virtual-reality technology, the exhibition will be presented at Goethe-Instituts and their partners around the world in 2019.
Initiated through a partnership between the Goethe-Institut Boston and Cologne Game Lab at TH Köln, Virtual Bauhaus was designed and developed by a team of VR developers at TH Köln and independent Bauhaus experts in consultation with the Goethe-Institut Boston.
Art & Development Director
Ilja Burzev
Bauhaus Consultants
Jordan Troeller, Robert Huber
Interaction design
Eugene Krivoruchko
Development & Art
Volker Zerbe, Mitesh Amin
Sound design
Sascha Haus
English voice over
Sue Cox
Project Manager
Annette Klein
Idea
Björn Bartholdy (Cologne Game Lab, TH Köln) and Christoph Mücher (Goethe-Institut)
Robert K. Huber, born 1980, based in Berlin and Munich, founding partner and managing partner (CEO) of zukunftsgeraeusche GbR, director of bauhaus reuse Berlin. He studied in Munich, Berlin and Shanghai. Focus on transdisciplinary research and education, sustainable development, urban policy and Baukultur. Projects in experimental construction, reuse and circular society, Bauhaus and Modernism. Long-term cooperation in research and teaching with TU Berlin. Member of German Werkbund, German Press Association and Competence Center for Large Housing Estates.