By Professor Jeremy Aynsley

To mark the centenary of the founding of the Bauhaus in 2019, the Berlin Bauhaus Archiv will be opening a new extension to provide expanded exhibition facilities for an anticipated growing public, allowing the original Gropius building to be entirely dedicated to the archival holdings. An exhibition showing models and projections of the shortlisted competition entries is about to close at the Bauhaus Archiv on 29 February. The winning design by Staab Architekten, a Berlin-based office led by Volker Stab, is a sleek, vertically-oriented, 5-storey block, principally in glass with thin pillars. The architects have the reputation of Neues Museum in Nuremburg behind them. This is the major event for Berlin. We can expect more from Weimar, where a new Design Museum incorporating the their Bauhaus collections will open, along with new curatorial strategies at the Dessau school buildings to coincide with this milestone in the School’s history.