The Second World War (1939-1945) had a major impact on the URBAN TISSUE of the German city of Dessau, like it had on many European cities. Before the war Dessau had a DENSE city center, with a typical European urban block structure with semi-private courtyards. The node Friedrichstraße & Kavalierstraße was strongly emphasized by the facades of the adjacent buildings; creating a distinguished URBAN JUNCTION. The City Park could be partly experienced from the roads but was mainly bounded by surrounding buildings on the plot. DESTRUCTION of many buildings during and after the war had a huge impact on the urban structure; almost all its typical COURTYARD BLOCKS were gone. The node Friedrichstraße & Kavalierstraße lost its ‘URBAN WALLS’ and transformed to a ‘CROSSING AT THE PARK’. The City Park lost many of its
Description
boundaries formed by the previous buildings and is now ‘out in the open’. LOST IN ITS URBAN CONTEXT.
A massive urban REDEVELOPMENT took place in the years after the war; clearly with highly regarding historic urban structures. The node Friedrichstraße & Kavalierstraße redeveloped some of it ‘urban walls’ but still opens up to the City Park. With the addition of 3 high-rise buildings with no specific facade direction, the City Park remained a very EXPOSED park. The suggested URBAN INTERVENTION uses the new Bauhaus museum volume to finish ‘the LAST PIECE of the redevelopment of the node Friedrichstraße & Kavalierstraße’. RECREATING a strong urban junction. The use of the historic building lines and building heights is important to give the new building a strong BASE in its historic urban context. And give back the City Park its historic more ENCLOSED character.
Description
The museum creates a good INTERACTION between public urban space and the City Park by optimum accessibility from both sides; serving at the same moment as an INTERMEDIARY (and a noise barrier) between the busy street environment and the quiet green City Park. The museum represents with its form and materialization, a clear visible presence with a calm and contrasting pallet of materials to put emphasize on the different functional spaces of the museum. Keeping alive the memory of the BAUHAUS history and gently making its mark while optimizing this important node in the city of Dessau.
