Facade - Climbing Monument (Bauhaus Glass Pavilion)

About The Entry

The original city of Dessau faced a problem with its urban center deviating. Visitors exiting the train station would head directly to the old museum, causing an imbalance in city development. Additionally, the sites connected by the “red thread”, which ties together industrial heritage related to Bauhaus production, exist in isolation and fail to connect with both the new and old Bauhaus museums. My aim is to establish a visual and spatial connection between the pavilion on the city's edge and the new Bauhaus museum in the center.

To address this, this project takes a vertical approach. The pedestrian passage, reconceptualizing the city as a series of islands, is further developed to connect the urban landscape to the pavilion interior and exhibition route. The focus site is the smoke tower, which I hope to activate and re-plan to utilize old buildings in a new way.

The landscape around the pavilion features textured interventions that support outdoor activities such as outdoor exhibitions and open concerts, funneling pedestrians toward the pavilion. This creates a loop that eases access to the building's two entrances and integrates the tower into the city's fabric.

Key project elements include the stair and façade. The diverse forms and functions of the stairs are shaped by the pressure and form of the exterior glass façade. This interaction creates stairs of varying widths, each serving different functions such as exhibitions, lectures, and rest areas. Additionally, the glass façade showcases the interior activities and exhibitions to the surrounding environment, creating a dynamic interaction between inside and outside.

Behind the billowing glass curtain wall, the pavilion continues the pedestrian passage up a monumental stairway. Exhibition installations are placed on platforms, in a spherical theater, or arrayed as a linear showcase looking into a working glass studio. Visitors climb to the top of the stairs or take an elevator to arrive at a glazed overlook, pointing like an arrow to downtown Dessau and its new Bauhaus museum.