EUROPEAN BAUHAUS In September 2020, the European Commission launched a creative initiative named the New European Bauhaus. This movement aims to tackle the climate crisis and at the same time redraws what our society should look like after the current pandemic. Unité had the honour to interview Xavier Troussard, Head of the New European Bauhaus Unit. ‘New European Bauhaus’. The name of this initiative sounds like an inspiring and promising project. Could you succinctly explain the vision and the goals of this new movement?
© neb
“In the same way the original Bauhaus has created the famous design motto ‘forms follows function’, we expect this new initiative to revisit this motto and to bring in some new dimensions.”
62
“The initiative has been announced by Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, during her speech in the Parliament last year. When calling on the European Bauhaus, she had in mind a project that would allow to explore how to develop a better living-together after the pandemic. She also wanted to make the Green Deal a tangible and positive experience for people. So that it wouldn’t only be an economic or technological project, but a fundamental cultural project that involves people and that means better lives for all. The project concentrates therefore on places where we live, where changes matter for people. It focusses on the way our neighbourhoods and our villages can be improved for better life. The idea is to look at how we can combine sustainability, inclusion and aesthetics (aspects that people value beyond the functionality of a place, a building or the public space). The broad ambition of the project is not only to have a conversation about those dimensions, but to make concrete changes in places, in the construction ecosystem and, fundamentally, a change in the mindset, the way we approach these issues.”
