Just no repetition

Culture

What makes the Bauhaus relevant today? With that question in mind, we began our work in 2015 on the development of the bauhaus100 brand for the anniversary of the Bauhaus. Four years later, in the anniversary year, we answered it: with a heterogeneous brand identity and a design system that deliberately does not cite Bauhaus aesthetics.

The Bauhaus, the art school founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar in 1919, was something completely new: a combination of art and craftsmanship. An idea that set a precedent in Germany and many other countries. It continues to have an effect today and shapes the image of modernist currents.

The Bauhaus was headstrong and future-oriented. It thought and acted in an interdisciplinary manner and preferred open-ended processes – without a sense of mission. That meant there was no room for self-referentiality in the communication about the 100th anniversary. Instead, we questioned clichés and encouraged people to think outside the box. We recharged the brand with content and designed it as an experience. Our aim was to encourage as many people as possible to join in the celebration, to experiment and also to fail. In short, to be truly Bauhaus.

Given the thousands of participants, hundreds of events worldwide and extremely broad target group, we approached the anniversary in a decentralised and participatory way. ‘We were therefore less interested in what the brand could do for the rejuvenation of the Bauhaus, and more interested in what we could learn from the Bauhaus for the rejuvenation of brand understanding,’ summarises Stan Hema managing director and brand consultant Andreas Weber.