Shiro Studio's proposal for the new Bauhaus Museum Dessau competition aims to celebrate and advocate those core values at the heart of the Bauhaus movement.

We try to achieve this via different layers. The first layer is the visual language: the grouping of several volumes together generates a rational volumetric language that is rooted within the Bauhaus style. As each volume of our proposal contains a specific function this functional clarity is reflected to the outside, very much like a machine, exhibiting the various functions whilst avoiding unnecessary decoration.

The abstraction of these volumes, avoiding any arbitrary shape, also expresses some of Bauhaus core values: in plan and in elevation each volume has been generated by the brief requirements. The visual aesthetic is hence derived by objective, rational design.

The new proposed building sits in a very delicate, precious area of Dessau. In particular it sits in a beautiful park, rich in dense vegetation. For this reason we envisaged a building that can dialogue in a respectful way amongst the existing mature trees. We aimed to design a porous building, where the Museum is actually made of several smaller volumes, closely connected to each other. In between these volumes new trees will be planted, so that there will be a visual and botanical continuity between the Museum and the surrounding landscape. Nature and Architecture blending together.

By placing the entire exhibition floor just below ground level the overall visual impact of the remaining over-ground Museum will be more respectful with the park and the trees, achieving a more human scale

Above all our proposal aims to create a neutral, subtle structure focused on preserving and displaying the Bauhaus collection in the most respectful and contemporary way.