President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen has announced plans to create a new Bauhaus school as part of the European Union's coronavirus recovery plan.
Speaking in her inaugural State of the Union address to the European parliament, Von der Leyen outlined her plan to create a European Bauhaus to kickstart a cultural and sustainable movement in the European Union.
"We will set up a new European Bauhaus – a co-creation space where architects, artists, students, engineers, designers work together," she said.
"A new cultural project for Europe"
The European Bauhaus, which takes its name from the hugely influential German design school founded by Walter Gropius in 1919, will be part of the Next Generation EU investment and recovery plan put in place following the coronavirus pandemic.
German politician Von der Leyen, who became president of the European Union's executive branch in December 2019, explained that culture, as well as sustainability, will be the focus of the union's recovery plan.
The creation of the European Bauhaus was announced as part of the cultural project.
"This is not just an environmental or economic project: it needs to be a new cultural project for Europe," said Von der Leyen.
"Every movement has its own look and feel. And we need to give our systemic change its own distinct aesthetic – to match style with sustainability."
The President of the European Commission also highlighted construction as an area that needs to be made more sustainable, with buildings in the EU currently generating 40 per cent of its emissions.
She encouraged the adoption of timber as a building material and suggested that artificial intelligence could be used make buildings more sustainable.
"We know that the construction sector can even be turned from a carbon source into a carbon sink, if organic building materials like wood and smart technologies like AI are applied," said Von der Leyen.
Investment for a green future
Von der Leyen wants the Next Generation EU initiative to invest in lighthouse European projects with the biggest impact for a green future, such as hydrogen energy, renovation and one million electric charging points.
"I want NextGenerationEU to kickstart a European renovation wave and make our Union a leader in the circular economy," Von der Leyen stated.
She also set a goal of reducing greenhouse emissions by 55 per cent by 2030.
In the speech, she explained that 37 per cent of Next Generation EU's 750 billion euro will be spent directly on European Green Deal objectives and a target has been set to raise 30 per cent of its funding through green bonds.
The Bauhaus, which translates literally as "construction house", was founded by Gropius in Weimar, Germany in 1919 and sought to unify art and crafts.
It became one of the world's most influential design movements with influential designers including Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer and Anni Albers passing through the school before it closed in 1933.
Bauhaus' legacy, both of a modernist aesthetic and of internationalism and social progressiveness, has lived on and still influences designers today.
Dezeen's Bauhaus 100 series celebrated the school's 100th anniversary with a series of profiles of its main proponents, designs and opinion pieces.
Photography is by the European Commission.
The post EU to set up "European Bauhaus" says European Commission president appeared first on Dezeen.
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