Mies van der Rohe Haus

The exhibition focuses on the early work of the Swiss universal artist Max Bill (1908-1994). It spans a wide range from the artist's works from his Bauhaus period, to watercolors of strong form and color from 1932/33, to works of Concrete Art that herald his era at the HfG Ulm.

In addition, Max Bill's design for a mural with a capital O from 1932 will be realized for the first time on the walls of the Mies van der Rohe House as part of the exhibition. 

The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog with a text by Angela Thomas and a newly published monograph by Max Bill on Mies van der Rohe, which was first published in Italian by Il Balcone in 1955. 

Insights into the exhibition here.

AVAILABLE ONLINE!

The symposium takes Max Bill - architect, designer and theorist - as its starting point in order to question and rethink his understanding of design as an ethically based responsibility in the field of tension between form, function and sustainability. The focus is on exemplary teaching models in architecture and design education that responded to the social and ecological challenges of their time and provided impulses that continue to have an impact today. At the same time, the focus is on our present day: what can still be gained from these progressive concepts today? Which thought models, attitudes and methods can be applied in architecture and design in light of current sustainability debates? 

Click here to view the lectures online:

Dr. Martin Mäntele (HfG-Archiv / Museum Ulm)

Prof. Dr. Chris Dähne (FU Berlin)

Teresa Häußler (Berlin)

Prof. Verena Issel (BTU Cottbus–Senftenberg)

Prof. Dr. Jörg H. Gleiter (TU Berlin) / Prof. Dr. Albert Kirchengast (BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg)

The renowned art historian and former head of the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation collection, Wolfgang Thöner, and the former chief form designer of the GDR, Prof. Martin Kelm, talk about the reception of Max Bill in the cultural-political context of the GDR and analyze how his classification was shaped by the specific Bauhaus discourse of the GDR. 

As head of the “Office for Industrial Design” and as a teacher at the Giebichenstein School of Art, Martin Kelm had a major influence on the development of GDR design. Wolfgang Thöner is the author of numerous books and texts on Bauhaus history and Bauhaus reception, especially in East Germany from 1945 to 1990. 

Click here for the video

Video production © Nicklas Stellhorn & Jan Schulze - Apedivision