A Little Piece of Bauhaus

Our artist-in-residence, Christina Wildgrube will present her work-in-progress Siedlung Törten daily between 10 am and 4pm.

 


Walter Gropius designed Siedlung Törten, a housing development with gardens for the city of Dessau which was built from 1926 to 1928. The single family homes became the property of the inhabitants who could modify the design as they saw fit.
Consequently, the personal tastes and design sensibilities of the owners are observable today. 1994 restrictions were put in place to avoid additional changes and construction projects at the Siedlung.
At first glance, one of the still recognizable commonalities are the silhouettes of the homes – because materials and colors of exteriors, windows, doors and garden design deviate tremendously from the original structures: plastic doors from Baumarkt (the German equivalent of Home Depot-style home improvement stores), boxwood hedges and heather.
The discrepancy between idea and reality how the development changed from Gropius plans to today’s manifestations are the topic of Christina Wildgrube’s residency in Chicago.

 

© Julia Stiller

Christina Wildgrube was born 1983 in Wittenberg and works as a communication designer. She studied in Berlin, Chicago and Amsterdam and worked, amongst others, at the Staatstheater Braunschweig. She is currently a graduate student at the Academy of Fine Arts Leipzig were she focuses on print techniques in landscapes.