Bauhaus Transfers

The Department of Architecture (College of Arts and Architecture) and the Department of German Studies (College of Liberal Arts) at Penn State are organizing a Bauhaus conference on September 19-21, 2019. The symposium theme will be "Bauhaus Transfers" and we intend to explore the influences of Bauhaus ideas around the world. Here is a first description of our intention:

Celebrating the 100th anniversary of founding the Bauhaus, Bauhaus Transfers will explore the influences of Bauhaus ideas, theories, concepts, principles, and techniques around the world from the second half of the twentieth century until today. Such ideas are, for example, the unity of crafts, the relationship of arts and industry, science-driven design, socio-politically-driven design including gender practices, and Bauhaus pedagogy.

The symposium intends to discuss questions such as:
– Which theories and practices define the core of the Bauhaus and in which ways were these theories and practices transferred? How did they change by being transferred?
– Which case studies of transferring Bauhaus ideas exist, for example in Middle/North/South American, African, Middle East, East Asian, Indian, and Soviet contexts? How did the needs of these new locations revise Bauhaus ideas, theories, design principles, or pedagogical practices?
– How do specific Bauhaus ideas, theories, and principles link different sites in the world? Can we produce a map of sites linked to particular Bauhaus ideas?
– How can the history and theory of Bauhaus’s global transfer be traced beyond recording the migration of individuals (teachers, students, and following generations)?
– Which High Modernist ideas can be clearly distinguished from Bauhaus ideas and how can the transfer of competition among these ideas be traced?

Please submit 200-word proposals by July 15, 2018 to:

Ute Poerschke uxp10psu.edu
Daniel Purdy dlp14psu.edu