Answer a simple question: What would the new ideal building be? And following that, what would beautiful, sustainable, and inclusive places look like? What are the feelings, the sensations, but also the practical requirements and the materials we would use? If this is the neighbourhood you live in, what should it look like, feel like, work like? How would we share the space and what would our new habits be?

What is the New European Bauhaus?

The New European Bauhaus is essentially a green architecture project which aims to bring art and science together, to improve energy efficiency in Europe’s buildings. It is an EU project modelled after the German grassroots art and crafts movement and has plans to create a forum where architects, artists, scientists, and entrepreneurs can collaborate. Its goal is to turn Europe’s proposed green building renovation programme into a cultural movement.

The call is simple: Let’s make sustainability look nicer; let’s make sustainable living beautiful.

The New European Bauhaus movement, which is sometimes referred to as the ‘NEB’, injects new aspects into the EU Green Deal by calling for a focus on the aesthetic and artistic aspects, whilst bringing in a cultural debate to make sustainable development more humane and beautiful. The European Commission wants to see a new renovation wave, encouraging us to rethink how we live. To do this, we need imagination and creativity and so, the EU Bauhaus movement was created to act as a bridge between science and technology on the one hand, and art and culture on the other hand.

How will the Bauhaus movement be structured?

The Bauhaus movement will be developed in 3 stages:

1. Design phase: everyone is invited to explore ideas and shape the movement. In this phase, the engagement of designers, architects, artists, digital experts, scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers and students will be necessary;
2. Delivery phase: implementing 5 new Bauhaus projects in different EU Member States, all committed to sustainability, combined with art and culture, and with specific focus on sectors such as natural building materials, energy efficiency, demographics, and resource-efficient digital innovation; and
3. Diffusion phase: spreading the ideas, with the aim of reaching beyond Europe’s borders.

What are the core values of the Bauhaus movement?

The NEB movement is a creative and interdisciplinary project, with the focus being to design the future way of living, at the crossroads between art, culture, social inclusion, science and technology, with the three core values being:

• Sustainability – This refers to how we relate to the environment through creating a dialogue between our built environment and the planet’s ecosystems.
• Aesthetics – This refers to the quality of our intervention over the planet and creating enriching experiences that respond to our needs beyond the material dimension, inspired by creativity, art, and culture;
• Social inclusion and Accessibility – This refers to a dialogue between diverse cultures, disciplines, genders, and ages and the opportunity to imagine a better place for all. It also means a more inclusive economy, where wealth is distributed, and spaces are affordable.

Beauty and sustainability will no longer be a privilege for the few, but an opportunity for the masses.

Next steps

In Spring 2021, the European Commission will launch the New European Bauhaus prize. This prize will reward preliminary ideas that guide the way towards potential solutions. The New European Bauhaus will be a project shaped by all of us, in all Member States and beyond – from professional architects and artists to citizens’ initiatives; from CEOs of big companies to the innovative start-ups.

Following such, by Autumn 2021, the European Commission will launch a call for proposals for the first 5 New European Bauhaus projects in different EU countries. As from 2022, the NEB will be disseminated across Europe, starting with 5 founding Bauhauses working on different topics.

Shout out to all artists, designers, architects, students and interested people: what kinds of projects do you think should be part of this Bauhaus movement? How can we make Malta’s existing and future buildings sustainable, yet beautiful?

Get in touch now if you want to make a difference, if you would like to be part of this new renovation wave, or if you have any ideas on how to make sustainability beautiful and want to bring a project to Malta or the EU.