Thenew European Bauhaus was created at the initiative of European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen . Its overarching goal is to encourage people to identify with the tenets of the European Green Deal, and this means first and foremost working together to reduce the burden on the environment. The name itself, considered somewhat controversial by some, gives the impression that the activities will be conducted only in Europe. Nothing could be further from the truth; the whole world is to be encouraged by the idea. One of the eighteen experts sitting at the High Level Roundtable is Polish architect Hubert Trammer. We asked him what his role in the New European Bauhaus looks like in practice.
Dorota Polak: The meetings of the eighteen members of the Roundtable are meetings of sixteen people from Europe and two from outside the continent. The idea covers the whole world, what does it look like in practice?
Hubert Trammer: First of all, it was about a certain diversity of experience, diversity of outlook. Many people get the impression that I am representing Poland. This is not the case. That's why I try to serve different countries from which there is no one at the Round Table. Unfortunately, this is difficult. So far, I have managed to hold several online meetings outside Poland. All on my initiative. From Poland, on the other hand, I have a lot of invitations. Perhaps the role of the Roundtable is not so momentous that the people who belong to it attract interest outside their countries of origin.
The sixteen people who are active in the Roundtable were selected directly by the coordinating team of the New European Bauhaus, and two were chosen from nominations made by committees of the European Parliament. In my case, it was the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy. It asked its members to nominate three candidates, from among whom those heading the New European Bauhaus would select someone. The commission selected five people, among them me. I was selected. The main key in formulating the group was that it should be diverse, have a variety of perspectives, experiences. In fact, Europe has the quantitative advantage (sixteen people, including fifteen from the European Union). Outsiders were invited to pay attention to different aspects. Not being present at the Roundtable does not mean not being present at all. For example, at the April 2021 conference there were many speakers from other places, such as Spain or even South America.
My advantage, despite the lack of unambiguously large achievements, was the diversity of experience. With the news that I had been selected, I got a call from Ursula von der Leyen's close colleague Ruth Reichstein, who coordinates this group. She used the expression that Poland is an important country, so the fact that I am from Poland is significant. I sense that important also means that we are a bit of a country that can put up some resistance, and therefore it is good if there is someone from Poland and this relationship becomes direct.
As for activities in the country, I have not yet had a meeting with any person at the central level, holding a government position. I did, however, have an invitation from the vice mayor of Wroclaw, and it was an informal conversation, because of the Metrex group as well. Wroclaw is leading the way in the current term, hence I also had a presentation for people from this group at the request of Wroclawians. I also participated in events related to politics in the realm of idea-seeking. I moderated a panel at the Poland Great Project Congress and participated in panels at the Civic Congress and Open Eyes Economy Summit. I also participated in consultations with the team of Warsaw's Urban Planning and Development Strategy Studio and online meetings open to the public with architects of the cities of Gdansk and Warsaw.
Dorota: Can you precisely define the tasks of the New European Bauhaus? What exactly is it supposed to do? What is the idea behind its implementation? Will it be just an addition to the European Union programs from which funding is obtained, or perhaps a separate and independent activity?
Hubert: In terms of implementation, the new European Bauhaus is in line with EU programs. However, it represents their ideological development. And here I would draw attention to the way Ursula von der Leyen works. So I guess the point is that by drawing attention to the fact that sustainability should be combined with aesthetics, style or quality of life, and the inclusion of different social groups, to redirect the discussion from "we don't want a European Green Deal, because it threatens our interests" to - "the European Green Deal is not supposed to threaten our interests." The new European Bauhaus is established without any mode, otherwise decisions and formalities would take years. It is also said to be a social movement. This also raises the question of how much of this participation is possible on such a large scale. That's why institutions and organizations have been invited to become partners. They take part in online meetings that allow them to give various suggestions, to exchange information. On the other hand, we - as the Roundtable - have prepared a document about what our view is and how we see the New European Bauhaus working. This is our recommendation.
Dorota: Why "Bauhaus"? Is it for the sake of returning to the roots and the assumption that each of the co-creators (perhaps here we would mean ambassadors) while maintaining their own individuality, creates one common work? Or perhaps the name was chosen for other reasons? How do you identify with it? In an interview, you acknowledged that somewhat more accurate from our Polish perspective would be the term "Solidarity." So how do you find yourself in Bauhaus?
Hubert: The name itself is indeed a bit unfortunate. "European" directly connotes that it is about Europe. It is only necessary to learn that it is an initiative of the European Union, which is not only about Europe, although some pilot programs will only be in European Union countries. Also, the name "Bauhaus" introduces doubt, but since Ursula von der Layen is from Germany, she has a good association with Bauhaus, despite the fact that it also has negative aspects. And here there is indeed criticism from various sides, also because Bauhaus has colonial aspects.
However, this is a certain reference, the New European Bauhaus is a proposal to respond to new challenges, just as the Bauhaus responded to new challenges. Here there is also the question of interdisciplinarity.
The name may also stem from the fact that, simply, the Bauhaus centennial was recently celebrated. We Poles would probably prefer the name "New Solidarity," and that, as I am Polish, is closer to me. And in fact, I cling to Bauhaus because of some things I didn't like, but I also see its good points.
The people who make up the Round Table are sometimes referred to as ambassadors, and the name ambassador can also have different associations. I personally associate it with Robert Konieczny - brand ambassador of one car, and with Szczepan Twardoch of another, I could also associate it with ambassadors who work in diplomatic missions. With that said, it is not appropriate to give too much prominence to the group I am in. In particular, there is no basis for considering it as a reference point for the name New European Bauhaus. It is intended to be a broad movement formed by many very different people. It is coordinated by a group working in the European Commission. And the Round Table is a kind of advisory group.
Dorota: From your perspective, will the projects themselves oscillate around the assumptions of a Bauhaus like that of the 1920s, or will something completely different happen? Having learned over the years that "new" doesn't mean better, and that the proprietary and traditional may work better in a given climate than the generic, might we have a suspicion that some national identity of our own will emerge in the designs? With the recent announcement of the results of the youth competition (we are talking about the 1st New European Bauhaus Prizes 2021 and New European Bauhaus Rising Stars competitions for young talents under 30 - ed. note), do you see any correlations? One, for example, is the country of origin - most of the prizewinners are from Spain, and Spain does not have its own ambassador to the Round Table. Is this a deliberate procedure or a coincidence?
Hubert: This was not just a competition for the young. There were two awards in each of the ten categories. One for a completed project and one for proposals from people under the age of 30 that had a chance of being implemented. Spain stood out very much among these awards. As you can see, the fact that they don't have anyone in the Round Table didn't prevent the Spanish from taking an interest in the subject and winning applause from the voters.
And the localness is mainly in the fact that the project is tailored to the place, to this particular location. Of course, these are projects that can also be implemented in another, very similar place, because there are also similar conditions - an abandoned factory can be all over the world. It also seems to me that Spain's presence is due to the fact that it has a fairly developed method of social action, bottom-up, looking for some solutions in local communities. I also have the impression that in Spain the traditions of so-called urban guerrilla, small-scale actions, live strongly in the public space. But these are my guesses. Of course, it could also be a factor that for this group of nominees - 3 from each category times 2 - the submissions were chosen by a vote of people who had subscribed to the newsletter. Perhaps a lot of people from Spain voted, and they necessarily understood these projects more, too?
At the meeting at the beginning of September, we had information that as far as submissions are concerned, they are nicely distributed between different countries. And when it comes to nominations, it's different. Maybe it's also a matter of the culture of interest in competitions? The Europan competition for young architects also has the highest number of participants from Spain.
continued conversation on next page
