Bauhaus Building, Dessau, 1925-1926: View from north during construction c. 1926

Curator: This photograph from Photothek captures the Bauhaus Building in Dessau during its construction, sometime between 1925 and 1926. Editor: It has this stark, skeletal feel. The glass curtain wall is so dominant, but you can see the raw materials and the building's bones. It's honest. Curator: Absolutely. The transparency wasn’t just aesthetic; it was a statement about function and form, about breaking down barriers between the inside and outside, and prioritizing accessibility. Editor: And think of the labor involved in producing all that glass, the steel, the concrete. It speaks to the industrial spirit of the era, the belief in mass production to create a better future. Curator: Precisely. The Bauhaus aimed to merge art, craft, and technology to serve society’s needs, challenging the elitism of traditional art academies. It was radical. Editor: Seeing it under construction highlights the transformation of materials from their raw state into this utopian ideal. It's powerful. Curator: Indeed, this image encapsulates the Bauhaus's mission, its ambition to reshape the world through design. Editor: It makes you wonder how such optimism fared against the political realities it later faced.