In 2019 the Staatlichen Bauhaus Weimar celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding.
And so, in effect, we can all celebrate 100 years of European Modernism as an important, tangible, unignorable and ever challenging movement.
As part of the build-up to the anniversary the three Bauhaus locations - Berlin, Dessau, Weimar - have combined forces to instigate the Triennale der Moderne
A Triennale with a triangular concept: Every three years each of the three locations will host three days of festivities over three consecutive weekends.
Three, famously, being the magic number. As it were
The Triennale der Moderne 2013 begins in Berlin on the weekend of September 27th - 29th, moves on to Weimar on the weekend October 4th - 10th before ending in Dessau over the weekend October 11th - 13th 2013.
The central theme for the Triennale der Moderne 2013 is "Zerstörte Vielfalt" - Destroyed Diversity - and as such it hitches a ride on the coattails of Berlin's 2013 culture project of the same name, a project which focuses on examining the effects on German cultural identity of the Machtübergabe by the NSDAP. Two of the effects being the closure of Bauhaus Berlin four months after the Machtübergabe and the "work bans" for and subsequent emigration of Jewish architects.
All three Triennale der Moderne 2013 locations explore aspects of these events.
In 2016 the 2nd Triennale der Moderne will celebrate the 90th anniversary of Walter Gropius' Bauhaus Dessau Building before in 2019 the centenary of the Staatlichen Bauhaus Weimar is the focus of attention.
Officially the Triennale der Moderne is positioned as a project aimed at promoting modernist architecture in Germany.
As such it is a bit of a shame that no "non-Berlin/Dessau/Weimar" locations of modernist architecture in Germany have been included in the Triennale der Moderne 2013. And don't appear to be included in future Triennali. Stuttgart with its Weissenhofsiedlung or Alfeld an der Leine with its Fagus-Werk being two of the most obvious examples.
We find such important not least because if you include more than just the three Bauhaus locations you can build a better, fuller, rounder and for all more accurate picture of what modernist architecture was and what it has become.
That said the programme at all three locations would appear to offer the visitor an excellent insight into some lesser explored corners of the modernist story and as such make the Triennale der Moderne 2013 an event worth exploring in more detail.
Full details on the Triennale der Moderne 2013 can be found at http://www.triennale-der-moderne.de
