New European Bauhaus
“Let's Shape a Sustainable, Liveable Future Together!” - KÉK has also joined the New European Bauhaus initiative.
What kind of Europe would you like to live in after the pandemic? What does a sustainable, aesthetic, and accessible city mean in 2021? The aim of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative is to collectively create a European lifestyle that is liveable, inclusive, based on quality experiences and aesthetic principles, affordable for everyone, and built on a sustainable, circular economy. Its focus is on creating a liveable environment. The initiative represents the European Green Deal to society, serving as a bridge between art, culture, science, and technology, while also aiming to connect different generations and enhance societal mobilisation.
Keywords: inclusivity – aesthetics – sustainability
But what exactly is this initiative?
Everyone experiences that the pandemic is causing crises or difficulties in many economic and social areas, while other processes are also underway that affect the changes in our cities (climate change, energy management, housing and food industry problems, etc.). The pandemic forces us to rethink existing practices and systems and to explore opportunities from different perspectives. The New European Bauhaus provides a comprehensive content framework for this collective thinking, defining the EU's programmes and guidelines for the coming years.
The NEB is therefore a movement that uses various tools to reach as many European residents, institutions, and entrepreneurs as possible:
The NEB is a forum where anyone can share ideas or suggestions,
The NEB is a large-scale community planning where the programme’s next stages are determined by the joint results of the initial phase,
The NEB provides guidance for framing future tenders,
The NEB is an opportunity to rethink the future of our cities and environment.
A platform where ideas can be experimented with, and where the relationship and cooperation between theoretical and practical experts can be strengthened. It connects the world of science and technology with the arts and culture, aiming to solve complex social problems through joint planning. It provides a forum for individuals, professionals, companies, and institutions to discuss together how we can make the living spaces of tomorrow more affordable and accessible.
Several partners from Hungary have already joined the initiative, including KÉK - Contemporary Architecture Centre, which, besides professional partnership, also participates in a roundtable of New European Bauhaus ambassadors. The roundtable participants were selected based on their various professional backgrounds; in the case of KÉK, Eszter Dávida, as an architect and urbanist, is involved in community development under the DANUrB+ international programme, representing this approach in the programme.
The New European Bauhaus initiative consists of three phases:
Design: January–June 2021, the intensive 'harvesting' period, collecting contributions, open-ended process; this co-creation represents a new approach in the European Commission's working methods. The goal is to gather a large amount of interdisciplinary and collective knowledge.
Implementation: September 2021, evaluation of the collected information, determining five key areas, allocation of grant sources, and issuing calls.
Dissemination: planned implementation of five experimental NEB projects in different EU countries.
Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, summarised the initiative's vision in her video message: “We need every creative mind – designers, artists, scientists, architects, and citizens – to make the New European Bauhaus initiative a success.”
KÉK's Collaborative Partners:
Hungarian Design Council (BEDA – Bureau of European Design Associations, member of the NEB’s official partner organisations)
MOME Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design
