Speech by President von der Leyen at the New European Bauhaus Collective online conference 'Common Ground: Making the Renovation Wave a Cultural Project' https://www.eudebates.tv/ Dear Members of the New European Bauhaus collective, Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you very much for the invitation! It's an honor for me to open this first event of the New European Bauhaus collective. I am very happy to have such a strong, diverse and competent group of organisations and people that support the New European Bauhaus initiative.
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With the creation of this collective you did exactly what we had in mind when we launched the project: Bringing together people from different backgrounds and disciplines. Not only to amplify good ideas, but also to create a better future for Europe and our planet.
Why is this so important? Let's take some minutes to look back at the original Bauhaus that was founded in Weimar and Dessau. You all know it quickly developed into a world-wide movement. The success of this movement was only possible because the founders succeeded in combining architecture with craft; design with innovation. They put the concept of inter-disciplinary into practise every day.
Until today, we can see how successful they were. We see their ideas in the buildings of our cities, in our furniture, in fabrics and art. Combining art with technology – bringing together innovation and creativity is key for a deep transformation. And this is why the work of your collective is so interesting and important for us.
But this is not the only reason why the historical Bauhaus can be an inspiration for our New European Bauhaus. Let me mention two more:
First, the historical Bauhaus was created in a time of profound transformation. People were facing the challenges of industrialization. The founders around Gropius aimed for solutions that were functional, affordable, but also beautiful. The New European Bauhaus is also looking for this combination of aesthetics and affordability. But we want to add a very important third element: sustainability. The New European Bauhaus wants to match sustainability with style. We want to show that sustainable solutions can also be beautiful.
The New European Bauhaus brings a cultural element to the European Green Deal. It wants to make the European Green Deal a tangible, touchable experience and bring it closer to the people.
The third inspirational element of the historical Bauhaus is that it boldly promoted new materials like steel and cement. Today, we also need to look into new and sometimes old building materials. This time, it's about climate friendly materials that need less CO2 in their production process. The New European Bauhaus wants to accelerate the transformation of the built environment. It wants to scale up nature-based materials like wood and bamboo to support circular design and architecture.
