May we make our time interesting

Last night, I attended a documentary with my mother about the Bauhaus, an iconic design school in Germany formed after the first world war. We're deeply bonded with the institution since her father attended architecture school there. We watched the hour BBC 4 documentary only to find out it ended short of the period where he enrolled.

Having lost her dad just over a year earlier, my mom had a very human reaction; why is this about Eb? It was a moving film, opening on a news report from the current day, outlining a cancelled concert due to threats of far right-wing protests. The campus's central building now defines the Bauhaus style. Walter Gropius designed the building and was the school's founder. The documentary portrays him as a mix of Dumbledore and Robin William in the dead poets' society. He was a person who understood that truly great design comes from all perspectives to uniting.

Gropius acted as a lightning rod for all attention needed for the school to raise money and awareness. He used this notoriety and student intrigue to unite the campus, with the most notable event being Gropius Day, his birthday celebration. These events allowed students to explore alternative avenues of design and collaboration, opening them to new immersive experiences. The ABC party, Anything But Clothes, popular during my time at Queen's, was a low-budget version of the toga party. It was an idea stolen from the Bauhaus, where students would wear outfits fashioned from their department of study, wood, paper or steal. It also outlined the introspective exploration of sexuality and identity, an issue we still struggle to communicate 100 years later.

There is a quote about the Comedian Richard Prior after his passing. Still, I think it pertains to all great art "The mark of greatness is when everything before you is obsolete, and everything after you bears your mark." though the Bauhouse dissolved, its teachers moved across the world. Mies van der Rohe rebuilding most of Chicago was the most prolific. The film paints that in a polarizing light. Though it was great to have his work in the world, it served the corporate world, where it wasn't enjoyed openly and in a class-agnostic manner.

Eb and I in Jamaica

I've been inspired to complete a weekly journal entry by my grandfather, who kept malicious journals throughout his life. After graduating from the Bauhaus moved to Toronto, he designed the Eaton Center, Ontario Place, and sick kids, among other modernist buildings. Like fish wanting to swim, architects are born to build. I don't fault Mies van der Rohe for building corporate towers. It paved a path for my grandfather to undertake large modernist projects that portrayed the Bauhaus style with the ability to capture their zeitgeist, connecting people through design.