Das Bauhaus von Süden gesehen

Following the closure of the Weimar Bauhaus in 1925, Walter Gropius relocated the school to Dessau, about one hundred miles southwest of Berlin. This photograph by the balloonist and photographer Robert Petschow records the newly completed Bauhaus. In addition to documenting the building's innovative design--in which classrooms, workshops, studios, a canteen, and Gropius's architectural practice were housed in one continuous structure--Petschow's bird's-eye view reveals aspects of daily life. Tiny figures can be seen on the roof of the studio wing--a flat open space that functioned as social club, dance hall, gymnasium, and sun deck with panoramic views of Dessau, the surrounding countryside, and, overhead on this day, Petschow's balloon.