Renovation of Café am Bauhaus into the Bauhaus Library

During a visit to Gropius's Bauhaus School in Dessau, few notice the adjacent structure of the former café "Café am Bauhaus," which was built by architect Hermann Rey in the spirit of East German modernity between 1961 and 1962. In 1969, a single-story structure was added towards Gropiusallee, further obstructing the view of the famous interwar architectural school. In the early 1990s, the building was used as a grocery store (Kaufhalle Dessau), but then it fell into disrepair for many years, until in late February 2009, a proposal was presented by Berlin architect Reiner Becker. His design to convert the former café into a library for Anhalt University in Dessau was officially opened in 2012 after a three-year reconstruction. The building itself is not protected, but it lies in direct proximity to a UNESCO monument. The main goal was to return the structure to its original state, which involved removing the projecting street wing. In addition to the university library, there is also a reference library of the Bauhaus Foundation in Dessau located on the upper floor.

“The appearance of the new library draws from the original building of the café and adds a very restrained single-story northern wing with a reading room for periodicals. The overall design is intentionally reduced so as not to compete with the surrounding structures. Bauhaus is an icon of modernity, and the café 'Café am Bauhaus' corresponds to this with its flat roof, inclined vertical gable wall, and the color scheme of the architecture of the 1960s. Building in such an environment should also reflect contemporary architectural expressions. In this sense, it is a continuous construction in harmony with the already existing mass. Together with the smoothly plastered plinth in light tones and the opaque greenish glazing of the upper termination accentuated by rounded corners, the building leaves a prosaic yet elegant appearance. This is one of the few details in the design of the building, simultaneously responding to urban contexts and once again freeing the view of the southern gable of the Bauhaus.”