Steel House Dessau

The Steel House in Dessau was constructed as a prototype for rationalized housing projects, based on the potential of steel construction. Therefore architect Muche believed that systems-building was the only possible continuation of building with bricks and stones. This steel house follows his 'House on the Horn' in Weimar, erected three years earlier. The Steel House's construction consists of H-beams from which 3-mm steel sheets were suspended. Two interlocking cubes with horizontal façades were designed. Room-high doors and big, vertical windows provide the living rooms with lightness, whereas the subsidiary rooms are lit by bull´s-eye-openings. The architects created several colour schemes for the building, but the ultimate grey-white-black version might be regarded as a result by Walter Gropius´ influence. Nowadays the house serves as an exhibition and event space for the Bauhaus Foundation Dessau and is a good starting point for a visit to the nearby Törten Estate.