The "New European Bauhaus" initiative was officially launched on 14 October 2020. In the words of President Ursula Von der Leyen, "the New European Bauhaus movement is intended to be a bridge between the world of science and technology and the world of art and culture”. The seed of this proposal was born on 16 September, when Von der Leyen mentioned in her speech at the State of the Union Debate her desire to create "a new European Bauhaus, a co-creation space where architects, artists, students, engineers and designers work together" stating that “this is not just an environmental or economic project: it needs to be a new cultural project for Europe”. As stated by Commissioner Gabriel regarding the launch of the Bauhaus initiative, “we can only move forward if sites become cultural sites”.
The European Commission intends to use the funds of the European Recovery Plan (Next Generation EU) to promote a "Renovation Wave" of 35 million buildings across the European Union, built from the second half of the 20th century, which are greatly facing the problems of energy consumption, as well as indoor environmental quality, combining sustainability, the comfort, air quality, thermal insulation, healthy conditions and many other aspects.
The initial design of the Bauhaus is intended as follows:
- a design phase, to explore ideas and shape the project;
- a delivery-phase starting with 5 New European Bauhaus projects in different EU Member States. it is proposed that these projects are committed to sustainability, combined with art and culture, adapted to local conditions and with specific focus such as energy efficiency and structural safety, future-oriented e-mobility or resource-efficient digital innovation;
- a dissemination phase.
