BAUGRUPPE GSD is inspired by the “Baugruppe” model of collective housing design and ownership in Berlin. The structure of the experiment itself was designed through a series of discussions and negotiations between the five Baugruppe members, who all participated in the GSD Berlin studio abroad in Spring 2015. For us, it is an exercise in the negotiation of conflicting personal desires and in the actuality of sharing space with one another--as designers and as friends.
Five designers, the members of the Baugruppe, dwell together in the 40 Kirkland Gallery for a week. Each member is allotted an 48-inch-wide lot of space, each with identical beds and desks. Each lot has been designed to be equal, though due to site irregularities, there is inevitable disparity between some. Lots are chosen by lottery. Yet, these consistent elements provide the basis on which the nuances of varying styles of living operate. Each member may bring personal effects (chair, wall hanging, house plant, etc.) to furnish his or her area and properly adapt and mold it to his or her use. Any leftover space outside the allocated lots is considered collective.
These different attitudes toward dwelling converge in the space of Kirkland Gallery. The space distills the negotiations surrounding social gathering, private space, and temporal cycles through immediate spatial confrontation.
We dwell in the Baugruppe together, separately.
Dana Wu, Elizabeth Pipal, Giancarlo Montano, Chris Soohoo, Julian Funk