Stahlhaus Dessau, Metal experimental house in Dessau-Roßlau, Germany.
Stahlhaus Dessau is a single-story family home with an outer shell in shades of grey, white, and black broken by distinctly shaped windows. The building spans about ninety square meters and displays a clear, geometric structure with two different ceiling heights throughout its interior.
The house was built between 1926 and 1927 through collaboration between Bauhaus teacher Georg Muche, architect Richard Paulick, and a Leipzig steel manufacturer. This project was one of the first attempts to use steel construction for modern residential building.
The house shows how Bauhaus designers pursued their ideas about living with machines and industry. Visitors can see how architects tried to rethink housing by using steel and standardized parts.
Viewing the interior requires good foot stability since stairs connect the two different levels within the space. The house sits centrally in Dessau and is reachable by standard transport, though the rooms feel relatively compact and the windows provide limited space for lingering.
The house uses Torfoleum, an insulating material made from peat, sandwiched between the inner layer of slag blocks and the thin steel outer shell. This material was an experimental approach to heat insulation common in the 1920s.
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