The table lamp ME 94, designed by Marianne Brandt in 1926, serves as the point of departure for the new exhibition After Modern Brightness: Ecologies of Light. Curated by an international group of architects, designers, curators and researchers, the exhibition is the outcome of the 2025 edition of the Bauhaus Lab.
The lamp emerged within a complex field shaped by scientific progress, capitalism, mass production, advertising and the profound transformations brought about by the electrification of Germany a century ago. Today, electricity is a taken-for-granted part of daily life. Yet power outages and energy crises highlight how deeply embedded our lives remain within material infrastructures. The electricity grid that runs through our homes and cities often remains invisible – just like the ecological, political and social processes that sustain it.
The exhibition sheds light on these hidden entanglements by examining key environments in which electricity is generated, distributed and consumed. It not only situates the ME 94 lamp within its historical context, but also explores how design responds to socio-technical developments – from the ventilation slots in Brandt’s lamp to the externalised environmental costs of energy production.
Prior to the exhibition opening, a symposium will be held. In this open format, Bauhaus Lab participants will engage in dialogue with guest speakers Dehlia Hannah (University of Copenhagen), Myk Anusas (University of Edinburgh) and Annette Jael Lehmann (Freie Universität Berlin). Together, they will explore the contested nature of modern brightness and reflect on the question: Is there a future for designed light that counters the disruptions to biorhythms, ecosystems and life cycles caused by omnipresent artificial illumination?
Language: English
Admission free
2 – 5 pm > Symposium
followed by the exhibition opening
After Modern Brightness. Ecologies of Light is a collaborative project developed by an international group of architects, designers, curators and researchers as part of the 2025 edition of the Bauhaus Lab programme in Global Modernism Studies.
Participants of the Bauhaus Lab 2025: Valena Ammon, Sofia Boarino, Benton Ching, Dominik Hoehn, Jorge Marinho, Sofía Nercasseau, Alina Paias, Lily Wong
Supported by Regina Bittner and Philipp Sack (Bauhaus Dessau Foundation / Academy)