Gropius envisioned a place where students from different disciplines and with different qualities collaborated. First-year students attended Vorkurs (preliminary course) classes, during which they were introduced to the basic principles of design and colour theory and experimented with a range of materials and processes. Of particular note are the three forms that recur in their designs: the circle, the square and the triangle.

The exhibition is also the perfect opportunity to see some works from the archives of the Bauhaus students and brothers Jan and Cees van der Linden that were recently acquired by Het Nieuwe Instituut. The archives were donated by the IONA Foundation, which Jan van der Linden founded in 1966.

In 2019 it will be one hundred years since Walter Gropius (1883-1969) founded the Bauhaus. Het Nieuwe Instituut is celebrating this anniversary with the Neuhaus exhibition, which highlights alternative ways of learning and learning environments. The Bauhaus – as an innovative and revolutionary school for architects, designers, visual artists and craftsmen – serves as a starting point.