For decades, visitors to Walter Gropius’s modernist home in Lincoln, Massachusetts have encountered a quiet contradiction: one of the most influential works of 20th-century architecture—designed as a manifesto for modern living—has no permanent public restroom. Instead, a portable toilet sits beside the original garage.
Now, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Bauhaus in Dessau, that unresolved tension between idealism and reality has become the subject of an international design competition.
Historic New England, the nation’s oldest and largest independent preservation organization, has announced an open call for proposals to reimagine the arrival experience at Gropius House, including the design of a permanent public restroom and a reconfigured visitor center. The announcement was made during Historic New England’s annual Summit, the region’s largest conference focused on preservation, design, and resilient communities.
“We could not imagine a more fitting way to steward Gropius House – and everything it represents – than by inviting designers around the world to share their most forward-thinking ideas for the site’s evolution,” said Vin Cipolla, President and CEO of Historic New England. “This is the first competition of its kind in our organization’s 115-year history – a reflection of the site’s significance and of our commitment to advancing its relevance and spirit of innovation.”
Designed in 1938 as a family residence and pedagogical tool, Gropius House was conceived as a living demonstration of Bauhaus principles: functional clarity, industrial materials, and a seamless relationship between architecture and landscape. Gropius designed the home while teaching at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, shortly after emigrating from Germany. In 1979, his wife, Ise Gropius, donated the house—along with its original furnishings, artwork, and personal effects—to Historic New England. The property opened to the public in 1984 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 2000.
Since then, it has become one of the organization’s most visited sites.
The garage is used as a welcome center for the historic property. The bathroom facilities are located in the lone portable toilet. (Courtesy Historic New England).
Yet the absence of a permanent restroom—an infrastructural oversight that has persisted for decades—has underscored the challenges of adapting modernist icons to contemporary public use. The competition directly addresses that gap, asking participants to propose a permanent, accessible facility that integrates sensitively with the historic site while enhancing visitors’ sense of arrival and engagement with the landscape.
“The history of the Bauhaus is, above all, a history of ideas,” said Allen Kolkowitz, former designer in the offices of Marcel Breuer & Associates and a Trustee of Historic New England, who conceived of and is underwriting the competition. “We are launching this initiative as an exceptional opportunity to conduct a global survey of the Bauhaus’s enduring influence – how its philosophy continues to shape contemporary design practice.”
The Gropius Family Portrait.
In keeping with that ethos, entrants are encouraged to experiment with new materials, technologies, and interdisciplinary approaches that challenge conventional thinking—without compromising the integrity of the landmark. The competition is structured as two parallel tracks: one open to practicing design professionals, and another dedicated to architecture and design students worldwide.
Submissions will be reviewed by a high-profile jury that spans practice, criticism, and scholarship, including Antoine Picon, G. Ware Travelstead Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology at Harvard Graduate School of Design; Nader Tehrani, founding principal of NADAAA and former dean of the Irwin S. Chanin School of Architecture of the Cooper Union; Philip Kennicott, Pulitzer Prize–winning senior art and architecture critic of The Washington Post; writer and editor Suzanne Stephens; and Tanja Hwang, curator in the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art.
Winning teams will receive a cash prize, have their work archived at Gropius House, and be featured in an on-site exhibition. Historic New England has also stated its intention to realize the winning proposal—or a variation of it—at the site.
The competition timeline includes an optional site visit on January 5, 2026, with submissions due February 6 and a winner announced on March 27. An exhibition of finalist work is planned for summer 2026.
A century after the Bauhaus redefined how design could shape everyday life, the competition asks a pointed—and oddly fitting—question: how does modernism perform when confronted with the most basic needs of the public it now serves?
For full competition details and submission requirements, visit gropiuscompetition.info.
