The Tower of Fire is a 1920 sculpture by the Bauhaus teacher Johannes Itten. It combines architecture, sculpture, music and design. This symbolizes the idea of Bauhaus – the unity of all artistic disciplines. Almost 100 years after Itten’s Tower of Fire, a new Bauhaus Tower was built for the Bauhaus Year 2020. It’s a teleidoscope that reflects the surroundings into the interior of the tower through a mirrored prism. Visitors can influence the way they perceive the interior by rotating the prism in order to change the images captured on the mirrored walls. In addition, the perception of space is influenced by the acoustic concept.
The all-embracing idea of the sound deals with reflection. Six speakers are located at the top of the tower. Each speaker is directed in a different angle to the prism. The sound is reflected either inside or outside the tower. The stick of the prism is equipped with sensors that record the direction and speed of rotation. Visitors can control the sound and the reflection by rotating the prism. Underneath floor of the tower there are two transducers to give a haptic feedback of the rotation by vibration.