The Bauhaus movement is one of the essential movements of the Modernist category that dominated the 20th century. Despite only graduating 1,250 students in a 14 year span, the Bauhaus heavily influenced contemporaries as well as future designers. The school of thought was founded by Walter Gropius in 1919 when he was just 36 years old. It started in Weimar, Germany until it went to its most famous building in Dessau and moved for one year to Berlin in 1932. In 1933 it was forced to close down because of the rise of the Nazi regime. Below are photos of Gropius and the Dessau Bauhaus after being ravaged by war in 1945.
The foundation of the Bauhaus was a rebellion against the idea that the self was opposed to the universe, instead attempting “universal unity” [1.] Essentially this mean that Bauhaus valued the self as a singular but necessary component of a whole. “We perceive every form as the embodiment of an idea, every piece of work as a manifestation of our innermost selves.” [2.] Not quite socialism and not quite in line with the previous eras that gave way to value of a singular power, Bauhaus toed the line between these extremes that rose out of the ashes of Germany’s loss in World War I.
Within the manifesto written by Walter Gropius there is a duality between the struggle of the craftsman influence (folk art that had disappeared with industrialization) and the rise of industry. Gropius encouraged incoming Bauhaus students, through his manifesto, to acknowledge that both craft and ‘talent’ were necessary to art. The individual, unique expression was an inseparable component to good art and good Modernism. Here is a chart drawn up to represent the manifesto by Gropius as well as an early seal for the Bauhaus.
The confluence of intellect and art became the core ideology of Bauhaus, giving form to space. I like to think of it as communicating intellectual thought through visual media. Philosophy made visible. The Bauhaus encouraged learning of all kinds in order to properly influence the creative genius expression, in this way craft of the mind was as important to informing good design. The students were given a broad education in order to inform their own individual expression in the best possible way. “This training opens the way for the creative powers of the individual; establishing a basis on which different individuals can cooperate without losing their artistic independence.” [3] It was made to coordinate ‘harmonious independence’, which Gropius described as being a well lead group. Art and this intellectual movement could only be as powerful, he thought, if there was a well coordinated population of people, but he acknowledges the need for a strong leader.
The conceptualization of space is intellectual, the realization of limited space allows for our minds to grasp the reality of that concept of space. This is what the Bauhaus strove to do through art and, most prominently and (I would argue) lastingly, through architecture. The architecture program was a surprisingly late addition to the curriculum but Gropius was an architect himself, and the one who designed the Dessau Bauhaus.
The Dessau Bauhaus building was, some believe, the perfect manifestation of the ideals of Bauhaus. A precise combination of the creative expression (the new, the unique) with industrial influence. Other Bauhaus architecture, that is buildings designed by men who subscribed to the Bauhaus ideology during that brief 14 years, is similar in structure. Work by Adolf Meyer, Ernst Neufert and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, for example, share that square industrial look, each with slight variations that express individual style. One of my favorites is the Ludwig Mies van der Rohe German Pavilion for the 1929 World Exhibition located in Barcelona.
The Dessau Bauhaus is a building that housed the Bauhaus school from 1926 through 1931. It has three interlocking wings and spanning two sides of the street in Dessau. The building across the street from the main work building housed the administration. According to Gropius, as described in his book “the Bauhaus building was commissioned by the town of Dessau and building work started in autumn 1925; it was completed after a year and opened in December 1926. The whole building covers an area of about 2630 sqm and has a cubic capacity of approx. 32450 cbm. It cost 902500 marks or 27.8 marks per cbm volume including all additional costs. Fixtures and fittings cost 126200 marks.” [4.] The materials are ferroconcrete skeleton with brickwood, reinforced block ceilings, double overlaid iron sections for the windows with plate glass and non-accessible flat roofs constructed from asphalt sheets. [5.]
The Dessau Bauhaus is the seemingly the opposite of organic, the shapes are squared off and harsh. The surfaces are clean and cold, but the workspaces have tons of light and inspire with the feeling of being inside a beautiful observation deck, looking out into the world. I’m assuming this was on purpose to be a physical example of the individual imagining their work functioning in the world at large. The furniture was designed by Mark Breuer and exemplified modern simplification of design and flow of line. Below is a gallery showing the interior with the aforementioned furniture, a night view to show off how many windows it had as well as a workroom corner with an abundance of natural light.
Margaret Kentgens-Craig states in “The Dessau Bauhaus” that “[t]here is no question that architecture was intended to be the heart of the Bauhaus’s creative programme from the outset.” Though it was not until 1927 that the architecture program took form in their new home at the Dessau building. While in Weimar the program remained quite small, it was in the Dessau that the Bauhaus truly thrived and you could say it is because his building encompassed their ideals. The forms you can see in the photos show off a new point of view from the previous eras of architecture and design. Though this building is a quintessential piece of Modernist architecture, and that style is often blamed for ugly cityscapes, I disagree that this building and Modernism ruined anything. I love the factory-influenced design. (Below is a photograph I have from my dad’s archive of antique photos. If I remember right it’s an early 20th century American factory, but you can see the consistency in the windows!!) The simplicity encourages productivity for me, I don’t get the same feelings of coldness that others have expressed to me in the past. Later Modernist architects are at times more successful in incorporating their design into the organic landscape (like Alvar Aalto) but the Bauhaus building is an inspirational workplace.
Though most of the photos of the Dessau building are black and white, except the ones from after the school was closed, there are color plans from Hinnerk Scheper. The colors are relatively subdued but it’s nice to imagine what it would have been like inside once finished. The approach to the color was, apparently, developed after the building was built as the interior is more “sophisticated” than the exterior palette. [6] The color scheme was meant to enhance the feeling of light within the building that the windows and sharp cornered open spaces already provided. The color was also extremely flat so as not to distract from the form of the Modernist structure but enhance it.
The Dessau Bauhaus is a great introduction into Modern design and architecture, it captures the ideals that make Modern design powerful. “Mid-Century Modern” is extremely popular at the moment, but the the superficial Modern style doesn’t capture that essence in the Bauhaus building or other legitimate Modern structures.
The Ideal Citizens
To develop the ideal citizens for the future of the Bauhaus I looked at images and costume of a few of the more clothing-conscious people living within the Bauhaus. Because figurative representation wasn’t a part of the Bauhaus, I decided to communicate my design through a sort of fake photo collage. Photo collage was an exercise in Joost Schmidt’s advertising and photography classes. Photography under his section of the Bauhaus became an art form in a time when photography was just blossoming into more than ‘pure documentary’ format. I also looked at various textiles developed by leading textile artists working in the Bauhaus. Below is a photo collage for Schmidt’s class by Irene Hoffman in 1930, a design for a knotted carpet as well as two textile designs that I was interested in incorporating into my designs.
I also found a really intriguing photograph of the first director of the Bauhaus when it was still in Weimar. Johannes Itten was trained as a grade school teacher but had a diverse set of interests including philosophy, which he later started a school in. He was chosen as the first director because of his particular strength in painting and teaching composition. I was interested in this photograph from 1920 in which Itten is wearing a robe he designed himself:
Here is an illustration also in the “Bauhaus” book in which Paul Citroen drew his friend Georg Muche ‘in Bauhaus robes’ as worn by devoted pupils of Itten. (To me it seems a bit cultish, but oh well!)
Next I tried to find examples of what women within the Bauhaus were wearing. Their clothes seemed with the times, but functional for work and less about emphasizing the female form. This made me think a lot about the geometrical potential of fashion that would diminish the organic forms of the body and would potentially appeal to the Bauhaus movement.
I thought, too, about what the ideal citizen would need. In the Bauhaus movement it is vital to have an expression of genius and so it makes sense not to invent a new character but maybe portray an example of genius that has already occurred. (If I had multiple geniuses to invent I might not be writing this blog post but working on something else…) I thought about the lifestyle of the people living for those years at the Dessau Bauhaus and found some amazing photographs of the Master’s houses as well as some people having parties there. Imagining the Utopian lifestyle within the Bauhaus compound I began to imagine the citizens that might occupy that space.
Below are my two citizens in their Modernist robes. The technique I used was to cut everything out digitally in the most authentic way I could, as if I were making a design collage. The rug under their feet is cut into slices and woven instead of digitally warping it to create perspective. The woman’s head originally had an anonymous mask and I wanted her to be an individual ‘genius’ so I put the head of a woman from the Bauhaus on her. (See above photograph of Gertrud Arndt!) The man is Josef Albers with the glasses (and one eye) from Johannes Itten. They are both wearing textiles designed by Bauhaus artists that I also have in their full form above. I purposefully left the textiles as flat as possible, trying to emmulate as if I had taken these photographs and cut them into simple representations of these geometric robes. (I did, however, stick to clothing forms to communicate the design of the costume better for the sake of the project.) In the background I sliced up the Bauhaus symbol as if it were the sun floating above the Master’s houses, the location of this Bauhaus utopia.
Because it’s tough to see the exact robe shape idea, I did a sketch of what they would look like standing, as well. I based the drawing off the Paul Citroen drawing of Itten’s robes. I made the choice to give the woman short sleeves and a short skirt because I liked the geometric shoulders of the outfit Muche is wearing in the photo above with her husband. There was a fair bit of sexism within Bauhaus, for example women were generally ‘confined’ to textiles, so I gave her the heels and short skirt. She still has short hair from the photograph of Marianne Brandt, though. And the man has the bald head of Itten because he was the one who sort of designed these.
That concludes my entry on the Bauhaus movement. If you have any questions leave them in comments, or check out the books I have listed in my citations! I got overwhelmed by how much information I wanted to share and couldn’t fit it all!! The Bauhaus was an incredible piece of the Modernist era and greatly influences current Modern design.
footnotes:
1. Harrison, Charles, and Paul Wood. Art in theory, 1900-1990: an anthology of changing ideas. page 338
2. Harrison and Wood, 338
3. Harrison and Wood, 341
4. Craig, Margret. The Dessau Bauhaus building, 1926-1999. page 7
5. Craig, 8
6. Craig, 44
citations:
1. Harrison, Charles, and Paul Wood. Art in theory, 1900-1990: an anthology of changing ideas. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 1993. Print.
2. Meyer, Ulf, and Hans Engels. Bauhaus-Architektur: 1919-1933. Munich: Prestel, 2001. Print.
3. Droste, Magdalena. Bauhaus, 1919-1933. Köln: B. Taschen, 1998. Print.
4. Craig, Margret. The Dessau Bauhaus building, 1926-1999. Basel: Birkhäuser, 1998. Print.
5. “Why the ‘Barcelona’ Pavilion is a modernist classic.” BBC Culture. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Apr. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130924-less-is-more-a-design-classic>.
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