Bauhaus

A School and a Movement

Bauhaus - The Invention of The Modern Aesthetic

(Bau - build/construct)

(Haus - house)

1919-1925 Weimar

1925-1933 Dessau

An architect named Walter Gropius; encountering an organization called the Werkbund, was deeply impressed by its proposed mission: Seeking to integrate art, economics and engineering the Werkbund sought to create fundamentally usable, technically creative, and economically accessible items. And in so doing produce a modern aesthetic that would, they believed, redesign our living environments inside and out.

Gropius wanted to see this vision realized, but found that the Werkbund was not really producing any notable change in this direction. He theorized that in order to change the way that designers and architects worked and thought, he would have to teach them the value and use of these principles as part of their professional skill set. An understanding of basic economics and proven engineering skills must be merged with design ability and the skill of the practical craftsmen.

The logical way to do this was by opening a design school - with this philosophy at its core. In 1919, Gropius created the Bauhaus Institute by combining the Weimar Art Academy and the Weimar Arts & Crafts School.

In the coming together of art, design , engineering, economics and innovation were possible. New forms of construction; the advent of tubular and flat section steel; new composite metals and the advent of plastics all encouraged innovation which spread across the crafts, from lamps to cutlery, from chairs to desks and tables, ironwork, ornamentation, et al .

The architecture and designs of Bauhaus members and Bauhaus inspired professionals (like Corbusier, van der Rohe, Mackintosh, Lloyd Wright and others) offered a fresh bright new world, open-plan interiors (after Hoffmann�s daring architectural roof trusses and concrete experiments proved workable) pre-cast and pre-assembled building parts encouraged pleasant and productive work places; enabled 18ptr rooms in homes and official buildings. New styles of garden layouts offered recreation and a modern juxtaposition counterfoil for the new architectural genre.

Modern printing fonts made for easier reading (Nagy and Bayer) and art Deco to Art nouveau styles encompassed designs, from teapots to pens, from paintings and graphics. Life would never be the same again.

Many of the members of Bauhaus were skilled in multiple disciplines, often having come from a hands on trade or craft background, on through architecture and design and sometimes on into fine art and painting.