The Bauhaus

This was one of the most important design movements of the modern age. Bauhaus means building house or school of construction.
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After  world war one Gropius was asked to found an art school. The school was called Bauhaus. It was established in the German city of Weimar. Before this school came about European art and design schools used to teach each design subject separately. On the other hand this new school taught a  variety of design subjects therefore each student was skilled in multiple disciplines. Students attending the Bauhaus school learned by making things themselves. The school started the method of workshop based training which is still used in arts and crafts schools today.

In an interview in the documentary, The Bauhaus, Face of the 20th century, Gropius said that the designer must establish a link with the machine therefore the school trained the students in two ways – as a craftsmen and as an artist. He continues on to say that one cannot understand a machine unless he/she have understood the tools of their craft.  Designers of the Bauhaus era believed that there was no need for unnecessary ornamentation and that the design should be simplistic.  The system at this school was quite innovative as the skills were taught by a craftsmen but there was also a supervising artist who gave inspiration to the students. Amongst the staff teaching at the Bauhaus there were Paul Klee, Kandinsky and Johannes Itten.

The Bauhaus brought about many interesting designs. The cantilever chair, created by Marcel Breuer was the first lightweight, mass produced chair. This had no legs like an ordinary one it was more simplistic. It consisted of a metal rod which was twisted. Then two pieces of fabric were stuck together to allow one to sit and rest his or her back on it. There are also wood cantilever chairs which were made with a single piece of wood. Breuer took this idea and applied to the architecture of his buildings making cantilever decks.

Bibliography

The Bauhaus, Face of the 20th century. 1994. [DVD] Frank Whitford, Julia Crave.