The Bauhaus Movement

THE BAUHAUS MOVEMENT Germany's defeat in World War I left the country and Europe in financial and physical ruin. The fall of the German monarchy led to a growing art scene that was freed from the shackles of censorship. GERMANY'S DEFEAT movement of cultural Bauhaus united form and function by giving them equal importance. Unnecessary embellishment was out and purposeful art was in. Good design required simplicity. Minimalism wasn't just a style choice - it was a holistic view of the whole process. Craftsmanship & mass production united Constructivist design allowed for efficient mass production. Less is more Absence of ornamentation KEY PRINCIPLES Students ot Bauhaus were encouraged to merge art and craft while using new technology. THE OF HISTORY BAUHAUS 1919 Until now, European art academies had taught design disciplines separately. But Bauhaus believes in variety. Walter Gropius (Founding director) wants BauhauS to encompass all artistic media with no separations. Fine Industrial design Graphic design art Typography Interior design Architecture ARTS CRAFTS Are brought together in harmony THERE ARE 207 STUDENTS ART ISN'T VALUED PURELY CRAFT ISN'T VALUED ON JUST ON ITS AESTHETICS ITS TECHNICAL QUALITIES FOUNDED BY WEIMAR 1919 - 1925 BUILDING 1:The main Bauhaus building was designed by Henry van de Velde and was constructed between 1904 and 1911. It's now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. 1920 Workshop dasses are added: woodcarving, stone sculpture, cabinet-painting, pottery, glass painting and wall-painting. 1921 Statutes declare that Bauhaus teachers are called 'Masters' and students are 'Apprentices' and Journeymen'. 1922 The Thuringian State Government demands to see finished examples of the school's work in an exhibition. 1923 Art work from Bauhaus is showcased at the Zurich Museum for Arts and Crafts, achieving widespread publiciry and recognition. CRADLE - 1922 PETER KELER POSTER FOR BAUHAUS EXHIBITION - 1923 JOOST SCHMIDT 1924 Political pressure from the newly elected Nationalist government leads to the school's budget being cut from 100,000 marks to 50,000 marks. As a result, it becomes impossible for the school to continue operating in Weimar. 1925 THERE ARE UDENTS "Every object is defined by its character, and designing it so that it works properly means researching its character. For it should perfectly serve its purpose; it should be lasting, affordable and pleasing to the eye." - Walter Gropius. BUILDING 2: The Bauhaus reopens in Dessau in a new building designed by Gropius. The building features an impressive steel-frame construction, a glass curtain wall and an asymmetrical, pinwheel plan - all features that have become hall marks of modernist architecture. BAUHAUS LAMP - 1924 WILHEM WAGENFELD WASSILY CHAIR – 1925 MARCEL BREUER 1926 The Bauhaus rises to international fame thanks to the 1927 stunning new buildings constructed for the school. Despite Gropius's roots, an architecture department isn't added to the curriculum until now. 1928 Gropius resigns as director due to increasing battles with the school's critics and being worn down by his work. He leaves to work as an architect in Berlin. NESTING TABLES - 1926 JOSEF ALBERS THERE ARE 166 STUDENTS 1929 Exhibitions are held at Braunschweig, Krefeld, Halle an der Saale, Erfurt and Berlin. THERE ARE 201 STUDENTS TUBULAR STEEL CHAIR - 1928 MARCEL BREUER 1930 1930 Gropius pleads to have Meyer fired to protect the school from becoming politicised and radicalised. Mies van der Rohe keeps the school out of political debates and bans supporters of Hannes Meyer from attending. DIRECTOR 3 (1930-1933) Courses are shortened to just to five semesters and study is made completely academic. BARCELONA CHAIR - 1929 LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE 1931 Municipal elections in Dessau make the Nazi party the strongest party. It pledges to cancel all Bauhaus grants and demolish the buildings. 1932 1932 Pressure from the Nazis in Dessau lead Ludwig Mies van der Rohe to move the Bauhaus College to Berlin as a private institution. BERLIN THERE ARE 114 STUDENTS 1932 - 1933 BUILDING 3: Bauhaus operations are relegated to a disused telephone factory in Steglitz, Berlin. The building no longer exists and a commemorative plaque now stands in its place. 1933 The Bauhaus building is sealed and searched by police while 32 students are temporarily detained. The Gestapo won't let the school reopen unless the teachers are replaced and the curriculum is changed. The curriculum would have to satisfy the 'requirements of the new state in The school is ultimately closed and Mies van der Rohe is expelled from Germany. its inner structure'. WHERE THE BEST-KNOWN BAUHAUS TEACHERS WENT: Josef Albers (1933) Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1937) USA Herbert Bayer (1938) Walter Peterhans (1938) ENGLAND FRANCE SWITZERLAND Walter Gropius (1934 Britain; 1937, USA) NETHERLANDS Wassily Kandinsky (1933) Paul Klee László Moholy-Nagy (1934, Netherlands; 1935, Britain; 1937, USA) (1933) Marcel Breuer (1935, Britain; 1937, USA) LEGACY BUILDING 4 ARCHITECTURE The Bauhaus Archive is a non-profit organisation that preserves the legocy of the famous art school. It acts as a museum and research institute. Gropius designed the building himself in 1964. 1979 - Present Aside from the Bauhaus buildings that are still standing, the architectural design philosophy is still used for some new builds today. Generally, buildings with flat roofs, cubic shapes and smooth facades are adhering to the style. ROAD SIGNS FURNITURE The effects of Bauhaus can still be seen in graphic design today. The road signs of Britain use the simple, cheap, and to-the-point design philosophy that Bauhaus preached. Designed by Jock Kinneir and Margaret Calvert, the signage is visually understandable in an instant. High quality brands like Knoll maintain a strong partnership with the Bauhaus design philosophy to this day. On the other end of the spectrum, cheap alternative furniture at IKEA still adheres to the mass-production ideas from the German art school. SOURCES http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/729 ; http://bauhaus-online.de/en/atlas/jahre ; http://books.openedition.org/ceup/1176?lang=en ; http://www.bouhaus-dessau.de/bauhous-buildings.html http://www.bauhaus.de/en/das_bauhaus/48_1919_1933/ ; http://books.google.co.uk/books?id-QN5LI HWBİVEC&pg=PA244&lpg=PA244&dq=bauhaus+closed+1st+april+1924&source-bl&ots=KuyrjónU96&sig=6TluzlvojY bwNaZGF_sSX-_In_A&hl-en&sa=X&ei=0-TPU5ZZNMİVOQX_moGwDQ&ved=0CCGQ6AEWAQ#v=onepage&q-bauhaus%20closed%201st%20april%21924&f-false courtesy of www.aram.co.uk ©creative commons themselves in interesting ways create new things and express artists and many were eager o an inspiring place to be for INSPIRATION UPON THE BUILT Germany had become modernism Merges the Grand Ducal Sa xon College of Fine Arts and the college of A Crafis to create the Bauhaus. S WALTER GROPIUS 1919-1928) (DIRECTOR 1, and feeds strong political views | syllabus. H e receives mixed reactions. He is a committed communist into his teaching syl The role of director is possed to architect and odvocate offunctionalism: HANNES MEYER (DIRECTOR 2, 1928-1930) 1925 - 19 DESA LUDWIG MIES VAN DER ROHE