[Art movement] What is Bauhaus?

Table of Contents

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Contemporary Bauhaus Luxury Residence – French Carmel, Haifa, Israel / ph: The Pinnacle List

1- History and development of Bauhaus

2- Basic Features of Bauhaus Design

Rare Bauhaus cabinet / ph: 1stDibs

3- Bauhaus Designers and typical works

What is Bauhaus? How does Bauhaus affect modern design? We invite you to explore the Bauhaus art movement!

[Art movement] What is Bauhaus?

Contemporary Bauhaus Luxury Residence – French Carmel, Haifa, Israel / ph: The Pinnacle List

If you once come to Germany, surely it is not difficult for you to find Bauhaus-Weimar University is famous for training architecture, design and art today. In world art history, Bauhaus was the first art school in Germany to combine crafts and fine arts between 1919-1933. And not only that, the design perspectives at Bauhaus school evolved into the pinnacle of the Bauhaus design movement, which still greatly influences modern design.

1- History and development of Bauhaus

After World War I (1914 - 1918), Germany lived in poverty and misery in the tragedy of history for a defeated nation. German art is also hurt, because the struggles of life have made the German artist world jno longer able to create.

Amidst decline and gloom, architect Walter Gropius realized the golden mold of ancient architecture is no longer suitable. He removed cumbersome patterns from his blueprints, then rejected the old conventions that were stylish and plain. On April 12, 1919, the city government of Weimar, in the state of Thüringen, central Germany, licensed Gropius to establish the national Bauhaus design academy, on the basis of the merger of Henry vande Veldo's Weimar School of Crafts and Arts. and Dai Huan Tuoc's College of Fine Arts existed before the war.

Gropius named the school the Bauhaus, which translates as a building house, but according to Weimar Bauhaus-Universität, it stands for "an eagerness of openness, experimentation, creativity, cohesion. strict to industrial and multinational practice ". In addition to Gropius, the Bauhaus board also has famous names such as the physical genius Albert Einstein, architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and famous artists and designers such as Josef Albers, Lyonel Feininger. , Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Oskar Schlemmer …

In the early years of shaping, the Bauhaus school paused in experiments on the balance between aesthetics and functionality in interior projects or in the making of everyday objects such as tables and chairs. , ceramics, scrolls of stickers… Bauhaus turned to impressionism and sought its own path of reform.

2- Basic Features of Bauhaus Design

[Art movement] What is Bauhaus?

Rare Bauhaus cabinet / ph: 1stDibs

William Morris, the famous British designer at the end of the nineteenth century, once said: Art really peaks when it meets the needs of society, then there should be no distinction between form and function.

In other words, beauty should always go hand in hand with supernormal capabilities. That view influenced later generations of design, typically the strong development of contemporary art in Bauhaus. The De Stijl style and the Russian design school of the same era also had an impact on works at Bauhaus.

Therefore, the Bauhaus-style works always put functionality first through geometric language, simple shapes without decorations. At Bauhaus all products must adhere to the principle "Beauty goes with function". In 1923, Bauhaus carried out a reform with a new perspective: Art and technology - a new combination. Products need to meet aesthetics based on design standards, while ensuring functionality and usability. The same goes for architecture or interior decoration. The works are built in arrays, blocks, neither redundant nor lacking. Sophisticated details such as Roman rulers, reliefs, and curving patterns are reduced to a minimum.

Besides "Designed to meet function", Bauhaus is also the unity between arts and handicrafts. Walter Gropius insists: “Architects, painters, sculptors, we all have to return to be craftsmen! There is nothing "Art Professional - professional art". There is no fundamental difference between artists and craftsmen. The artist is a noble artist ... A foundation of craftsmanship is essential to every artist. It is the orginal of creation. ”

3- Bauhaus Designers and typical works

Walter Adolph Gropius (1883 - 1969) and Bauhaus University: Walter Adolph Gropius (May 18, 1883 in Berlin - July 5, 1969 in Boston) is a German architect and founder of the Bauhaus school. . He is the author of many famous architectural works such as Fagus Shoe Factory (1910 - 1911) Alfeld, Germany; Housing area in Siemenstadt (1929), Berlin, Germany; Aluminum City Terrace apartment building, (1942-1944), New Kensington, Pennsylvania …

The impressive Bauhaus case influences many of the early 20th century buildings. Often modeled but never better built, the school's pointed geometries have become paradigms for apartments and the office where we live today and work. This UNESCO heritage-listed structure has been wonderfully repaired after its neglect and the damage of war. It is still a college and is currently open to visitors. There is a museum in the school, but the best exhibit is the building. Because it's always flooded with natural light, the building still makes visitors feel so new and modern that it's hard to believe it was built in 1925.

The contribution to architecture of Bauhaus style is also to mention: Hannes Meyer (1889 - 1954) with five apartment buildings in Dessau city called Laubenganghäuser Dessau (Arcade Houses), Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886 - 1969), Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky (1866 - 1944) ... Bauhaus also influenced with graphic works and opened a new way of graphics - typography, contributed by the artist Jan Tschichold (1902). - 1914), Joost Schmidt …

In the end, the name Bauhaus is not merely a school name, it has become a name of a style, an art period associated with the development of art history and architecture. world. Bauhaus thoughts were and continue to be the bridge between its art, its art, its applicability, its practice for life. Bauhaus is also one of the prerequisites for the functional, Minimalist Design trend of modern design.