The Bauhaus

The Staatliches Bauhaus, better known as the ‘Bauhaus’, was a school for ongoing architects and craftsmen founded by German architect Walter Gropius. The neologism ‘Bauhaus’ is a reversed combination of the two components ‘Haus’ and ‘Bau’ of the German compound ‘Hausbau’, which translates to ‘buidling of a house'. In combining the Weimar Academy of Arts and the Weimar School of Arts and Crafts, students were not only taught architecture but also various artisanries, which were linked to architecture, in order to understand the composite character of the building. According to Gropius, contemporary art schools “were incapable producing this unity” (Walter Gropius, Program of the Staatliche Bauhaus in Weimar). He sought for a “new building of the future” (Walter Gropius, see above) uniting architecture and craftsmanship. While this aim was also pursued by the Arts and Crafts movement led by the English designer William Morris, Gropius was in favour of mass production, which he thought of as necessary to reach the masses, and thus rejected the production of unique luxury objects. Led by this example, modern designers began to produce items that were both functional and aesthetically pleasing at the same time.

Training

The education at the Bauhaus is completed by a journeyman’s diploma. Over the course of three years the students receive a multidisciplinary education, which not only includes workshops on graphics and typography but also more practical workshops that focus on artisanry and creative workshops like weaving and stagecraft. The workshops are preceded by a preliminary obligatory course. The teaching staff consists of so-called Form Masters, who are responsible for the theoretical education, and craftsmen, who introduce the different artisanries and their practices.

History

The Bauhaus was found by Gropius in Weimar in 1919. When the Bauhaus in Weimar had to be closed due to cuts in state support, it was moved to Dessau in 1925. After Gropius finished designing the Bauhaus building in Dessau in 1926, he consecrated himself to the design of inner-city projects. Among them the Meisterhäuser (eng. Master’s houses) in Dessau-Roßlau, the housing estate in Dessau-Törten and the apartment buildings in Siemensstadt in Berlin. Annoyed by the political quarrels around the Bauhaus in 1928, Gropius handed over his role as the director general to Swiss architect Hannes Meyer, who he had to dismiss under political pressure two years later. Gropius suggested Ludwig Mies van der Rohe as the third director general of the Bauhaus. The increasing impact of the National Socialist German Worker's Party during the NS-regime on municipalities like Dessau eventually led to the closing of the Bauhaus in Dessau in 1931. In need for a new placement, current director general Mies van der Rohe rehabilitated a deteriorated factory in Berlin, which he rented himself. The Bauhaus in Berlin was closed down by the NS regime in 1933 and Gropius had to emigrate to Great Britain.

Impact

The Bauhaus had a far reaching impact on design, teaching methods and ideals, which were transmitted by its teachers and students. Thus the Bauhaus products were largely reproduced and found widespread acceptance for its functional objects and unornamental designs. It even led to the foundation of the New Bauhaus, which was later renamed the Institute of Design, in Chicago in 1937 by Moholy-Nagy.

Works cited

Bauhaus Kooperation Berlin Dessau Weimar. Walter Gropius. 1919-1928 Direktor des Bauhauses. 18. June 2021 <https://www.bauhauskooperation.de/wissen/das-bauhaus/koepfe/direktoren/walter-gropius/>.

Design Museum of Chicago. Program of the Staatliche Bauhaus in Weimar. Walter Gropius, 1919. 18. June 2021 <https://bauhausmanifesto.com/>.

Encyclopedia Britannica. Bauhaus. German school of design. 18. June 2021 <https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bauhaus>.