Bauhaus

Bauhaus came from the German word ‘hausbau’ which means ‘Building House’ or ‘House Construction. It was founded in 1919 in Weimar by German architect Walter Gropius. He joined the Werkbund in 1911. 

Gropius was director of the Bauhaus school until 1928 and was succeeded by architect Hannes Meyer. Another architect Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe followed in 1930. “Less is more”; This motto is what he had created; he believed that less is more, he had used it in every design that he had.

Due to political instability in Germany, and the poor financial situation of the Bauhaus, he moved the school to Berlin in 1930, eventually closing it in 1933. During World War 2, many important members of Bauhaus emigrated to the united states such as Marcel Breuer, Walter Gropius and Josef Albers.

In 1937, László Moholy Nagy founded the New Bauhaus, which today exists as the Institute of Design. Bauhaus was inspired by other designers such as Henry Van De Velde, William Morris from Arts and Crafts Movement, Constructivism, De Stijl and Expressionist paintings. Bauhaus is not unique. Its principal aim was to bring together ideas from of art and industry. The main idea was to improve manufacturing in order to improve the quality of life in Germany and create products for export. 

Johannes ltten (Eaten) was one of the first masters of form. He wanted to free the hidden talents of the student rather than impose ideas. He was interested in Eastern religions. He introduced breathing exercises before class and dance. He got students to students reduce old masters to blocks of color. He was Utopian and mystical. There was a clash between utopianism and the manufacture of goods. So he resigned in 1923 after an argument with Gropius.

Other designers like I mentioned before was Marcel Lajos Breuer. He was the director of cabinetmaking workshop. His designs included:

The Armchair - 1922

It was designed by him in 1922 when he was a student at the Bauhaus. He used minimal materials and was expensive. Breuer was inspired by the steel tubes of his bicycle to produce furniture in metal. They were lightweight and mass-producible.

Nest of Tables - 1926-'30

The metal working together with the cabinet studio, managed effectively to develop prototypes for mass production. This workshop created table wear and lighting fixtures designers included; Wilhelm Wagnfeld, Christian Dell and Marianne Brandt.

Tea Infuser and Strainer - Marianne Brandt - 1924

References:

- InfoLinks, 2014, 'A World History of Art' [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.all-art.org/history580-2a.html [Accessed 20 January 2014]

- The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000-'13, 'The Bauhaus 1919-'33 [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bauh/hd_bauh.htm [Accessed at: 14 January 2014]