iBauhaus

         
             No one art movement had the bravery to swallow up the traits recognized by cubism, constructivism, de stiiji, and other movements alike. Claimed by its synchronicity, Bauhaus was an art movement like no other because it brought everyone together and steered aesthetics in a new direction. Until then, aesthetics were broadly defined by just being decorative pieces that accented other things. Their movement was mechanistic in philosophy, they abided by the rigid simplicity of de stilji, the organization of space that Cubism was known for, and when it came to dynamic movement they were influenced by the Futurists. Collectively Bauhaus inspired a motto that they are synonymously seen for – Form Follows Function.

             A brief historical capture of this important school of modernism gave art history a very short time period of living, from 1919 to 1933. Bauhaus encompassed a broad reach of different professionals, including architects, designers, fine artists, graphic designers and the like. All were part of this European movement that held Weimer, Germany as its epicenter. Established by Walter Gropius, a German architect, he founded the Bauhaus School when took the proposal by Henry van de Velde, at the time the ex-master of Weimer Arts and Craft School, to become the new Director of the Weimer Arts and Craft School.
             There, in a short period of time, he gathered up a wide range of individuals such as, Paul Klee, Johannes Itten, Herbert Bayer, László Moholy-Nagy, Otto Bartning and Wassily Kandinsky, all which served as faculty to the new school that we recognize as Bauhaus. of course, during the time period this school's ideals of freedom were an upset for the Nazi rise that was also occurring in Germany at the time forcing the school to move from Weimer to Dessau, Germany. Only eight years after their move to Dessau in 1925 the school closed down permanently due to the pressures of the Nazi Regime. 

(Bauhaus School in Dessau)

             The greatness of Bauhaus was its influence on all occupations that involved the arts, especially with the concept of mass production. There ideals of simplicity were found in the idea that if something was to be needed in large amounts than it would be necessary to make it easily reproducible. Their simplicity also attributed for why they stuck to using only squares, circles, and triangles as well as their philosophy for wanting to only use primary colors. 

             Bauhaus made giant contributions to the field of architecture. Contributing the ideals of favoring open space over mass, functionality over decor, and asymmetry over symmetry. The introduction of concrete as a viable material that could be molded and supported with rebar helped to innovate the designs that Bauhaus architects could come up with. Along with that there was the innovation of free standing structures, which was accomplished in architecture by using windows all the way around corners which were usually seen as area in which supported the roof. The Bauhaus school shows this in their own building design. The windows on the Bauhaus school also serve to show their implicit following of the grid pattern. 

             In conclusion, there are two great examples of how the Bauhaus Movement influenced both architecture and industrial design. The United Nations Building in New York was designed by Le Corbusier. The status of what such a building represents shows the impact the movement had internationally. Further than that was the Bauhaus influence on company designs products such as Apple. Their Apple iPhone serves to follow the same motto in design that Bauhaus is known for, Form follows Function, and it is with this concept that the iPhone has become the most popular and wanted phone of all time.

Works Cited

Hunter, Sam. Modern Art. Third ed. New York: Prentice Hall, 2004. Print.

Meggs, Phillip B. Megg's History of Graphic Design. Fifth ed. Hoboken: Wiley, 2012. Print.