Post 4 - Bauhaus

Bauhaus was a design school that was founded in Germany by the architect Walter Gropius, in 1919. The objective was to reach all arts: architecture, sculpture, painting etc. Gropius stressed the importance of designing for mass production. However, to him, only brilliant ideas should be multiplied by industrialization. The school slogan was "Art into Industry." 

Gropius had already gained international reputation for factory designs. He wanted to solve problems of visual design created by industrialism. The machine was considered a positive element. The idea was to unify artists and craftsmen with industry to bring functionality and aesthetic qualities to mass production.

The heart of the Bauhaus education was a preliminary course, established by Johannes Itten. The goals were to release each student's creative abilities, to develop an understanding of the nature of materials and to teach the fundamental principles of design. Itten's methodology sought to develop intellectual abilities and emotional experience. However, in 1923, he left the Bauhaus because the school was evolving towards rationalism and designing for the machine.

In 1926, the Bauhaus magazine began publication. The magazine became an important vehicle for disseminating ideas. Artists such as Kadinsky, Klee, Gropius, Mondrian, Moholy-Nagy, and Van Doesburgh were the editors and authors. Sans-serif fonts were usually almost exclusively. A universal type that reduced the alphabet to clear, simple and rationally forms was designed by Bayer. This alphabet was consistent with Gropius' advocacy of form following function.

Bauhaus style influenced Modern architecture and design. Bauhaus buildings are usually cubic, favor right angles and have an open floor plan. The architectural focus was functionality. The Bauhaus building reflects the principles of the Bauhaus style, which contains features of Modernist architecture. The glass and thin steel structures building seemed to be "floating" on its hidden concrete columns. The idea of having the building covered with glass walls was to have light in every room of the building. 

Met Museum

Meggs, Philp B, Meggs' History of Graphic Design, Fourth Edition, 1998.