Nikhil Prabhandam

XII - F

Research on Design
Movements

BAUHAUS
 Bauhaus

A “movement” is a style or prevailing inclination in art or design

that upholds a specific philosophy or ideal and is followed and
promoted by a group of artists for a defined period of time.

The Bauhaus:
The Staatliches Bauhaus, commonly known as the Bauhaus, was a
German art school that combined elements of fine arts and design
education. The school became famous for its approach to design, which
attempted to unify individual artistic vision with the principles of mass
production and emphasis on function.
It was founded in 1919 by German-American architect Walter Gropius in
the city of Weimar. Its core objective was to reimagine the material world to
reflect the unity of all the arts. Gropius explained this vision for a union of
art and design in the Proclamation of the Bauhaus (1919), which described
a utopian craft guild combining architecture, sculpture, and painting into a
single creative expression. Gropius developed a craft-based curriculum that
would turn out artisans and designers capable of creating useful and
beautiful objects appropriate to this new system of living.

Style and Characteristics:

Coming from a desire to merge all the arts and industry, the Bauhaus
strived to create beauty through functional, utilitarian design. The most
basic principle of the Bauhaus movement was “form follows function.”
This idea used simple, geometric shapes with few decorative details to
design functional, straightforward objects and mass-produced objects.
The Bauhaus style predominantly consists of simple geometric shapes like
rectangles and spheres, without elaborate decorations, with the main
emphasis on function. The designs are characterized by clean lines, simple,
useful shapes with little or no decoration, primary colours, and rational use
of modern materials such as glass, concrete, and steel. Buildings, furniture,
and fonts often featured rounded corners and sometimes rounded walls.
Other buildings are characterized by rectangular features, for example –
protruding balconies with flat, chunky railings facing the street, and long
banks of windows. The furniture designed often used chrome metal pipes
that curve at corners.

Famous and Influential Designers:

Walter Gropius
As the founder of the Bauhaus, Gropius is considered one of the most
influential figures in this style of architecture. Gropius was a firm believer
in the function of architecture, renouncing references to previous styles or
ornamentation. His buildings, therefore, are highly modernist, geometric,
and minimalist, encapsulating the Bauhaus design.
Marcel Breuer
Marcel Breuer was one of the first, and youngest, Bauhaus artists. His
career focused on architecture and furniture design (his Cesca Chair is
especially famous). His architecture is slightly more brutalist than that of
Gropius, but the influence the movement had on him is evident in all his
work.
Paul Klee
Paul Klee was a painter whose work utilized Cubism, Surrealism, and
Modernism. He was key in developing the aesthetic of the Bauhaus
movement artwork, working as a teacher at the school and writing one of
the most important pieces of theory in the modern art movement: Writings
on Form and Design Theory.
Anni Albers
Anni Albers was a textile artist who spearheaded the movement's ideals of
mixing function and art. Her textiles also utilize the geometric and
modernist designs associated with the movement.

Influence:
It’s hard to overstate the legacy of the Bauhaus. The style and
approach of the German school still influences artists, designers, and
architects to this day. Although the school closed in 1933, its teachings are
sprinkled over the globe, and to this day the Bauhaus style lives on,
marrying art and function in everything from furniture to graphic design.
Today, Bauhaus is often credited as the catalyst for modern architecture and
furniture and as an important influence on mid-20th century painting and
sculpture. Some buildings—including Bauhaus Dessau, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site—have been turned into tourist destinations and house
museums, while many major modern art museums incorporate the works of
art into their permanent displays and popular exhibitions.

Impact:
The Bauhaus had a major impact on art and architecture trends in
Western Europe, Canada, the United States and Israel in the decades
following its demise, as many of the artists involved fled, or were exiled by
the Nazi regime. In 1996, four of the major sites associated with Bauhaus in
Germany were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List (with two
more added in 2017).
Today, the Bauhaus movement can be seen almost everywhere. Their
commitment to finding solutions that were simple, rational, and functional
is an approach that is still taught to artists and designers today. Bauhaus
design is simple and useful, and the simplicity is what makes the everyday
objects beautiful. Today’s designers are still taught “form follows function,”
as modern technology encourages innovations to make our lives easier.
In 1928, the Hungarian painter Alexander Bortnyik founded a school of
design in Budapest called Műhely, which means "the studio". Located on
the seventh floor of a house on Nagymezo Street, it was meant to be the
Hungarian equivalent to the Bauhaus.

Famous designs:
Doorknob by Walter Gropius

Bauhaus Chess Set by Josef

Hartwig
 Nesting Tables by Josef Albers

Tea Infuser by Marianne Brandt

Bibliography:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauhaus
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Bauhaus
https://magazine.artland.com/art-movement-bauhaus/
https://www.dezeen.com/2018/11/08/bauhaus-furniture-designs-chair-tables-chess-set-baby-cradle/
https://mymodernmet.com/what-is-bauhaus-art-movement/