The Bauhaus.

Walter Gropius was the principal and founder of the Bauhaus. Before he founded the Bauhaus he joined the Werkbund in 1911 where he worked with Adolph Meyer with whom he designed the Fagus shoe factory in Alfeld. The word Bauhaus mean “building house” and was founded in Weimar in 1919. The Bauhaus school then moved to Dessau were it kick started, and then moved to Berlin were it was finally closed down by the Nazi regime in 1933.

The Bauhaus was inspired by other designers and movements like: Van De Velde, William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement, Expressionist Paintings, De Stijl and Constructivism. The Bauhaus exploited new technology, brought unity in art, brought equality between artists and craftsmen and was a movement where social idealism joined commercial reality. The first Bauhaus exhibition took place in 1923 and Joost Schmidt created and designed a poster for this exhibition.

Van De Velde Staircase.

Bauhaus staircase inspired from Van De Velde's staircase

Walter Gropius employed other architects and designers and were considered as assistants. These were: Johannes Itten, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Feininger and Gerhard Marcks. However Itten Left the Bauhaus due to the fact that his mystic approach conflicted with Gropius. Due to the fact that the Bauhaus was inspired by Expressionist paintings, Expressionist artists also formed part of the Bauhaus groups. These were: Paul Klee, Oscar Schlemmer and Wassily Kandinsky.

Wassily Kandinsky.

Nagy replaced Itten and was a keen follower of Van Doesburg, the constructivists and Tatlin. Laszlo Moholy Nagy was a typographer and designer. His paintings are abstract and are entirely constructivist in approach due to their geometric elements.

Van Doesburg Font.

Moholy-Nagy

Frank Lloyd write was another designer who was part of this movement and is famous for his design of the house named “falling water”. Lloyd Wright pioneered the idea of organic design and maximized natural lighting in his buildings.

Falling Water.

Mies Van Der Rohe was the 3^rd and the last director of the Bauhaus. As said earlier the Bauhaus was closed down in 1933 by the Nazis. However Van Der Rohe then re-established the Bauhaus school in Chicago from 1937 till 1946.Van Der Rohe is known for his Barcelona chair which was designed in 1929 for the German Pavilion that Mies built at the Barcelona exhibition. Russian abstract artist Wassily Kandinsky was another huge designer who was part of the Bauhaus group. Kandinsky was an artist who was closely related to the Bauhaus. Kandinsky was praised for painting the first purely abstract art piece.

Barcelona Chair.

 

Marcel Breuer was a student at the Bauhaus who then taught at the school later in his career. He was appointed as head of the carpentry workshop. Breuer was a modernist, architect and furniture designer. Breuer was first recognized for his bicycle-handlebar inspired steel furniture. Breuer succeeded with his designs and was largely admired by design giants like Le Corbusier and Van Der Rohe. Breuer kept on developing his idea of using tubular steel to design furniture. Breuer finally succeeded and designed a simple looking chair, which consisted of very simple colours and very simple materials. Wassily Kandinsky was impressed by the design of this chair due to its simple and clean design.

               

Wassily Chair.

References:

Stiftung Bauhaus. 2014. Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau. [ONLINE] Available at: http://bauhaus-online.de/en/stiftung-bauhaus-dessau. [Accessed 29 October 14].

Kenney-mencher. 2013. Bauhaus . [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.kenney-mencher.com/pic_old/20th_century/Bauhaus.htm. [Accessed 29 October 14].

WordPress.com. 2011. The Inside Story Design. [ONLINE] Available at: http://insidestorydesign.wordpress.com/tag/henry-van-de-velde/. [Accessed 29 October 14].

WordPress.com. 2013. Wharton Esherick and the German Bauhaus: Kindred Spirits of Early Modernism. [ONLINE] Available at: https://whartonesherickmuseum.wordpress.com/2013/06/04/wharton-esherick-and-german-bauhaus-kindred-spirits-of-early-modernism/. [Accessed 29 October 14].

Blogs.baruch. 2013. Art 3050 Intermediate Graphic Communication Spring. [ONLINE] Available at: http://blogs.baruch.cuny.edu/art3050s2013/page/9/. [Accessed 29 October 14].

Weebly. 2008. Wassily Kandinsky . [ONLINE] Available at: http://art-educ4kids.weebly.com/kandinsky-inspirations.html. [Accessed 29 October 14].

Fonts. 2013. Theo Van Doesburg Font. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.1001fonts.com/theo-van-doesburg-font.html. [Accessed 29 October 14].

Flooce. 2012. New USA Today Logo. [ONLINE] Available at: http://typophile.com/node/96509. [Accessed 29 October 14].

Falling water. 2014. FallingWater. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.fallingwater.org/. [Accessed 29 October 14].

WordPress.com. 2014. Vintage Furniture – Real or Fake? Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Chair. [ONLINE] Available at: http://jetsetrnv8r.wordpress.com/2008/10/26/vintage-furniture-%E2%80%93-real-or-fake-mies-van-der-rohe%E2%80%99s-barcelona-chair/. [Accessed 29 October 14].

Casa Factory. 2014. B3 Wassily chair - inspired by Marcel Breuer. [ONLINE] Available at: http://test.casa-factory.com/casa-factory/eng/b3-wassily-chair-inspired-by-marcel-breuer.html. [Accessed 29 October 14].