Overview

“Form follows function.” This famous phrase captures the spirit of the Bauhaus. Founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany, it was more than a school; it was a movement to modernize the world. They hated the ornamental clutter of the 19th century. They wanted clean lines, simple shapes, and rational design that could be mass-produced for the common man.

Core Idea

The core idea is Gesamtkunstwerk (Total Work of Art) for the industrial age. Gropius believed there should be no barrier between the “artist” (who paints) and the “craftsman” (who makes chairs). They should work together to design a total environment—from the spoon you eat with to the building you live in—that is beautiful, functional, and affordable.

Formal Definition

An influential art and design school in Germany (1919–1933) that emphasized the unity of art, architecture, and design. Its style is characterized by geometric forms, asymmetry, the use of modern materials (steel, glass, concrete), and the absence of ornamentation.

Intuition

Look at an IKEA chair. Look at an iPhone. Look at a glass skyscraper. That is the Bauhaus legacy. Before Bauhaus, chairs were heavy, carved wood with velvet. Bauhaus made chairs out of bent steel tubing (the Wassily Chair). They looked like machines. They were light, airy, and honest about their materials.

Examples

  • The Wassily Chair (Marcel Breuer): Inspired by bicycle handlebars. It uses tubular steel and leather straps. It looks industrial but is comfortable.
  • Bauhaus Building in Dessau: Designed by Gropius. It has a “curtain wall” of glass, showing the interior structure. It looks like a factory for learning.
  • Typography: Herbert Bayer designed a “universal” font with no capital letters (because why waste time pressing the shift key?). It was all about efficiency.

Common Misconceptions

  • It’s a style: It was a method of teaching. The “Bauhaus Style” (white boxes) was just the result of their logical approach to problems.
  • It was cold: While it looks cold to us, they believed they were creating a humane, hygienic, and sunny world for workers, freeing them from the dark, dusty slums of the past.
  • Modernism: Bauhaus is the headquarters of High Modernism.
  • International Style: The architectural style that spread from the Bauhaus to the rest of the world (skyscrapers in NY, Chicago).
  • Industrial Design: The profession of designing products for mass production was largely invented at the Bauhaus.

Applications

  • Apple Design: Steve Jobs was a huge fan of the Bauhaus. The clean, white, functional aesthetic of the iPod and iPhone is pure Bauhaus.
  • Education: The “Foundation Course” (learning about color and material before picking a major) used in almost every art school today was invented by Bauhaus teacher Johannes Itten.

Criticism / Limitations

  • Inhumanity: Critics argue that Bauhaus housing projects (concrete blocks) became alienating and soulless, breeding crime and isolation. They designed for “Man” (an abstract ideal), not for real, messy people.
  • The Nazis: The Nazis hated the Bauhaus (calling it “degenerate” and “communist”) and forced it to close in 1933. The teachers fled to America, spreading the ideas globally.

Further Reading

  • Droste, Magdalena. Bauhaus: 1919-1933. 1990.
  • Wolfe, Tom. From Bauhaus to Our House. 1981. (A scathing, funny critique of how Bauhaus architecture ruined American cities).
  • Whitford, Frank. Bauhaus. 1984.