Walter Gropius: The Bauhaus Building, Dessau, 1925-26
The Bauhaus Building:
- functional design: non historical or superfluous ornament (eg International Style)
- components: steel framework, reinforced concrete brick, glass curtain wall, flat asphalt tiled roof
- 3 distinct wings: technical school, arts academy/workshop, student housing; set at right angles, connected by bridge.
- The workshop wing (pictured) is characterized by its asymmetrical design, simple planar forms, and lack of superficial decoration.
- The name of the building is in rounded san serif font.
- 7 yrs earlier w/Fagus Factory Gropius tested the glass curtain wall, but in Dessau, the facade in entirely of glass.
BAUHAUS
Name: “House of Building”
1925-32 Dessau
1932-33 Berlin
1933 closed by Nazi authorities
Progressive teaching method
Produced: designs for architecture, furniture, topography, functional ceramics, tapestries, etc. Bauhaus designers initially concentrated on hand-crafted objects, they soon embraced industrial technology and designed items for mass-production.
Key Figures: Gropius, Josef Albers, Theo van Doesburg, Lyonel Feininger, Kandinsky, Paul Klee, El Lissitzky, Lazlo Moholy-Nagy, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Influences: John Ruskin & William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement; Peter Behrens and the Deutscher Werkbund
Legacy: Art Deco and Modern architecture, International Style, Modern Design (think Ikea - seriously)
- An art school in Germany, led by Gropius after WWI dedicated to an integrated approach to art. Essentially a utopian craft guild combining architecture, sculpture and painting into a single creative expression.
1925-32 Dessau
1932-33 Berlin
1933 closed by Nazi authorities
Progressive teaching method
Produced: designs for architecture, furniture, topography, functional ceramics, tapestries, etc. Bauhaus designers initially concentrated on hand-crafted objects, they soon embraced industrial technology and designed items for mass-production.
Key Figures: Gropius, Josef Albers, Theo van Doesburg, Lyonel Feininger, Kandinsky, Paul Klee, El Lissitzky, Lazlo Moholy-Nagy, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Influences: John Ruskin & William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement; Peter Behrens and the Deutscher Werkbund
Legacy: Art Deco and Modern architecture, International Style, Modern Design (think Ikea - seriously)
Walter Gropius (1883-1969)
"The ultimate aim of all creative activity is building!"
Pre- Bauhaus (1910-25): architect in Germany
Gropius “Artists, sculptors, painters, we must all return to the crafts!”
Pre- Bauhaus (1910-25): architect in Germany
- Fagus Factory, Alfeld an der Leine, Germany, 1910-11.
- Monument to the Dead, 1920 (destroyed by the Nazi’s as “degenerate art” in 1936).
- Design for the Chicago Tribune Tower competition, 1922.
- Gropius House, Lincoln, MA, 1938.
- Alan I W Frank House, Pittsburg, PA,
- Aluminum City Terrace project, New Kensington, PA , 1942-44 (was very interested in public housing in later life)
Gropius “Artists, sculptors, painters, we must all return to the crafts!”
Introduction to Bauhaus: 8 min video
Walter Gropius & Bauhaus, 9 min video
Excellent images plans etc of the bauhaus building
Bauhaus movement, artists, influences etc - good summary fr art story
Bauhaus philosophy summary
NYTimes review Bauhaus exhibit at MOMA
MOMA Bauhaus interactive website
Design and reform: the making of the Bauhaus - The Magazine Antiques
Walter Gropius & Bauhaus, 9 min video
Excellent images plans etc of the bauhaus building
Bauhaus movement, artists, influences etc - good summary fr art story
Bauhaus philosophy summary
NYTimes review Bauhaus exhibit at MOMA
MOMA Bauhaus interactive website
Design and reform: the making of the Bauhaus - The Magazine Antiques