The Bauhaus

Original Bauhaus School Building, Dessau Germany, designed by Walter Gropius

The advancement in technology and insatiable interest in using this technology for means of destruction meant that at the end of the first world war there was a desire to seek beauty and joy in the design of all things. Although the Bauhaus had its inception before the war, it was not until after the war that Henri Van De Velde’s school of art and crafts gained influence, under new direction. Walter Gropius, a decorated survivor of the war, initiated this tidal wave of ideas under the universal ideals of craft and a utopian future.

The Bauhaus puts heavy emphasis on craft and the ultimate unity of architecture, painting and sculpting. This principle clearly evolved from Van De Velde’s school of arts and crafts however it took on some key differences and eventually became, what is regarded by Sigfried Giedion, as the catalyst for what is now modern architecture. The school founded by Walter Gropius, almost symbolically originated in a picturesque german town with principles founded in craft and highlighting a unity of the craftsman and the artist. Gropius, in his founding manifesto for The Bauhaus in 1919, speaks to how the artist must be skilled in a specific craft in order to achieve the proficiency in representation necessary for creative and well made art. Gropius continues by rejecting the divide between craftsmen and the artist because the two must breed ideas from one another. Each profession requires the other, and interestingly he even goes as far as to say; the artist must be a craftsman, because an artist is “not a profession”. The Bauhaus believed heavily in the idea that in order to design and create buildings harmoniously and in their entirety; the mastery of craft is the key. This idea for the foundation of a school based in the arts and creation was revolutionary, Gropius wanted to pursue higher ideals of creation than simply the idea of craft. He merged in a fluid and rigorous, curriculum the mastery of both design, creation and manual craft. He believed that through a freedom of individualism and the availability of many mediums and techniques, the flowering creativity of the pupil, or apprentice as they were, might expose a blossoming characteristic within the craft or one relating to its ideals.

This school was born at a time of turmoil and humanity found itself wrestling with technology itself. Gropius sought the unity of not only art and craft but eventually made an amendment to the first manifesto stating a unity of art, craft and technology. In 1924, as the school moved from its humble origins in Weimar to the industrial park that was Dessau. Through the Gesamtkunstwerk the Bauhaus transitioned from a school focused on craft and creation to one also heavily immersed in industry and technology. The new school in Dessau was designed by Gropius and exemplified the ideals of the Bauhaus; even being described as the first building of modern architecture. The history of the Bauhaus is short lived, with pressure from from a rising fascist and anti abstraction power in Germany.