Bauhaus

Staatliches Bauhaus was a famous fine arts school in Germany known for its modern approach to teaching design. In operation from 1919 to 1933, the Bauhaus school was originally founded in Weimar by the architect Walter Gropius but was later directed by Hannes Meyer and finally Ludwig Mies van der Rohe until the Nazis shut it down in 1933. Each director brought their own unique technique and influence. While the school was barely open for two decades, the Bauhaus style has endured and continues to be a great influence on design, art, and architecture.

Bauhaus style (also known as International Style) was influenced by many competing movements of the time. In post WWI Germany, the arts were inspired by a new liberal political wave which allowed for cultural experimentation previously repressed by the monarchy. Another important influence was a 19th century English designer named William Morris. He believed that art should be completely functional. The most influential cultural movement was modernism dating back to the 1880s. These designs were extremely simple and minimalistic. Modern pieces could be mass produced without compromising the artistic design. This German modernism was referred to as Neues Bauen. All of these influences combined to produce the distinct Bauhaus style marked by a lack of ornamentation and by the synchronization of an objects function and design.

Bauhaus was originally founded in Weimer in 1919 by Walter Gropius. Under Gropius the focus of the school was on aesthetics. After losing state funding, it moved to Dessau in 1925. In 1928, Gropius resigned as director with Hannes Meyer as his successor. Under Meyer the school shifted focus to functionality. Bauhaus became profitable. Nonetheless, Meyer was fired in 1930 after speculation of a sex scandal with a student and establishing a Communist student organization. His successor, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, did not share Meyer’s political views or approach to design. He made the school private and denied admission to Meyer’s followers. In 1932 Berlin became home to Bauhaus; however, by this time the Nazi Party had dubbed Bauhaus as being un-German and accused those involved of being Communists or too liberal. The Nazis had no toleration for these foreign influences and thus the Berlin Bauhaus was closed in 1933 and Mies van der Rohe was forced to leave Germany.

The Bauhaus continued to influence architecture and art despite its closure. Many of the artists fled Germany or were forced to leave by the Nazi regime and ended up in Western Europe or America. Israel also became a refuge. As a result, the Bauhaus influence spread and is seen all around the world today in architecture and furniture design.