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The Bauhaus

Established in Weimar, Germany with Walter Gropius as its head in 1919. It

was a new school that combined the teaching of fine arts with the teaching of
arts and crafts. Gropius named the school Das Staatliche Bauhaus, which
translates to the “State Home for Building.” Gropius based the teaching on a
workshop environment modeled after William Morris’ Arts & Crafts
workshops. The belief that hands-on learning was necessary for learning. To
follow with the workshop idea, Gropius called his teacher’s masters, and the
student’s apprentices, to signal that the school was within the real world.
This school became very influential with many noted artists from around
Europe teaching there.

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This diagram, which Gropius published in 1922, illustrated the structure of

the school curriculum. Training started with the six-month preliminary
course. The two middle rings represent the three-year period of workshop
training together with form theory. 'Bau' (Building) – was the final stage of
education – which at this point was not yet offered.

For the first four years that the school was open there wasn’t an evident
graphic style, there were influences from Expressionism, Dada,
Constructivism and De Stijl. This is the way Gropius wanted the school to
be. In 1923 because of conflicts between the Bauhaus and the local
government the school was told to put on an exhibition to demonstrate its
accomplishments. This exhibition was attended by 15,000 people and was
internationally acclaimed. The artwork showed a move from an expressionist
emphasis to a more applied-design emphasis; Gropius was encouraged to
move in the direction of the more avante-garde. Gropius modified the
curriculum, also changing the original slogan for the school from, “A Unity
of Art and Handicraft,” to “Art and Technology, a New Unity.

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Also in 1923 Laszlo Moholy-Nagy replaced Johannes Itten. Moholy-Nagy

was from Hungary, and studied law before he turned to art. In the field of art
he constantly experimented in the areas of painting, film, sculpture, and
graphic design. Moholy-Nagy had a significant impact on the teaching and
philosophy at the Bauhaus right from the start of his teaching and became
Gropius’s “prime minister.”

Moholy-Nagy made an important statement about typography, he described

it as a “tool of communication,” and with this statement emphasized that type
must be clear, legible, and communicate its message. Moholy-Nagy
succeeded in creating an asymmetrical typography that was both clear and
convincing.

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Because of the mounting tension between the Bauhaus and the Weimar
government, the Bauhaus moved to Dessua in 1925. During the years in
Dessau (1925-1932) the Bauhaus’ visual identity and philosophy matured
into what we know today.

With the move to Dessau and the modified curriculum, Gropius established a
typography workshop, first under former student Herbert Bayer and then
under another former student Joost Schmidt, who changed the course’s name
to Commercial Art. Bayer rejected historical forms and individual 'old-style
and fancy types,' Her sought to create an internationally valid and legible
style of lettering with this type. "Like modern machines, architecture and the
cinema, so too must type be an expression of our exact times." His typeface
“Universal Alphabet,” omitted all capital letters and became the typeface of
the Bauhaus.

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In the years to follow the 1925 move to Dessau, the Bauhaus became well to
the general public and associated with a style of; anything geometric,
functional or modern. Characteristics of the Bauhuas publications included;
order, asymmetry, with a grid structure. Decoration was limited to heavy
rules, and geometric shapes. Illustration was replaced with photography and
photomontage the use of sans serif type was considered essential, with the
adoption of Bayer’s Universal type being used after 1925.

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In 1928, Gropius resigned as director of the Bauhaus. He left to pursue his

own architecture, but also due to the mounting Nazi pressure on the school at
Dessau, Gropius thought it would benefit the school if he were no longer
involved. Moholy-Nagy and Bayer also left the school at this time to pursue
graphic design and typography in Berlin. The Swiss architect Hannes Meyer
replaced Gropius, but by 1930 conflicts with government authorities forced
Mayer to resign. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe replaced Meyer. Mies van der
Rohe was a prominent architect from Berlin, whose design dictum “less is
more” has become a major tenet of twentieth-century design.

By 1931 the Nazi party dominated the Dessau city council, and in 1932
cancelled all Bauhaus faculty contracts. Mies van der Rohe again moved the
school to an empty factory in Berlin, but continued Nazi harassment made
the continuance impossible. The Bauhaus closed on August 10, 1933.

The growing Nazi persecution led many Bauhaus faculty to flee to America.
Gropius and Breuer taught architecture at Harvard, Moholy-Nagy established
the New Bauhaus (now the Institute of Design) in Chicago, and Bayer
becoming a prominent designer here in the Sates. This exodus to the States
has dramatically changed American design since World War II.

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The Bauhaus was open for 14 years, had 33 faculty members and
approximately 1,250 students. The school’s teaching methods has influenced
how art is taught today. The Bauhaus tried to bring art closer together with
everyday life by way of design.

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