The Bauhaus

Bauhaus School designed by Gropius in Dessau 

The Bauhaus (The building house) was founded by the Walter Gropius, a German architect, in 1919. Gropius wanted to create designs for the world. Bauhaus revolutionised the way art and design were taught, and was a major influence on all aspects of art and design. It also influenced various artists and art movements. Gropius asked artists such as Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee in order to come teach in his school. The Bauhaus objective was to use machinery and other aspects of the material world, in order to create something beautiful and artistic. This art was to be functional, clean and clear. There was an elimination of unnecessary ornaments; they striped the design to its minimal form whilst creating harmony between craftsmanship and mass production. The importance was on clarity, rationality and utilitarian simplicity, whilst their posters made use of a well divided grid. They were very much interested in the relationship between form and function. They tried to look at things differently in order to create something innovative an exciting. The Bauhaus were very much influenced by der blaue reiter in aspects such as form, colour and space as well as Kandinsky’s spiritual principles of colours. In addition, the Bauhaus were also influenced by the works of de stijil, especially typography.

Laszlo Moholy-Nagy cover for Broom (1923)

When Laszlo Moholy-Nagy entered the school, he brought in new techniques along including photomontage, the photogram as well as other visual aspects that could be incorporated such as kinetic motion, light and transparency. He also contributed greatly to the development of typography which was to be organized, justified and functional – Legibility was the most important thing. If one looks at Moholy-Nagy`s cover for Broom (1923) we can see an innovative design. The influences of cubism and Lissitzky can be seen clearly. He uses strong verticals and horizontals as well as sans serif typography of different sizes. The composition is avant-garde, it is fresh and dynamic. It is not decorative but clear and direct which leaves an impact on the viewer. Furthermore, he uses limited yet bold colours.

Kandinsky`s Sixtieth birthday exhibition poster
by Herbert Bayer

Herbert Bayer, Moholy-Nagy`s student, then took over the typography and advertising workshop. He very much followed the

principles of de stijil and constructivists. He was responsible for creating a new letterhead for the Bauhaus. He created a universal typeface based on geometry. It made use of clear, simple and rational sans serif fonts whilst getting rid of capitals, claiming that they are incompatible in design. Furthermore, he started using ragged right and flush left typesetting. In addition, he experimented with different contrasting type sizes and weights which created a sense of hierarchy capturing the attention of the viewers. Bayer used open and dynamic compositions, implied grids, shifted axis as well as colours influenced by the constructivists; red and black, as can be clearly seen in the exhibition poster made for Kandinsky’s sixtieth birthday exhibition.

Bayer`s Typography

The Bauhaus was active for fourteen years, under three different directors and in three different locations within Germany. The Nazis however, pressured the Bauhaus and so, in 1933 it eventually closed down with several of its students and teachers immigrating to other countries such as America and Switzerland. Even though it was open for a short period, it made a great impact on art and design throughout the world, and designs created by the Bauhaus can still be seen and are still popular today.

References:

Philip B. Meggs, 2011. Meggs' History of Graphic Design. 5 Edition. Wiley.

Steven Heller, 2012. 100 Ideas that Changed Graphic Design. 3.3.2012 Edition. Laurence King Publishing.

Bauhaus documentary (1) - YouTube. 2014. Bauhaus documentary (1) - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: http://youtu.be/wZOqTFtEHAw. [Accessed 01 November 2014].

The Bauhaus, 1919–1933 | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 2014. The Bauhaus, 1919–1933 | Thematic Essay | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History | The Metropolitan Museum of Art. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bauh/hd_bauh.htm. [Accessed 01 November 2014].

Bauhaus-Archiv. 2014. Bauhaus-Archiv. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.bauhaus.de/en/. [Accessed 01 November 2014].