After the First World War the German economy was in a state of collapse. A new school of art and design was opened in Weimar to help rebuild the country and form a new social order. Walter Gropius was appointed to head the school. He named it Bauhaus which means 'house for building'. Its aim was to combine all the arts in unity.
The central idea behind the teaching at the Bauhaus was a range of productive workshops where students were encouraged to be multi-disciplined and trained to work with industry. The Bauhaus integrated carpentry, pottery, metal work, painting on glass, mural painting, weaving, printing and wood and stone carving.
The Bauhaus workshops produced prototype designs ready for mass production, from a single lamp to a complete dwelling. The Bauhaus ideology was based on the phrase 'form follows function', meaning that what something looks like should be governed by what it has to do. A lot of the Bauhaus designs, many of which are still being produced, were based on simple geometric shapes that eliminated any unnecessary clutter. |
