ARCH417Class11

ARCH 417Fall 15

Bauhaus

agenda 9.30.15ungraded quiz on Monday's lecture. This is solely for purposes of discussing appropriate evaluation in the class.embracing the machine: Le Corbusier was our prime example in Franceembracing the machine: Bauhaus will be our prime example in Germany

Walter Gropius (1883-1969)

• born Berlin in a family of architects• brief architectural training in Münich• joined studio of Peter Behrens in 1908 (along with

fellow employees Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe).

• started his own practice with partner Adolf Meyer in 1910.

• practicing architect and lifelong educator

• developed a detailed pedagogy of design

another "maven"

Walter GROPIUS and Adolf MEYERFagus FactoryAlfed an der Leine, Germany1913

Walter GROPIUS and Adolf MEYERFagus Factory 1913

• This was the first major commission for Gropius and Meyer and was an acclaimed success.

• Program included 10 interrelated buildings. The architects kept working on the complex with this manufacturer until 1925.

• Factory built shoe-lasts and is still in operation.

• Gropius and Meyer only designed the façades.

• photo top: machining lasts at the Fagus Factory.

• photo bottom: completed product at the Fagus Factory.

Bauhaus (1919-1928)Gropius was appointed Director of the Academy of Fine Arts in Weimar.He merged it with School of Arts and Crafts, believing that all arts are governed by the same basic principles.“The Bauhaus strives to combine...all the arts – sculpture, painting, applied art and visual art – as the inseparable components of a new architecture.”In 1925, school moved to Dessau for financial reason.

bottom: map showing Bauhaus locationstop: map showing Bauhaus locations relative to DDR/BRDborders; East German territory is colored in red

WHERE was the Bauhaus?

first Bauhaus Weimar, Germany

second BauhausDessau, Germany

The Bauhaus compound in Dessau was a purpose-built structure for the school, housing students, and providing classroom, workshop and office space. When people refer generically to the Bauhaus, this location and architecture is what they mean.

last BauhausBerlin, Germany1932-33

The Bauhaus school was founded upon a complete approach to architecture and design. Much like the Russian Constructivists, they wanted to merge art into life, and to make their work part of everyday life.

This was reflected inthe curriculum, the subjects studied, and most of all in the wayof life pursued there.

The artist and the craftsperson wereviewed as equal collaborators.

Every Bauhaus student was required to major in one fine art and one craft.

Bauhaus curriculumemphasis on properties of materials and design across disciplinesaesthetic principles:• fidelity to materials• economy of form• appropriate to

function

• instruction in technology and techniques of mass production Oskar Schlemmer, Bauhaus Stairway, 1932

Just like their Soviet counterparts, Bauhaus designers wanted to contributefunctional objects to the new modes of everyday life.

Furniture design was also important.

Bauhaus impact on graphic design remains strong.

The Bauhaus style had a profound impact on graphic design fields such as advertising andcover design.

Bauhaus, DessauInterior, Workshop.

Bauhaus, Dessau Interior, Corridor And Stairs

Bauhaus, Dessau. Interior, stairwell with Breuer chairs.

Bauhaus, Dessau. Interior, Student room.

Bauhaus, Dessau. Interior, Auditorium

Irene Hecht BayerNew Bauhaus Building, Balconies on the Preller BuildingBauhaus Dessau, 1927Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin

Erich Consemüller, Bauhaus Scene 1926

Consemüller was commissioned by Gropius to document Bauhaus products.Featured: Marcel Breuer, B 3 tubular steel chair

Oskar Schlemmer, mask for performanceLis Beyer, dress fabric woven in textile workshop

women at the Bauhaus

Lionel FeiningerWomen on the Staircase1927

New forms of bodily, sexual, social,and creative freedom were playedwith at the Bauhaus, and women had a higher status inside than outside its doors.

at the looms in the textile workshop, Bauhaus

Anni ALBERS,textile design, 1926

Gunta Stözl was a WeimarBauhaus student who becamea master of the textile workshopin Dessau.

Gunta Stözltextile design

Women were overrepresented intraditionally female craft fields like weaving and underrepresentedin other fields perceived to be moremasculine. Their freedom relative to their female peers outside the institution, however, was striking.

Theatrical design was a Bauhaus major and was put to good use in frequent productions.

why did the Nazis dislike the Bauhaus?

freedom of thought and experimental attitudeequality for womenmodernist aesthetics and ideals

Adolf WISSEL (1894-1973)Farm Family from Kahlenberg, 1939, oil on canvas

tea and needlework:fitting occupations forgrandmother in Hitler'sGermany

Gropius in the USAfled Germany in 1934 to Englandwas invited to Harvard Graduate School of Design in 1937his student Marcel Breuer quickly followed to join Harvard faculty as well

Harvard Graduate Center Cambridge, MA (1950)

exterior view detail of decoration, entrance hall

detail of decoration, brick pattern mural

detail of decoration, mural in dining room