The Bauhaus

THE

BAUHAUS MOVEMENT

— GERMANY, 1919-1930 —

INTRODUCCIÓN

The German word Bauhaus essentially means “House of Building or Building School”. For some,

the Bauhaus is synonymous with the greater term modernism. For others, the Bauhaus is a type of

font or an architectural design style. In light of all the different understandings of what the

Bauhaus is, there is something more important, the ideologies and methods that were taught

there.

The technology educator will also find that the multidisciplinary education like that of the

Bauhaus will provide their students with an invaluable educational experience needed to

succeed in an ever-changing world.

During its brief existence, from the 1920’s through 1930’sthe Bauhaus developed a style that has impacted virtuallyevery aspect of the applied arts.

A man named Walter Gropius fueled the primary andfounding vision of the Bauhaus. Under his leadership anddirection the Bauhaus Movement and school should beconsidered an antecedent of technology education.Educators who seek to unlock ingenuity, and creativity intheir students can look to the Bauhaus as an educationalmodel.

From a historical point of view the separation of crafts,technology, design and art is a recent phenomenon. Theperiod of the Bauhaus sought to combine these elements.The Bauhaus has had a profound impact on architecture,graphic design, interior design, industrial design, andtypography and has addressed how we engage thetechnology we use. It should be understood that thiscombination of the crafts, technology, art, and design isreferred to as a multidisciplinary approach.

METHODOLOGY

Gropius's career advanced in the

postwar period. Henry van de Velde,

the master of the Grand-Ducal Saxon

School of Arts and Crafts in Weimar

was asked to step down in 1915 due

to his Belgian nationality. His

recommendation for Gropius to

succeed him led eventually to

Gropius's appointment as master of

the school in 1919. It was this

academy which Gropius transformed

into the world famous Bauhaus,

attracting a faculty that included Paul

Klee, Johannes Itten, Josef

Albers, Herbert Bayer, László Moholy-

Nagy, Otto Bartning and Wassily

Kandinsky.

Walter Gropius

Founder of the Bauhaus

Johannes Itten was responsible for carrying

out the preparatory course, by which had

great influence on the postulates of the

bauhaus, his pedagogical approach was

based on intuition and the method, or in

recognition of the objective and the

subjective experience, together with

Kandinsky, they sought to re-introduce the spirituality to the art.

The school existed in three German cities and functioned with three different directors.

The Founding Phase lasted from the period of 1919 until 1923 and was led by Walter

Gropius in the city of Weimar. The Period of Consolidation lasted from 1923 until 1928. In

1925, at a critical juncture for the Bauhaus, after loosing the support of the Weimar

government, the Bauhaus moved to Dessau. In 1928, Gropius resigned and architect

Hannes Meyer took his place as second director. The Bauhaus school was transferred to

Berlin, where it operated briefly on a small scale from 1928 until 19. This period is

considered the Phase of Disintegration. In 1930, Architect Mies van der Rohe becomes the

third, and final director, of the Bauhaus. 1933 the Berlin Bauhaus closed. The most

important phase of the Bauhaus was the Founding Phase. the Founding Phase for the

Bauhaus began within the Weimar Republic, at the end of the First World War.

The Bauhaus was subject to the political influences and scrutiny of the government. The

Bauhaus existence was deeply connected to the politics of the time.

The first director

and founder

Walter Gropius

Hannes Meyer

The second

director lastly for a

short period

Ludwig Mies

van der Rohe

In 1920 the Bauhaus created what has been called its “Basic

Course”. First instructor of the Basic course was a painter named

Johannes Itten. The course dealt with design principles and the

nature of materials. Johannes Itten taught that “outward scientific

research and technology must be balanced by inward looking

and thinking” Laslo Moholy-Nagy also directed the basic course,

along with other historic figures such as Wassily Kandinsky, Paul

Klee and Joseph Albers.

Johannes Itten Paul Klee Wassily Kandisky

One of the Bauhaus antecedents was Henry

van de Velde. He created the Arts and Crafts

School, the predecessor of the Bauhaus, and

was the guiding spirit of that school for the

eight or more years of its existence in

Weimar.

Van de Velde, laid the foundation for the

Bauhaus, in both a physical and a doctrinal

sense. He emphasized the need for a

reunification of the arts, and refused to

elevate the "fine arts" above the others.

According to van de Veld, “The function of

the handicrafts was to produce models for

industrial mass-production because the

instrument of the future .

This was considered a pretty radical doctrine

when van de Velde first enunciated it, in

1894.

Henry Van de Velde

TWO GOALSThe Bauhaus concentrated on two main goals above all others. The first goal was

aesthetic synthesis. This means the integration of all branches of art and craft under the

primacy of architecture. The second goal according to Wick, from Teaching at the

Bauhaus, was a synthesis of aesthetic production around the needs of a broad segment

of the population. The opposite would have been designing for a proletariat or socially

privileged section of the population. Under Gropius it was stated that every student must

learn a craft with the goal of architecture as the vehicle to a unified school. This merger

of technology was to create the University of Design. It is important to note that during

this time the protagonists for this change were architects: Bartning, Behrens, Fischer,

Gropius, Schumacher and Riemerschmid. It was felt that the separation of architecture

from painting, sculpture, and arts and craft was a disadvantage for all disciplines

including architecture and the artistic disciplines. Essentially architecture would unite all

disciplines to educate students to serve the greater populations of society using industry

and the tools of production. These same goals are found in technology education, and

impact the roles of the architect, engineer and industrial designer.

In examining the pedagogy of the Bauhaus one would see a large catalog of offerings but would not

find a true teaching plan. Every student was instructed to learn a craft. The craft was the foremost pillar,

drawing and painting was the second pillar, and science and theory form the last pillar of the

pedagogy of the Bauhaus. Gropius believed in the concept of double qualification. The Bauhaus was

filled with different workshops. Workshops existed for joinery and fitting, there was a metal workshop, a

ceramics workshop, weaving and wallpapers, places for exhibition design, graphic design and

typography, and for teaching architecture & urban planning.

This concept was the true reform of the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus had regular teaching in the handicrafts,

integrated with artistic teachings that were obligatory for all Bauhaus students according to the statutes

of 1929, and that concluded with a Journeyman’s Exam. The handicrafts department and the council of

masters administered this exam. This joining of the crafts with the handicrafts was an essential piece of

his unified school along with working and learning. Gropius’s pedagogy relied on a respect for the

manual labor. These skills gave the student mastery of their technical skills.

In addition to a foundation of the crafts, the Bauhaus also relied heavily on painting and drawing.

Students were instructed in ornamental exercises using the basic forms of circle, square, and triangle

exercises. One can still see the use of drawing and painting, however, at this point it moved away from

exercises in ornamental design to the unadorned functionalism of the modern movement. These

exercises where key in the development of the creative mind of the student. This part of the educational

plan was designed to develop the mind of the students and their ingenuity. This is an important piece

needed in technology education programs. Often we expect students to be able to design something

without the ability to think and express their ideas. The Bauhaus realized the need for students to be able

to express their ideas and painting and drawing was not “art class” but a means to communicate in a

visual world.

The last pillar alongside training in the crafts and drawing, according to the program of 1919, was in

science and theory. Students were educated in the natural sciences and technology. To Gropius, that

meant the science of materials and the physical and chemical theory of color. It is interesting to note

that art history was also an important piece at the Bauhaus. The historical study did not include an

examination of styles, like an artistic academy, but a practical exploration of techniques. Anatomy was

observed from a living model for design application. In addition, business and accounting were taught

as well with the purpose of counteracting the notion that the “artist” was free from the economic

considerations. The Bauhaus wanted their students as a part of society, as participants in the economy,

and as partners in negotiations and contracts. This idea was taken from the German Werkbund. This

attitude towards technology is the same as the modern technology educator. We strive to put our ideas

into real practice and provide a learning environment that shows the whole process. In addition the

practice to incorporate theory could be applied to anything. Frankly, any educator who desires to

team teach alongside a science teacher, or a physics teacher is looking for mor practicle theory. These

were the rules that students needed to know to function in a growing technological society.

THE PEDAGOGY3 PILLARS

Education at the Bauhaus took place according to a plan determined

by Walter Gropius. In the preliminary course, students received basic

training in the properties of colours, forms and materials. The core of the

advanced courses was the work in the workshops, directed in Weimar by

a master of form and a master of works. All of this served as preparation

for the building apprenticeship, which stood at the centre of the

curriculum. Some of the most important artists of the day taught at the

Bauhaus. In addition to the artistic disciplines, subjects such as geometry,

mathematics and business management were also taught.

BAUHAUS END-PRODUCT

1920’3 -30’s

Wick (2000) described the type of students the Bauhaus was

trying to educate. In 1925 the Bauhaus focused on the

training of artistically talented individuals to become

creative designers in the crafts, industry and architecture.

When the Bauhaus moved to Dessau, the structure of the

program remained true to what had been taught at the

Bauhaus in Weimar, but further progressed towards the

technical. This meant that students were exploring the

orientation, designation, and terminology of form. Students

were exploring organic and functional relationships along

with the exploration of construction and structure.

With any institution of learning like a college one can

observe phases of instruction. Under Mies Van der Rohe the

Bauhaus idea underwent a final reinterpretation.

The teacher, according to Pestalozzi, was considered a protective figure that follows

and stimulates the child’s inherent intelligence.

The goal of the Basic Course was to liberate the creative forces of the students.

Convention was looked down upon and searching for a student’s own unique

contribution was encouraged Students were asked to choose a material to work in, like

metal or wood. Imagination and creative ability, according to Itten, must first be

liberated and strengthened by the environment and the program.

The Bauhaus design activities were thought of with three basic aspects. First, was the

material: the “stuff” to-be transformed. Second, was the "forming" method. Thirdly, the

decision-making process, called the design, which directs the forming of the material to

be converted into a meaningful product. These three aspects constitute the

transformation process, and a form of technology education.

The issue of play is always at the root of technology education programs. The need for

the student to engage what they are learning is an important to the success of the

student It is fascinating that it is present in Bauhaus and they recognized that

overcoming fear was a point we needed to educate.

Once the school was closed in 1933, by the

Nazi’s, many of the leaders of the Bauhaus,

including Gropius, fled in exile to America.

Of the many figures at the Bauhaus,

Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Moholy-Nagy

and Albers were some of the “big names”

that were regarded highly. It was said that

Gropius’ teaching paved the way for at

least two trends in the history of North

American architecturThe first trend is, “that

students should realize how inexhaustible

the means of creation if they make use of

the innumerable products of our age and to

encourage young people to find their own

solutions to these problems.e and design

education.

BAUHAUS IN AMERICA

It is also interesting to consider that at the time the Bauhaus ended the Ohio state committee on

coordination and development of 1934, in their Ohio Prospectus, which was considered a

prototype of the growth of industrial arts, consisted of units in planning in communication, metals,

textiles, transportation, woods, graphic arts, ceramics, personnel, foods, leather craft, and jewelry

for industrial arts courses. According to the prospectus, this broadened what traditionally

considered industrial arts from woodworking, drafting and metalworking.

Workshops - pottery and sculpture

Workshops - graphic design and textile

Workshops - painting and murals

Workshops - woodworking

Technology educators must be interested in the integration of art and

creativity. From a historical point of view the separation of crafts, technology,

design and art is a recent phenomenon. The period of the Bauhaus sought to

combine these elements. The modern technology education teacher should

learn what the Bauhaus has to offer and continue to draw inspiration from

their methods. The pedagogy developed in the period of the Bauhaus

remains relevant today and educators can learn a great deal from this

movement. The Bauhaus provided a foundation of how to study and

evaluate design, and this is where one first explores design as a human

activity. The more one investigates and evaluates this movement they will find

the roots of what every technology educator must be willing to integrate.

The Bauhaus was a multidisciplinary approach to education, where students

learned by doing. They used architecture as a vehicle to educate students

how to interact and create for humans. The Bauhaus approach has long

been honored and accepted, but no further steps have been introduced to

give the field a new impetus. It is still today the "proper" approach for the

education of the designer.

Ceramics Workshop

Universidad Autónoma de SinaloaFACULTAD DE ARQUITECTURA

Compresión de documentos de arquitectura en Ingles

4° Semester

Group: 1

Arce Méndez Daniela Isabel

Castro Arredondo Linda

López Aguirre Jorge Javier

Monarres Espinoza Ana Carolina

Pérez Beltrán Kristel