Founder of the Higher School of Civil Engineering in Weimar. The Bauhaus is a utopia that has taken place. years of Bauhaus school history

Modern design fashion in the interior and architecture is at the stage of revising the classic styles that have been formed over the centuries. The view on the functionality of housing, its ergonomics and aesthetic expression is being revised. At the same time, there is a rather narrow layer of directions that have appeared relatively recently. These include the Bauhaus style, which originated at the beginning of the last century and still retains basic principles organization of living space in the conditions of the industrial era.

General information about style

The origins of the style were formed in Germany in the 1920s. The ideologist of the direction is Walter Gropius, who in 1919 occupied the chair of the head of the school of design and construction. On its basis, a circle of designers and architects was organized, who developed the concept of style.

It should be noted that the shade of industrialism is not the only thing that was reflected in the new concept by that time. The founders of the direction sought to embody in it the needs of a new person of that time. Oddly enough, much of what was laid down in the original principles is still relevant today. At the same time, the Bauhaus is an architectural style that goes far beyond interior design. And this applies not only to stylistic features, but also to the design, forms and materials.

Style principles

The style is based on the principle of merging crafts and applied arts. This means that the artist becomes a creator and craftsman on the same level as artisans, offering his works to ordinary consumers. In other words, style offers the creation not of purely practical forms and objects, but of genuine works of art that take place in architectural ensemble or the interior of a private house.

To unite art and handicraft, the principle of coordinating the efforts of specialists of various profiles was formulated, which could together solve artistic, technical and economic problems that inevitably arise at different stages of construction. Bauhaus is currently a design style that can be characterized as functional, simple and at the same time modern. The concept of the direction, unlike many styles, does not discard the idea of arranging housing with the introduction of manufacturability. And if for the high-tech direction such solutions look in many respects as elements of aesthetic expression, then the Bauhaus uses them for practical purposes.

Style Reflection Materials

The style imposes few restrictions on the choice of material base, but there is a clear bias towards heavy, durable and reliable structures. In particular, the main material can be called metal. Today it is practically not used in interiors, but exterior finish may well be made using metal siding, profile structures and beams.

The premises are dominated by plastic and glass surfaces. But even in this case, it should be noted that both materials must undergo special processing - impregnation or hardening to give strength and reliability. There is also a place for leather goods, which adorn Bauhaus-style houses, also bringing shades of naturalness. As for the direct surface finishing, plaster is the main means of decorating walls for this style. At the very least, it acts as a basis on which both painting and wallpapering can be applied.

Color solutions

Perhaps this is one of the most democratic styles in terms of choosing colors. Through the shades of surfaces and decorative elements Bauhaus is practically not expressed. In such houses you can find both cold and warm colors. On the other hand, you can choose the tactics of following the spirit of the industrial style. And then again, a heavy or at least neutral texture, emphasized by beige, gray and even black colors, will come to the fore.

But at the same time, it cannot be said that conservatism and asceticism are the main things that should reflect the style in the interior of the Bauhaus. The photo below shows that this direction can also be characterized by shades of play and contrast. Adding blue, yellow and green shades will dilute the boring palette and hardly make the interior less attractive and aesthetically expressive.

Lighting Requirements

If in choice color design given a certain freedom, then there are quite specific rules for lighting. First of all, the organization of placement of devices should be divided. Each functional zone in the room has its own group of sources. Moreover, the emphasis is on built-in lamps, large chandeliers, floor lamps and ceiling lamps. And in this context, we can emphasize the similarity of the modern fashion for LED spotlights and the Bauhaus style, which also gravitates towards functionality and manufacturability. Luminaire models should be chosen according to the criteria of power, massiveness and brightness. There should be a lot of light, but at the same time one must remember about comfort for the eyes. For example, it is advisable to use LED sources only in equipping the ceiling. And for classic designs in the same floor lamps and chandeliers, use ordinary incandescent lamps.

Suitable pieces of furniture

In the approach to the organization of furniture, practicality dominates. Sometimes even to the detriment of ergonomics. So, designers recommend abandoning chairs with armrests and additional devices that increase comfort. Best Choice there will be compact, transformable items that will not take up much space and will allow rational use of their functions. In terms of materials, we can recall that the Bauhaus is a style in the interior that focuses on metal, plastic and glass. Indeed, the fashion for eco-styles in this design is not traced, which, however, has its positive aspects. Cases made of plastic and metal are durable and functional, although they do not always look aesthetically pleasing, like furniture made from natural materials.

Decor elements

To decorative materials and especially to ornaments as such, the style is indifferent. It is not worth completely abandoning such a design, but it is desirable that it carry a certain semantic load. These can be commemorative paintings, photographs, family candlesticks, etc. At the same time, the Bauhaus style does not impose restrictions on the combination of aesthetic appeal and functionality of interior components. This means that you can make the desired shades of decor through textiles, carpets, the same wall decoration and lighting fixtures. Each element should be chosen based on the overall style of the room, which is emphasized within the Bauhaus direction.

Reflection of style in architecture

This direction in architecture was originally focused on the construction apartment buildings. These were three-four-story houses that formed entire settlements for workers. Accordingly, we could only talk about apartments of a small area, from which a certain desire for minimalism comes from. For example, the Bauhaus style in architecture involves the arrangement of monochrome smooth surfaces. If we transfer this genre to the modern soil of building private houses and cottages, then it can organically fit into the concept of space optimization. It will be a house, in the construction of which inexpensive building materials were rationally used. The idea of frame construction based on house sets is also close to this direction. In this case, the building process itself will be optimized.

Conclusion

From the point of view of a modern resident of the metropolis, this style offers many interesting and original solutions. Due to minimal resources, it allows you to organize an original unique interior. But one should also take into account the limitations that distinguish Bauhaus-style houses - both in external design and in internal design. In particular, you will have to abandon the increased comfort and decorativeness. These qualities are already provided according to the residual principle, and the first place is given to functionality and simplicity. At the same time, there are no restrictions regarding the use of modern communications, technological equipment and apparatus. As in the period of its inception, and in our days, this style goes towards technical progress and welcomes new means that expand the possibilities of exploiting living space.

The Bauhaus originated at the beginning of the 20th century in Germany. Its founder was a young talented architect, Walter Gropius.

The Bauhaus made a real revolution: thanks to this direction, design ceased to be an elitist concept, and began to work for the needs of society.

Main principles:

Urbanism. Bauhaus is a style designed for the pace of urban life.
Manufacturability - all interior items in the Bauhaus style are easy to manufacture and repair.
Ergonomics. Ease of use is perhaps the main principle when choosing furniture for the Bauhaus.
Availability. Everyone can afford this style.
In 1933, Hitler banned the promotion of the Bauhaus concept in Germany, but by then, the style was already gaining popularity around the world. Modern offices are a vivid proof of this.

Canons of style

In the interior, the Bauhaus strives for practicality, modernity and functionality. The minimum number of things, built-in furniture that frees up space, simple shapes - distinctive features style. The idea of the Bauhaus in the conveyor production of furniture, the beauty of which lies in conciseness and convenience.

materials

Bauhaus-style houses are easy to recognize: glass surfaces, plastic and chrome-plated metal elements. And it is combined with natural wood, leather and dense natural fabrics.

Color solutions

Bauhaus are light neutral shades: white and gray, which are diluted with elements warm colors or black interior details. In small quantities, bright color accents are allowed: red, blue, yellow, green.

Lighting Requirements

Even a small Bauhaus-style apartment looks spacious thanks to abundant lighting. Cold bright light, light walls and glass doors are designed to visually expand the space.

Suitable pieces of furniture

Furniture in the interior is simple and functional. Bauhaus style inspired the creation modular furniture: chairs that fold easily and take up little space, folding tables that change shape, modular sofas, the position and shape of which changes depending on needs, wardrobes.

The design is distinguished by simple geometric shapes, chrome-plated metal legs, horizontal planes. Chairs and armchairs in the Bauhaus style do not have armrests and other elements that visually make the furniture heavier.

Decor elements

Beauty is in simplicity: the Bauhaus has revolutionized the way interiors are decorated. Style calls to find beauty in simple forms, geometric lines, metal frames. Circle, square and rectangle are the best helpers in decor.

Design solutions in the Bauhaus style will suit lovers of elegant simplicity. If you dream of a comfortable, stylish and clutter-free apartment, this is what you need. Bauhaus teaches to save on unnecessary things, giving preference to comfort.

Bauhaus teachers on the roof of a school in Weimar. 1920 From left to right: Joseph Albers, Hinnerk Scheper, Georg Muche, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, Herbert Bayer, Just Schmidt, Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Lionel Feininger, Gunta Stölzl, Oskar Schlemmer. Getty Images

On April 25, 1919 in the German city of Weimar, the Higher School of Construction and Design - Bauhaus was formed. Literally, this word is translated from German as "building house". The first director and inspirer of the school was the German architect Walter Gropius, who formulated its main principle as follows: “We want to invent and create a new building of the future together, where everything will merge in a single image: architecture, sculpture, painting, a building that, like temples, ascended into the sky by the hands of artisans, will become a crystal symbol of a new, coming faith" V. Gropius. boundaries of architecture. M., 1971.. Gropius was convinced that it was precisely the new constructive thinking, combining architecture, painting, urban planning, social disciplines, that would make it possible to create Gesamtkunstwerk - "a great universal work of art" The term Gesamtkunstwerk ("gezamtkunstwerk") appeared thanks to the German composer and art theorist Richard Wagner (Richard Wagner. "Das Kunstwerk der Zukunft", 1871).. This and other principles formulated in the Bauhaus determined the development of architecture in the 20th century. Teachers and students found the answer to the question that worried architects since the end of the 19th century - what should be the language of new architecture in the era of steam and electricity, rapid industrialization, and promising technological progress. The Bauhaus believed that the form of the building would be more expressive, more honest, more convincing, corresponding to the design and manufacturing technology. Decorative elements - frieze, capital, platband - hide engineering solutions. The Bauhaus architects, on the other hand, wanted to flaunt modern design techniques. This new architecture abandoned the decorative elements of the classical order system. Order(from the Latin "ordo" - "order, order") - a kind of architectural composition that arose in Ancient Greece and influenced the history of all European and world architecture. The order system provides for strict rules that determine the shape and location of all elements of the building, as well as their proportional relationship., but actively studied the potential of the psychophysical impact of various forms, materials and color solutions on a person. The artists and architects of the Bauhaus hoped for a grandiose social reform and believed that the new art would help to nurture a new personality and build a happy future for all mankind. Hence the interest in the construction of mass, standard housing, in which high living standards will be available to all segments of the population.

The curriculum consisted of three courses and was something completely new. In the preparatory or foundation course, students were given basic knowledge about colors, shapes, texture of materials, proportional laws (students studied the functions of complementary colors, the psychophysical impact of various forms and color solutions). Then there was a practical course - work in the workshops, where the students themselves made things. On the third, construction course, they worked at a construction site. But the history of art was deliberately taught as late as possible - to prevent copying and stylistic borrowing.

Paul Klee in his studio at the Bauhaus. Weimar, 1924 Getty Images

Actors of "Triadic Ballet" by Oscar Schlemmer at the Metropol Theatre. Berlin, 1926 Getty Images

A scene from the play "Don Giovanni and Faust" by Christian Dietrich Grabbe at the German National Theatre. Artist Oskar Schlemmer. Weimar, 1925 Bridgeman Images / Fotodom

Wassily Kandinsky. Descent. 1925 Bridgeman Images/Fotodom

Office of Walter Gropius. Dessau, 1925-1926 Getty Images

Marianne Brandt. Teapot in silver plated brass with ebony handle and cruciform base. 1934 Bridgeman Images/Fotodom

Marcel Breuer. Armchair in birch plywood with velvet upholstery. 1936 Bridgeman Images/Fotodom

The painting and fresco workshop was headed by Wassily Kandinsky, stained glass painting by Paul Klee, metalworking by the Hungarian artist and art theorist Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. Thanks to El Lissitzky El Lissitzky- artist, architect, one of the leaders of the Soviet avant-garde and a key figure in the history of Soviet-European cultural relations in the 1920s. in the Bauhaus they learned about the Suprematist compositions of Kazimir Malevich. The ideologist of the Dutch avant-garde Theo van Doesburg gave lectures in which the ideas of the De Stil group were presented "De style"- an art association created in 1917 in Leiden with the participation of the Dutch avant-garde artists - artists and architects Piet Mondrian, Theo van Doesburg, Jacobs Aud, Robert van't Hoff and others..

The school existed until 1933: with the coming to power of the National Socialists, it was closed, but the former teachers and their numerous followers used the methods developed at the Bauhaus for a long time. The Bauhaus had a huge impact on the development of typography, furniture design, textiles, clothing, and yet architecture remained the discipline that united all areas of the experiment. Using the example of five projects, we will explain how the main discoveries of the Bauhaus have changed the perception of the modern urban environment, architecture, design and creativity in general.

1. Bauhaus building in Dessau, Germany (1925)

Bauhaus building in Dessau. 1928 Getty Images

Bauhaus students. 1928 Bridgeman Images/Fotodom

Johannes Itten. Early 1920s Wikimedia Commons

In 1925 the school had to move from Weimar to Dessau. The new building, a kind of early Bauhaus manifesto, was designed by Walter Gropius himself. Each functional area had its own volume-spatial solution and was easily determined by appearance. There were many functions in a single complex, because in the Bauhaus students lived and worked together. The school-factory combined classrooms, craft workshops, canteens, and classrooms. The dormitory was located in a multi-storey tower building; separate houses were built for teachers. Interiors and furniture, utensils, fabric drawings were made by students and teachers themselves. In everything, pure geometrized forms were emphasized; walls, furniture, household items were the main colors of the spectrum - red, blue and yellow.

Some rooms were easily transformed: the partition was removed, and the dining room turned into a dance floor. Theatrical performances also took place there: every week, students and teachers held parties, took pictures in strange masks invented by the artist Oskar Schlemmer, marched with red flags, publicly painted the statues of Goethe and Schiller. Girls cut their hair short, boys, on the contrary, grew their hair. Eyewitnesses recall that the inhabitants of Dessau complained about provocative clothing, night baths and noisy festivities, and mothers warned their daughters when students passed by: "Don't look, they are from the Bauhaus!"

Gropius created a unique creative atmosphere that was previously unimaginable in an educational institution. In the Bauhaus was invented new type art student - freedom-loving, neglecting traditional conventions. In some ways, the movement resembled a monastic order (the Swiss artist Johannes Itten, one of the founders and teachers of the school, wore an almost monastic robe and began lectures with breathing exercises and meditations); something like the artistic space of the 1960s: rebellious, challenging the established social order.

2 Sonneveld House in Rotterdam, Netherlands (1932-1933)

Sonneveld's house. 1930s The New Institute Collection, BIHS

Separate household items - furniture, dishes, fabrics, wallpapers - invented by students and teachers of the Bauhaus, became commercially successful: production was put on stream, advertisements were published in special catalogs. However, it turned out to be much more difficult to consistently implement new methods in an architectural project: it was necessary to find not only a wealthy, but also a progressive customer. Even from what was nevertheless built, very few residential buildings have come down to us, well preserved and with authentic furnishings. The Sonneveld House in Rotterdam is a rare exception. It was designed by the Dutch architect Lendert van der Vlugt, who did not teach at school, but shared the views of Gropius and his associates. Some pieces of furniture for the home were designed by Bauhaus teacher Erich Dieckmann.

Luxurious for its time, the mansion of the director of the Van Nelle tobacco factory, Albertus Sonneveld, today seems modest and monastically ascetic. small rooms, narrow corridors, smooth painted walls, linoleum coverings. This is a characteristic feature of the Bauhaus - in almost all the early projects of the functionalists Functionalism- a trend that became widespread in European architecture in the 1920s and 30s. The creative method of the functionalists is based on the principle of conformity between form and content, when the function of the room determines what its external architectural design will be like. Functionalists relied on new building opportunities using reinforced concrete structures, deliberately emphasizing the modernity of the selected materials. Any decorative "decoration" (traditional stucco, cornices, pilasters, etc.) seemed unacceptable to them. The functional method was also used in the Bauhaus. square meters per person are calculated extremely sparingly, as if the cabins of transatlantic liners or train compartments were a guide for them, a technique also used by Le Corbusier.

Contrary to the revolutionary social precepts of the Bauhaus, the Sonneveld house is a completely bourgeois product. Sonneveld's wife, Gezine Sonneveld-Bos, had excellent taste, she loved luxury and radically new, outrageous things. Every detail of the house, from furniture and built-in appliances to bedside lamps and soap dishes, was made according to an individual project. Linoleum, aluminum, rubber were new, and therefore expensive materials. The house was filled with all sorts of technical innovations: synchronized clocks, telephone sets and radio points in all rooms, thermostats, food lift.

Much of the design of the house was inspired by travel on the Holland America Line (like) - from American Standard plumbing and Pullman chairs In 1867, the American inventor George Pullman founded a company producing luxury passenger cars - with luxurious chairs, as well as sleeping compartments, furnished no worse than rooms in expensive hotels. before music players. The layout of the building is based on the everyday life of a respectable family: the house has a servants' area, a reception room and a garage. The master bathroom and dressing room are much larger than the rest of the rooms. In the Bauhaus they hoped that the well-appointed modern kitchen will facilitate the work of a woman, but in the case of the Sonneveld house, the hostess did not need to be released from work: the cook did it.

3. General plan of Birobidzhan (1933)

Draft design of the layout of Birobidzhan. Written by Hannes Meyer. 1932 thecharnelhouse.org

Birobidzhan. 1933 thecharnelhouse.org

In the USSR, they knew about the Bauhaus experiments thanks to the First Exhibition of Modern Architecture, which was held in Moscow in 1927. In the early 1930s, dozens of foreign architects believed in the grandiose change promised by the young Soviet government and began working on model workers' settlements in the Urals and Siberia. In the context of rapid industrialization, construction had to be fast and economical. By inviting foreign experts, Soviet officials counted on assistance in developing socially new types of housing (dormitories, cultural centers, apartment buildings with public economic and leisure zones), on the experience of a standardized building and the creation of an infra-structure for in-line conveyor production.

The social aspect of architecture was very important to the architects who worked at the Bauhaus: many of them shared extreme left political views. Therefore, the revolutionary changes that occurred in the artistic and social life of the USSR in the 1920s and early 1930s were accepted with great enthusiasm. The urgent construction of entire villages and cities was possible only with the help of standard serial production, and any mass construction required approved norms and standards. A prime example serves as the master plan of Birobidzhan, which was worked on by the second director of the Bauhaus, Hannes Meyer, who headed the design and planning bureau No. 7 of the Giprogor Institute, created specifically to develop master plans for the development and development of new cities and towns. In the concept formulated by Meyer, which he later called the "New Theory of Building", the main role was assigned to the questions of the function and organization of urban space. In typical micro-districts, it was clearly thought out in advance where to live, where to study, where to talk with friends, where to play sports. The architect saw himself as a builder of a happy future, uniting people, trying to develop universal, the only true rules of a new life. Like endless ranks at a military parade, line by line, residential blocks of houses lined up. These early modernist attempts to build a functional city with its extremely laconic formulas and uncompromising social prescriptions were only partially realized, but anticipated the concept of the Soviet industrial city - the socialist city.

Hannes Meyer and his colleagues were disappointed: the low level of qualifications of local workers, the lack of building materials, the lack of basic office supplies, the maddening bureaucratic dystopia - up to the car prescribed in the contract, which "for some reason is always busy" , as the German architect Ernst May wrote in one of his explanatory notes. Many architects were forced to leave the country because of the harsh reaction to all experimental directions of the first post-revolutionary decade. However, the solutions proposed by them were perceived as a promising way for the development of modern urban planning for a long time. These ideas also influenced the development of European cities after the Second World War, in the 1940s and 50s.

4. "White City" in Tel Aviv (1931-1937)

Tel Aviv. 1930s–1940sTaken either by the American Colony Photo Department or its successor, the Matson Photo Service / Library of Congress

Tel Aviv in the 1930s proved to be the perfect place for clean-slate architecture. In 1909, the future city was just a small garden outskirts of Jaffa. The development was chaotic, the architectural appearance was formed under the influence of partly European eclecticism Eclecticism- direction in the architecture of the XIX century. The eclectic method offers a mixture of different historical styles. partly local traditions. Everything changed during the Fifth Aliyah Alia(from the word "rise", "ascent") - the process of repatriation to Palestine, since 1948 - to Israel. The fifth aliyah is the period 1929-1939. when, after the Nazis came to power in Germany, about 250,000 Jews moved to Palestine. Among them were many architects who studied at the Bauhaus: Shlomo Berenstein, Arieh Sharon, Shmuel Mistechkin. By the early 1930s, Tel Aviv was in a unique urban planning situation: general enthusiasm and national enthusiasm, rapid population growth and an urgent need for new residential quarters. At the same time, there was no historical urban context, and therefore, there was complete freedom for creative experimentation. Between 1931 and 1937, more than 3,000 buildings were erected in Tel Aviv, which consistently embodied the doctrine of the Bauhaus.

The architects who built the "White City" (the district later received its name for the light tone of most of the facades) adapted to local climatic conditions. Due to constant sunlight, sweltering heat and high humidity large glazed surfaces and wide strips of ribbon windows had to be abandoned and the techniques traditional for the construction practice of the Middle East were used. This is how the interior courtyards, wells, patios, arcades, ventilation hatches, mashrabiyas appeared in the projects. Mashrabiya - protruding from the wall and covered with a wooden or stone carved lattice - "veil" ventilation window; a common element in traditional stone buildings in the Middle East.- in a word, everything that facilitates the access of fresh air and creates additional shade.

Functional planning meant designing "from the inside out": first of all, the architect had to think through the interior space, comfortable accommodation residential, public and business areas. Hence the complex compositions of multi-storey volumes, various forms window openings(square, tape, L-shaped). The appearance of the building is dictated by the peculiarities of the internal layout and the purpose of the premises. Effective combination different sizes, dazzling white plaster, the play of contrasting shadows - on the scale of several blocks, the new architecture made a strong impression. Some houses were elongated buildings, others, on the contrary, were more compact. An expressive plastic accent was the rounded balconies that decorated the corners of the buildings. Many houses were equipped with special canopies, balconies, ventilation slots (thermometer windows), and additional visors. The ledges and niches, catching the sea breeze, increased the draft, which also helped to lower the temperature in the apartments. On the flat roofs gardens, pergolas were arranged order architecture- a classic method of architectural design, based on the ancient order system. or the simplest decor, were perceived by modernist architects Modernism- a trend in architecture that has been developed since the beginning of the 20th century. Modernism unites many schools and trends. The main feature of the modernist approach is the orientation towards the new and technologically progressive. Modernism is characterized by the revolutionary pathos of transforming the world, purifying it of social and artistic remnants. as an unacceptable, even immoral method. Modernism followed the path of purification, total simplification of design. This is how the international style was born in its classic, Americanized version - thanks to Walter Gropius (taught at Harvard), Marcel Breuer (opened his own bureau in New York), Laszlo Moholy-Nagy (founded the New Bauhaus in Chicago). The "eldest" of the international style was the third director of the school - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, whose most famous works are the German Pavilion in Barcelona (1929), the house of Edith Farnsworth ("Glass House", 1951), the Seagram building skyscraper in New York ( 1958). In fact, in each glass parallelepiped of any office building his legacy is recognized all over the world. Van der Rohe literally creates spaces of silence, embodying his main principle, which has become an architectural credo for thousands of architects and designers of the 20th century: "Less is more." Perhaps the most justified embodiment of this formula was the Glass House, built for Dr. Edith Farnsworth. Despite a quarrel with the customer caused by an increase in the estimate and an underpaid fee, the architect created one of the most clear and concise architectural works of the century. The building is practically reduced to a skeleton, assembled from thin supports and floor slabs. The facades have been turned into windows through which daylight. It is difficult to come up with something more anti-go-no-stylish architecture of the past than the complete overcoming of the boundaries of the building and the destruction of its mass.

Sources

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Ikonnikov A.V. Architecture of the 20th century: Utopias and reality: in 2 volumes.
Banham R. Theory and Design in the First Machine Age.
Cambridge, 1980.
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Droste M. Bauhaus, 1919-1933.
Giedion S. Space, Time and Architecture: The Growth of a New Tradition.
Harvard University Press, 1967.
Pearlman J.E. Inventing American Modernism: Joseph Hudnut, Walter Gropius, and the Bauhaus Legacy at Harvard.
University of Virginia Press, 2007.
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Siebenbrodt M., Reissinger E. Bauhaus Weimar: Designs for the Future.
in Weimar. Despite its name, and despite the fact that its founder was an architect, the Bauhaus did not have an architecture department during the first years of its existence. However, the school was founded with the idea of creating WORK OF ART - works in which all the arts, including architecture, will eventually be collected.

14 years of Bauhaus school history
The school existed in three German cities: Weimar from 1919 to 1925, Dessau from 1925 to 1932 - pictured, and Berlin from 1932 to 1933, under three different architect-directors: Walter Gropius from 1919 to 1928, Hannes Meyer from 1928 to 1930 and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe from 1930 to 1933 when the school was closed by its own management under pressure from the Nazi regime. The Nazi Government claimed that the school was the center of communist intellectualism. Although the school was closed, the staff continued to spread their idealistic precepts after they left Germany and emigrated.

Changes in location and leadership led to constant shifts in focus, technique, faculty, and politics. For example: the pottery shop was closed when the school moved from Weimar to Dessau, although it was important source income; when Mies van der Rohe took over the school in 1930, he turned it into a private school and prevented Hannes Meyer's supporters from participating.

The Bauhaus is the most influential school of applied arts, design and architecture of the 20th century. Over the fourteen years of its existence, it has made an artistic revolution, has become the place where artists and artisans different countries trying to reimagine the world. Representatives of the Bauhaus became the founders of the principle of practical utility and rationality of forms, laid down a new approach to learning, working with urban landscapes, furniture and household items.

In this article we will talk about the main stages of its formation.and about how and by whom the principles of the most daring educational institution of the 20th century were laid. You will also learn about the leisure activities and famous parties of Bauhaus students andabout some of the works created by his masters and students.

Bauhaus in Weimar 1919-1925

The first building of the Bauhaus University in Weimar, built in 1904
On April 25, 1919, the Higher School of Construction and Art Design - Bauhaus was opened in Weimar. Its director was Walter Gropius. While still at the front of the First World War, being already a famous architect, Walter dreamed of an educational institution that would change the meaning of design and the world in general. Such an opportunity presented itself to him as director of the largest design school of the 20th century.

Gropius believed that every artist should know the craft and there is no difference between an artist and an artisan. These and other principles he laid down in the declaration of 1919. "Architects, sculptors, painters, we must all turn to crafts." The revolutionary spirit of the manifesto corresponded to the spirit of the post-war period. The manifesto was accompanied by an engraving by Lyonel Feininger "Cathedral".

This woodcut by Lyonel Feininger was included by Walter Gropius in the founding manifesto and program of the Bauhaus in 1919
“Architects, sculptors and painters, we must return to the craft again! There is no more "art as a profession". There is no fundamental difference between an artist and a craftsman. An artist is only the highest level of a craftsman. By the grace of God, in rare moments of enlightenment or under the onslaught of will, unprecedented art can flourish, but the laws of mastery are obligatory for every artist. Here is the source of true form creation.

Approach to the selection and training of students

Gropius decided that Bauhaus students should have two tutors for each subject. Masters and artisans taught professions, artists instilled aesthetic inspiration and a sense of taste.The first teachers were Johannes Itten, Lyonel Feiningerand Gerhard Marx. Later they were joined by Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy. Many of the first students subsequently remained at the Bauhaus as masters.

Bauhaus students ranged from seventeen to forty-five years old. Given the difficult war period, Gropius convinced the Weimar Ministry of Education to abolish tuition fees and appoint financial assistance those students whose work has been commercially successful.

Both men and women could enter the Bauhaus. In the early years, girls were distributed mainly to weaving and textile workshops. Gropius believed that metal work and architecture did not suit the female mindset. Interestingly, one of the most famous students of the Weimar Bauhaus, Marianne Brandt, worked in the metal workshop and in 1928 became its leader.

Wassily Kandinsky, 1922–1933, Lecturer / 1923–1933, Deputy Director
Johannes Itten, 1919–1923 - deputy director
Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, 1923–1928 - lecturer
Gerhard Marx, 1919–1924 - lecturer

Gropius himself came up with the curriculum at the Bauhaus. Most of it was associated with manual work. He was sure that manual and machine labor did not differ in essence, but differed only possible scale production. Only a person who knows the craft and works with materials is able to operate machines with high quality and professionalism. He wanted students not to draw on paper, but to work with materials and create real objects.

Curriculum of the Bauhaus in Weimar

The first curriculum of the Bauhaus consisted of three courses: preparatory, practical and building. At the preparatory stage, students studied the basics of form and work with materials. On a practical level, they were engaged in crafts, creating products for mass consumption, studying in detail the problems of form and color. In each workshop, they were taught to work with a certain material: stone, wood, metal, clay, glass, textiles, color. At the construction course, apprentices were already working on construction sites.

Gropius diagram
This approach to learning gave Bauhaus students the opportunity to feel the joy of creating new objects. The students had to understand that their future lay in industry and mass production.

One of the first teachers of the preparatory course was the Swiss artist Johannes Itten, who was personally invited by Gropius to join the school. From Vienna, where Itten taught, sixteen students came with him, they became the first students of the Bauhaus.

Johannes Itten works with students exercise on the roof of the school, 1931
Itten developed "forkurs" - a new method of art education, designed to help the artist find his way without suppressing his personality. People of different levels of training, knowledge of the craft and art history entered the Bauhaus. At the forecourse, at the insistence of Itten, they enrolled everyone who wanted to make art.

The forecourse lasted one semester: the students had to liberate themselves and free themselves from conventions; choose a profession and material with which it is interesting to work; study the laws of color and form. After the course, the students moved to the workshops they were interested in to study the craft directly.

“In order to develop a sense of the unity of forms, I gave type exercises, suggesting that I work on type and various forms using the principles of a square, triangle or circle”

To relax and concentrate students, Itten began classes with meditation and breathing exercises. On the art literacy course, they, on the contrary, moved and danced chaotically in order to figure out how to depict the rhythm on paper.

Composition of forms of different contrast, Weimar 1920
An exercise in the contrast of forms and the contrast of light and dark, Weimar 1920
Exercise with circular shapes, Weimar 1920
White and black circles. F. Dicker, Weimar, 1919

After Itten left the Bauhaus in 1923 preparatory Course began to lead Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, and since 1928 - the artist and designer Josef Albers.

1923 exhibition in Weimar

4 years after the founding of the Bauhaus, the government of Thuringia (which includes Weimar) began to take an active interest in the results of its work, the question arose about the appropriateness of such a use of taxpayers' money. In 1923, an exhibition of works by Bauhaus students took place in Weimar.

The main exhibit at the exhibition was the exemplary residential building Haus am Horn - an example of functional construction, equipped with everything necessary for modern life. Such a house was accessible to an ordinary worker, was environmentally friendly and embodied the basic principles of the Bauhaus.

Residential building Haus am Horn
Home kitchen interior
Theater course

One of the reasons for the formation of the theater course was the desire to unite students and teachers, to form friendly relations between them. It was assumed that the theater should not only use artistic techniques, but also the laws of mechanics, optics and other scientific knowledge.

Group photo of dancers from the Triadic Ballet, 1927
Costume designed by German artist Oskar Schlemmer for Triadic Ballet, 1922
In 1922, the premiere of the production "Triadic Ballet" (or the ballet "Triad") took place on the stage of the National Theater in Stuttgart, for which the German artist Oscar Schlimmer developed four types of costume-forms: "Rotating Architecture", "Puppet", "Technical Organism" and "Metaphysical Expressive Form".

The design of the theater stage in Dessau was also carried out by Schlemmer, who joined the Bauhaus as early as 1920. It was Schlemmer who drew the famous Bauhaus logo.

Work courses

Each Bauhaus master had his own approach to teaching theory and conducting practical classes. Drawing, construction, singing, psychological practices or dancing - all this contributed to the disclosure of the personality, awareness and creativity of students. We are already talking about the most famous items invented within the walls of the Bauhaus. Below are lesser-known works and sketches created during the course.

Wassily Kandinsky joined the school in 1922, later became an assistant director and worked in this position until 1933. He was one of the most influential Bauhaus masters. His classes included color theory, analytical drawing, and the basics of artistic design. In Kandinsky's class, students explored the relationship of color to form through the analysis of individual elements such as line, point, and plane.

The German composer Gertrud Grunow taught at the Bauhaus "Theory of Harmonization". She believed that the ability of the individual to express himself depends on the sense of color, sound and form. The development of sensitivity, logical exercises, and even separate psychological sessions were integral parts of the Grunov course.

Paul Klee set himself the task of teaching students the basics of color and form so that they could work with them on their own. He avoided complex discussions in his classes, striving for harmony and naturalness. Because of his wise and penetrating way of transferring knowledge in the Bauhaus, Klee received the nickname "magician" (magician, magician).

Dancing non-stop

The Bauhaus organized musical and dance evenings, lectures and concerts. Not only students, teachers, other designers and architects could come to them, but also locals. In this way, artists could communicate with ordinary people for whom they design their objects, and people who are not associated with art can learn a little more about design and architecture.

Four Bauhaus students in a circle: Robert Lenz, Hin Bredendik, Loni Neumann and Hermann Gothel
Dancing, festivals and masquerades, swimming in public waters (according to some reports - naked), boxing - all this was an integral part of the Bauhaus students and attracted a lot of attention.Dancing was popular in winter time. Farkas Molnar, in a 1925 essay "Life in the Bauhaus", wrote that winter is "the season to dance to be healthy". He also noted the special beauty of Bauhaus students.

“Kandinsky prefers to appear, decorated like an antenna, Itten - like an amorphous monster, Feininger - like two regular triangles, Moholy-Nagy - a segment crossed by a cross, Gropius - Le Corbusier ... "

The reason for the holiday was found very simply. So, for example, on a windy day, the "Festival of Air Games" was organized - more than two hundred aircraft of the most different sizes, shapes and colors rose above the heads of students and masters. Special attention is paid to costume parties. Each costume they wore was unique, handcrafted specifically for a particular evening.

Bauhaus in Dessau 1925-1931

School building from the entrance
Bauhaus complex in Dessau. Dormitory on the right

The new building in Dessau, designed by Gropius, included an area with workshops and classrooms, a stage and dining room for students, an administrative sector, twenty-eight apartments, as well as laundries and bathrooms. The complex was built in just a year - by 1926.

There have been some changes to the schedule in Dessau. Now only one master taught one class (mandatory participation in the training of the artist and craftsman was no longer required). The Faculty of Architecture was significantly expanded, a typography and layout course was added.

Masters of the school on the roof of a building in 1926 in Dessau
Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky at breakfast. Dessau, 1929
In 1925, teachers and followers of the Bauhaus refused to use in their works capital letters, thereby supporting the Universal typeface, designed by Austrian graphic designer Herbert Bayer. The German society did not support the initiative - in German, nouns begin with capital letters.

Herbert Bayer created the typographic identity of the Bauhaus
Closing of the Bauhaus

Walter Gropius was director of the school for 9 years, in 1928 he was replaced Hannes Meyer who led the architecture course. Gropius himself chose his successor. Misunderstandings with the municipal authorities forced Meyer to leave the post after only 2 years. In 1930 he took over the leadership.

Mies remained director until the final closure of the Bauhaus in 1933 in Berlin, where the school had moved a year earlier. The school building in Dessau was occupied by the National Socialist Party.

During the Nazi regime, many Jewish architects emigrated from Germany to Palestine. Over 4,000 buildings were built in Tel Aviv in the 1930s. These structures are worldwide cultural heritage UNESCO - are called "White City".

Why is the Bauhaus so important?

Below is the text that was placed on the cover book by the Austrian artist Herbert Bayer "Bauhaus 1919-1928". The book was published in 1938 for the Bauhaus retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, when the principles of the Bauhaus already had a significant impact in the world of art and design.
1. The Bauhaus boldly accepts machines as a tool worthy of an artist;
2. The Bauhaus solves the problem of good design for mass production;
3. The Bauhaus brings together more outstanding artists in its faculties than any other art school;
4. The Bauhaus bridges the gap between artists and industry;
5. The Bauhaus breaks the system that separates "fine" and "applied" art;
6. The Bauhaus understands that technology can be taught, but creativity cannot be taught;
7. The Bauhaus building in Dessau is the main architectural structure of the 20s;
8. By trial and error, the Bauhaus came up with a new and modern look beauty;
9. And finally, because the influence of the Bauhaus has spread throughout the world and is especially strong today in England and the United States.
The Bauhaus was the first educational institution, his ideas and principles instantly spread among the creative community of the 20th century and remain relevant to this day.

Almost 100 years ago, students of the Bauhaus invented houses, objects and furniture, without which we cannot imagine our lives today. Accessibility, functionalism and aesthetics - these criteria are guided by many modern designers and architects. “Less is better” is a principle that we already understand almost intuitively.

We have prepared a selection of interesting materials for you if you want to learn more about the Bauhaus

Look

Lecture cycle by Anna Bronovitskaya “Architects of the 20th century. Part 2, dedicated to the director of the Bauhaus Walter Gropius:

Lecture by Artem Dezhurko at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center:

in English

in English

Book by Eva Forgács about the phenomenon and development of the Bauhaus "" Éva Forgács

visit

2019 Bauhaus 100th Anniversary Events by Strelka mag;

Official website dedicated to