by A. Smith

Created on: November 25, 2008   Last Updated: November 28, 2008

Bauhaus is a German design movement which began in 1919 at the Staatliches Bauhaus, which translates as "the state house of building" or "the state house of crafts." It is characterized by plain functionality and clean lines, without ornamentation or artistic pretention. In the words of its founder, Walter Gropius, "we want an architecture adapted to our world of machines, radios and fast cars."

The Bauhaus movement was strongly influenced by the growth of the industrial complex, as expressed through German Modernism and New Objectivity. Form ought to be consistent with function and with mass production. Buildings ought to look like what they are. Windows exist only to let in light, roofs only to hold off weather, walls only to create privacy. Anything that does not complement these functions is irrational and therefore irrelevant. Similarly, anything that tries to disguise function or structure is dishonest. Bauhaus deals in honest materials which look like what they are. Buildings should not have decorative facades when they are made of entirely different materials.

Although it was always run by an architect, the Staatliches Bauhaus did not actually begin teaching architecture until several years after its beginnings. Nor is the influence of the Bauhaus movement limited to architecture. Bauhaus elements can also be seen in art, design, and sans serif typography. In fact, Bauhaus values are the basis of modern visual corporate identity.

The subordination of artistic elements to the aesthetic of function and mass production is often seen as a weakness. However, the Bauhaus style grows naturally out of the industrial assembly line, where any concession to an inefficient Expressionism is the weakness. The psychological strengths of Bauhaus do not lie in celebration of an outdated Romantic decadence, but in the individual's ability to bring out essentials which can translate to mass production. Art is not exempt. Bauhaus demands that the artist should be trained to work with the industry, and not the other way around. Strongly individualistic cultures find this attitude abhorrent, and the designs it inspires are often seen as uncomfortable or ugly.

Although International Style is sometimes considered synonymous with Bauhaus, modern glass and steel skyscrapers do have decorative facades and ornate lobbies and special designs to create more corner offices and mirrored windows designed to reflect the sky. Bauhaus would never allow any of this. The appearance of International Style buildings has more to do with their economic symbolism than with their human functionality. In Bauhaus, ornamentation is rejected because it does not complement function. In International Style, facade-style ornamentation is acceptable because it complements the symbolism of the building.

Because of its primacy of functionality and its determined rejection of the earlier, highly individualistic Expressionism, Bauhaus is also sometimes confused with the proletarian constructivism of the Soviet Union. However, the only thing these two movements have in common was their mutual rejection of art for art's sake, although they reject it for different reasons. There is nothing proletarian about Bauhaus. (Remember "machines, radios and fast cars"?) Rather, in its determination to leave behind the cultural baggage of the old German Empire, Bauhaus also abandoned the old artistic values. However, Germany has always valued economic strength, and Bauhaus celebrates it as well.

Although Bauhaus influence is still strong, there are relatively few Bauhaus buildings in the world. One center of Bauhaus architecture is the White City in Tel Aviv, which has been named a World Heritage Site because of its 4000 Bauhaus buildings.

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