Bauhaus

Bauhaus (bou'hous) [key], school of art and architecture in Germany. The Bauhaus revolutionized art training by combining the teaching of the pure arts with the study of crafts. Philosophically, the school was built on the idea that design did not merely reflect society, it could actually help to improve it. The Bauhaus was founded at Weimar in 1919 and headed by Walter Gropius, with a faculty that included Paul Klee, Lyonel Feininger, Wassily Kandinsky, László Moholy-Nagy, and Marcel Breuer. The teaching plan insisted on functional craftsmanship in every field, with a concentration on the industrial problems of mechanical mass production. Bauhaus style was characterized by economy of method, a severe geometry of form, and design that took into account the nature of the materials employed. The school's concepts aroused vigorous opposition from right-wing politicians and academicians.

In 1925 the Bauhaus moved to the more friendly atmosphere of Dessau, where Gropius designed special buildings to house the various departments. Gropius resigned in 1928, and the leadership was continued by the architect Hannes Meyer, who in turn was replaced in 1930 by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. In the summer of 1932 opposition to the school had increased to such an extent that the city of Dessau withdrew its support. The school was then moved to Berlin, where the faculty endeavored to carry on their ideas, but in 1933 the Nazi government closed the school entirely. The Bauhaus ideas, enveloping design in architecture, furniture, weaving, and typography, among others, had by this time found wide acclaim in many parts of the world and especially in the United States. Gropius himself went to the United States and taught at Harvard, exercising considerable influence. The Chicago Institute of Design, founded by Moholy-Nagy, most completely carried on the teaching plan of the Bauhaus.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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