.

'

HERBERT BAYER WALTER GROPIUS ISE GROPIUS

THE MUSEUM

OF MODERN

ART·

NEW YORK • 1938

CONTENTS
"

Preface by Alfred H. Barr. Jr, The Background of the Bauhaus

1 II
Note 16

DESSAU BAUHAUS 1925-1928

Bauhaus Building Houses 101 108 110 r 12 1'16 124 The Masters'

by Alexander
Walter

Dorner

Gropius-Biographical

WEIMAR BAUHAUS 1919-1925

From the First Proclamation Teachers and Students 1923) 18 20 22 32 39 40 41 42 49 50 54 58 62 68 12 Press

Other Buildings in Dessau Architecture Deportmenl Preliminary Course: Albers Preliminary Course: Moholy-Nogy Furniture Workshop Metal Workshop: Lighting fixtures, et cetera

r 28
136 142 148 154 158 160 162 164 110 112 113 115 180 206 201 211

The Theory and Organization of the Bauhaus

Copyrighl. 1938. by Tho Museum of Mod"r" Art. New York Printed in Ihe U niled Siale. 01 America Typography end cover delign by H erbe rl Bayer

by Wolter Gropius (Weimar, Preliminary Course: hten Klee's Course Kandinsky's Course Color Experiments Carpentry Workshop Stained Glass Workshop Pottery Workshop Metol Workshop Weaving Workshop Stage Workshop Wall-Painting Workshop Display Design Architecture

* Typography

Weaving

Workshop Printing, layout, posters

Workshop: Photography Exhibition Technique

Wall-Pointing Workshop: Sculpture Workshop Stage Wor.kshop Kandinsky's Course Paul Klee speaks Administration Extra-curricular Activities

Wall paper

Pointing, Sculpture, Graphic Ar+, 1919-1928 Administrative Changes, 1928 Spread

Typography and Loyout; the Bauhaus Weimar Exhibition, 1923 Extra-curricular Activiti,es Preliminary Course: Moholy-Nagy Preliminary Course: Albers Opposition to the Bauhaus Press Comments, 1923-32 The Bauhaus Quits Weimar: start at Dessau, April 1925

14 19
82 86 90 91 92 93

01 the Bauhaus

Ideo

Bauhaus Teoching in the United States Biographicol Notes by Jan·ef Henrich Bibliography by Beaumonf Index of Illustrations

Newhall

220 222
224

a fresh

91

*A. explained an poge 149 Ihi, and lollow;ng sections 01 the book are printed without capital leiter. is accordance wilh Bauhaus typographical practice introduced in 1925,

-TRUSTEES
A. Conger Goodyear, President JO.hn Hay Whitney, l st Vice-Presiden Samuel A. lewisohn, 2nd Vice-President Nelson A. Rockefeller, 3rd Vice-President Cornelius N. Bliss Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss Treasurer and

ARCHITECTURE COMMITTEE
Philip Goodwin, A.I.A., Chairman Mis.s Catherine Bouer, Director of Research and Information, United States Housing Authority John Cool;dge, Art Depa tment, Vassar College Prof. Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Jr., Wesleyan University Deon Joseph Hudnut. Graduate School

PREFACE
It is twenty yeors since Gropius arrived in Weimar to found the Bauhaus; ten years since he left the tronsplanted ond greatly enlarged institution at Dessau to return to private practice; live years since the Bcuhous was forced to dose its doors ojter a brief rear-guard stand in Berlin. Are this book, then, and the exhibition supplements it, merely a belated upon the tomb of brave events, which ginning our courses with gigantic renderings 01 Doric capitols, or ending them with elaborate projects for colonia! gymnasiums and Romanesque 5 yscrapers. The more radical American architects and designers in 1925, ignoring Frank Lloyd Wright, turned their eyes toward the eclectic "good taste" of Swedish "modern" and the trivial bod taste of Paris "modernistic." I is shocki ng to recall that only one year later the grea.! new Bauhaus buildi,ng at Dessou was completed.

01

Stephen C. Clark Mrs. W. Murray Crane The Lord Duveen of Millbank Marshall Field Edsel. B. Ford Philip Goodwin William S. Paley Mrs. Charles S. Payson Mrs. Stanley Resor Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Beardsley Ruml Paul J. Sachs Mrs. John S. Sheppard Edward M. M. Warburg Jr.

Design, Harvard University Winslow Ames, Di ector, Lyman Allyn Museum, New London George Nelson, Associate Editor,

The Architectural Forum Carl Feiss, Constructor and Coordinating Officer, Planning and Housing Division, School

wreath laid important in

their day but now 01 primarily historical interest? Emphatically, no! The Bauhaus is not dead; it lives and grows through the men who mode it, both teachers and students, through their designs, their books, their methods, their principles, their philosophies of art and education. It is hard to recall when and how we in America first began to hear of the Bauhaus. In the years just after the War we thought 01 German art in terms of Expressionism, of Mendelsohn's streomlined

01 Architecture,
Members

Columbia

University

Honorary

II is no wonder then that young Americans began to turn their eyes toward the Bauhaus as the one school in the world where modern problems of design were approached realistically in a modern atmosphere. A few American pilgrims had visited Dessau before Gropius left in I92S; in the live years thereafter many went to soy as studen s. During this time Bauhaus maleriol, typography, paintings, prints, theatre art, architecture, industrial objects, hod been included in American exhibitions though nowhere so importantly as in the Paris Solon des Artistes Decorateurs of 1930. There the whole German section was arranged under the direction of Gropius. Consistent in program, brilliant in installa ion, it stood like on island of integrity, caprice, in a melange of chaotic modernistic demons rating [what was not general-

Mrs. John Carter Mr. Philip Johnson

Honorary
Frederic

Trustees

Clay Bartlett

Frank Crowninshield Duncan Phillips Mrs. Rainey Rogers Mrs. Cornelius J. Sullivan

Mensch,

Einstein tower, Toiler's Masse Wiene's Cabinet of Dr. Co/igori. It

may not have been until after the great Bauhaus exhibition of 1923 tho reports reached America of a new kind of art school in Germany where famous expressionist pointers such as Kandinsky were combining forces with craftsmen and industrial designers under the general direction of the architect, Gropius. A little later we began to see some 01 the Bauhaus books, notably Schlemmer's amazing volume on the theatre and Moholy-Nagy's Ma/erei, Phofogra-

ly recognized at that time) that German industrial design, thanks largely to the Bauhaus, was years ahead of the rest of the world. And the rest of the world began 0 accept the Bauhaus. In America Bauhaus lighting fixtures and tubular steel choirs were imported or the des ig ns pi ro ted. Am eri co n 80 uhous stud en Is began to return; and they were followed, clter the revolution of 1933, by Bauhaus and exBauhaus masters who suffered from the new government's illusion that modern furniture, [lotroofed architecture and abstract po inting were

phie, Film.
Some of the yaung.er of us hod just left colleges where courses in modern orl began with Rubens and ended with a few superficial and often hostile remarks about von Gogh and Matisse; where the lost word in imitation Gothic dormitories hod windows with one carefully crocked pone to each picturesque casement. Others of us, in architectural schools, were be-

Alfred H. Barr, .Jr., Director Thomas Dabney Mabry, .lr., Executive John McAndrew, Industrial Art Frances Collins, Curator Manager of Architecture of Publications

Director and

_ degenerate or bolshevistic. In this way,. with the help of the Iotherload, Bouhous designs, Bauhaus men, Bauhaus ideas. which token together form one 01 the chiel cultural contributions of modern Germany, have been spread throughout the world. This is history. BUI, one mOlYask, what have we in America today to lecrn lrorn the Bauhaus? Times change and ideas of what canstitutes modern art or architecture or educatian shi.ft with bewildering rapidity. Many Bauhaus designs which were once five years ohecd of their time seem now, ten yeors afterword, ta have token on the character of periad pieces. And some of its ideas are no longer so useful as they ance were. Bul this inevitable pracess of obsalescence was even mare active in the Bauhaus while it still existed as on institution lor, as Gropius has often insisted, the ideo of 01 Bauhaus style Of a Bauhaus dagma as something /ixed and permanent was at all limes merely the inaccurate conclusion of superficial observers. Laaking bock we can appreciate more fully than ever certain magn;licent achievements 01 the Bauhaus which are sa obvious thai they might be overlooked. It is only eight years since the 1920's come 10 OI,nend yet I think we can now so:y without exaggeratian that the Bouhous building at Dessou was orchitecturally the mast impcr+ont structure OIlits decode. And we can OISkif in modern times there have ever been so many men af distinguished tolent on the faculty of any other art schoolar cccderny. And thaugh the building is naw adarned with a gO'bled roaf and the brilliont teochinq force has been dispersed there ore certcin methads and ideas developed by the Bauhaus which we may still ponder. There are, lar instance, the Bauhaus principles; tha most students should face the foci that their future should be invalved primarily with industry and moss production rother than with individua! cro ftsmansh ip: thot teochers in schools of design should be

men who are in odvonce af their proiession rather than safely and academically in the reargua'rd; thOit the school OIldesign shauld, as the Bauhaus did, bring tagether the various orts af pointing. architecture, thsotre, photoqrcphy, weaving. tyoogrO'phy, elc., inlo 0, modern synthesis wh' ch di sregards canven tionol dis!i nctions between the "line" and "applied" orts; thai it is harder to design 01 lirst rote choir than to point a second rate painting-Oind much mare uselul; thot a school of design shauld have on its faculty the purely creative and disinterested artist such D'S thaeosel pointer as a spiritual counterpaint to the practical technician in Ofder thatlhey mOly work and teach side by side lor the benef;! 011 the student; thot thoraugh manual experience of moleriels isessenriol to the student 01 design-experience at [irs! confined to free experiment and then extended ta p-octicol shap work; thot the study or rotionc] design in terms o] technics ond moteriols shauld be only the lirst step in the development 01 a new and modem sense 01 beauty. and, Jo,slly, that because we live in the 20th century, the student orchilect or designer should be offered no refuge in the post but should be equipped for the modern world i,n its various osoacts, artistic technical, sociol, economic. spirtuol so thai he may function in society not as a decarOilor but as a vital participant. This book on the Bouhous is published in canjunction with the Museum's exhibitian, Bauhaus 1919-28, like the exhibition it is for the most pert limited 101 the first nine yeOirs of the institutian, the period during which Gropius wcs director. Far reasons beyand the contral of any af the individuals invalved .. the lost live yeors 01 the Bauhaus cauld nat be represented. During these five yeors much excellent work was done ond the internotionol reputcrion of the Bauhaus incraosad rapidly, but, lartunotely far the purposes of this book. the fundamental chO'rOicter

been established under Gropius' lecdershlp. This book is primarily a collection of evidence -phatographs, a!ftides and notes done an the lield 0,1 actian, ond assembled here with a minimum or retrospective revision, It is divided into twa ports: Weimar, 1919 -1925, ond Dessou, 192 5 -1928. These divisions ind icote more than a change of locotion andextema! circumstonces, for althaugh the expressionist end, 10ter, formO'listic experiments at Weimar were varied ond exciting, it may be said thollhe Bauhaus really faund itsell only OIfter the move 101 Dessau. This baok is nat complete, even within its lield, lor same material could not be brought aut 0/ GermO'lny. At some lime a delinitive wark an the Bouhaus should be written, a well-ordered, camplete and corelully documented history prepored by a dispassionote autharity, but time and other circumstcnces ma:ke this impassible at present. Nevertheless this boak, prepored by Herbert Boyer under the general editorship of Professor Grapius ond with the generaus collobororion Oil a dozen Bauhaus leO'chers, is by lor the most complete ond auIharitOilive occounr of the Bauhaus so lor OIttempled. The exhibition has been organized and i'nstol'led by Herber! BO'yer with the assistance ol the Museum's Deportment 01 Archifectureand Industrial Art. The Museum ol Madern Art wishes to IhOink especiaUy Herbert Bayer lor his diHicult, extensive and painstaking work in assemhling and installing, the exhibition ond laying out this baak; Professor WO'lter Grapius, a/ the Graduate Schaal of Desi.gn, Harvard University, for his supervision 01 the baok and exhibition; Mrs. Ise Oropius lor her ossistonce in editing Ihe boak; Alexander Schawinsky, formerly 0,1 the Bouhous, and Josel Albers, Professor ol Art at BI.ack Mountain Callege and formerly of the Bouhaus for their help in preparing the exhibitian. Also Miss Sora Bobbitt, Mrs, Jahn W. l.incain, Mr. Paul Gl'Otz, Mr. Philip Jahnsan ond

01 the Bauhaus hod already

Mr. Br.intan Sherwood, wha, Q!S volunteers, have assisted Mr. BOIyer ond the Museum stoll; else thase who hove generausly lent moteriol 10 the exhibition ond contributed phatagraphs lor repraduction in the boak. The Museum ossurnes lull respansibility far hav.ing invited Professor Grapius, Mr. Boyer, ond their colleoques to colbbaralein the book and its accompanying exhibition. All the material included in thee"hibifion has been lent 0,1 the Museum's request, in some cases withaut the con senl af the artist. Allred H.Borr, Jr., Director

'The work 01 .molly o'rl;$I$. inlhi, book is being shown wilh.out I"a;', con'eM. Wh.en the book "'0" 0.1 Ihe point 01 goin.glO preu il "'0.' conlidered edviseble 10 dalele the IIom,as 01' se¥ero·il 01 Ihe!e o'lilll,

"Men and women 01 Weimar! Our old and famous Ar School is in donger! to whom the obodes 01 our art and cui ure are sacred. are reques ed to ottend a public demonstro ion on Thorsdcv, January 22, 1920. ot 8 p.m. The committees, elected by he ci irens ... "

All citizens 01 Weimar

THE BACKGROUND OF THE BAUHAUS by ALEXANDER DORNER

Director of the Art Museum 01 the Rhode 1,lond School 01 Design Formerly Director 01 the l.ondesmuseum, Hcnover, Germany

II

It was with such alarms that the people of Weimar greeted the appearonce of the Bauhaus in their midst. This reception was not to be blamed on the radi ional "spirit of Weimar." a
-0

unanimity post-war Germons found in every novelty a sign of some ideological program, and this fact in port explains the force of the attock launched against the Bauhaus. As early as 1919 there was talk 01 "art-Bolshevism which must be wiped out" and even then there were appeals to the "notional German spirit" of artists who were to "rescue mature art." It was a feverish end tormented notion that drew such drcsfic distinctions between 'he old and new and mode peaceful growth impossible. Yet this very tension and alertness may have contributed to the quick and clear-cut development 01 the Bauhaus. First to protest against the Bauhaus were, of course, the adherents 01 the old art academies
... II is interest; 09 to note thot the some phrase wos used in on cttcck on Ihe exhibition 01 Impressionist ond Post-Impressionist Po;,nli.ngs at Ihe Metropolilo:n Museum in New York in 1'121.

town living more in the post than in the present. "Goethe lawn," on "Athens-on-the-Ilrn": anywhere in Germany it would have been much

the some in the stormy cultural atmosphere following the catastrophe 01 1918. The Confusion

01 the

Post.War Period

German opinion was divided into extreme factions. On one side were aligned all those who could not understand that the pre-war world was dead; on the other stood men and women determined to learn from the debacle. and to find a new way of life. The latter. even outside Germany, were drown to the Bauhaus as to a magnet; but to those who clung to the post, the Bauhaus was like a red rag. It was remarkable with what

. and

of the bourgeoisie

whom

the academies

supplied with art-an art carrying on the tradilion 01 eclectic architecture, 01 monuments and pertrc] s in the grand manner, the depiction historical glory and decorative landscape-on or+ accepting almost any historical "style" eclectic stylistic melange. Products academies of or the to

had to make their way were there any positive,

in solitude. Nowhere clear suggestions for

occupied

with Art Nouveau

ornament.)

By 1900.

achieving a new productive cooperation between art and lile. until the handful of people who mode up the German Werkbund at last perceived this goal and directed their efforts award it steering clear bo h of the late academicism and the late Romantic Expressionism

Adolf Laos. a Viennese portly trained in the United States, dared to banish all ornament from his buildings. amazing technical In America, proficiency. a country 01 Louis Sullivan

and then Fronk Lloyd Wright were the lirst to insist that "form should follow function." Their work was a great contem porcries. inspiration to their European

01

the French official tradition, hod originally been intended

01 their

Irain designers lor the royal manufacturies of porcelain furniture. tapestries and other decaro ive material destined lor the courts and upper classes. differentiated This "applied art" was carefully from "line art." though equally

contemporaries. The Deutsche Werkbund The Werkbund ideo hod been in the I BBO's by William foreshadowed in reaction He of Morris

In Germany. Hermann Muthesius sought 0 synthesis between the "machine style" and the Morris "arts and crofts" movement. He founded the Deutsche Werkbund in 1907 in on eHart to effect real coopercrion between the besl crtists and craftsmen on the one hand, and trade and industry on the other. At the first session of the Werkbund Theodar Fischer said. "Moss production and division of labor must be made to produce quality." Therewith the fallacy 01 Morris' "croltsrncn's culture" seemed to have been overcome. But no one hod yet devised the means of absorbing. either practically or esthetically. the spirit of engineering in a art. The cultural coordination

against the artistic confusion of his day. called lor a fa urn 10 he cultural integration the great oeriods

aependent on the accepted styles of the post. The disappearance of court Iile and coste rule spelled the disappearance of the principal mar e of these sto e manulacluries which, consequently, passed into private hands. The "modern posed art" movements which were opas well to he academies all over Europe

01 the post. wherein

art, mo-

rality. politics and religion all formed one living whole. To him. the ideal was the Gothic cathedral, in the creation joined tagether in the role

of which all artists

·01 croftsmen.

Morris. in some ways a retrogressive Romantic. would have nothing to do with machine production. dieval He strove. handicrafts. rother, for a revival of meof moss But. with the means

12

as .n Germany presented a bewilderingly confused picture. In Germany there were Expressionism and Dadaism, both forms of unbridled individualism; in Italy, Futurism; in Holland. Russia and Hungary. different abstract and Constructivist movements; in France, Cubism. Purism and Dadaism. These revolutionary movemens sessed were often no common mutually program hostile; they possave that 01 oppoartist. hot time who "art for art's

13

production developed in the industrial revoluion. and with the new moss demand. his concentration on the obsolescent techniques of handicraft brought about one of the very things he was trying to prevent-the isolation of the individual ortis -croltsmon able to produce made objects only for a select lew. The progressive phases of Morris' hand-

01 art

and econom-

ics, sought but not found by Morris, was not to be achieved even by the Werkbund movement.
Architects and designers. as well as pointers and sculptors. were for the most port still romantic individualists .. Mulhesius admitted: "We ourselves do not ~now where Wolter Gropius we are drifting."

sition to the academies

and the academic

ideas were

It is hard to think of anyone at thought in any terms other than

soke," who sow oeyond

romantic experiments

the purely personal and of artists trying to express

carried further, toward the end of the century, on the Continent and in the United States. In contrast wih England and its "arts and crofts" movement. somewhat proclaimed the Continent ond America began. theoretically. to glorify technology. Henry von de Velde of the engineer as the true architect

It was the youngest of the Werkbund leaders, Wal er Gropius. who, by founding the Bauhaus. began really to solve the problem.
II would have been unnatural for the young Gropius to have been entirely untouched by late Romantic influence. But. from the very beginning. he differed from his contemporaries in the driving earnestness with which he attacked the problem of reconciling art and on industrialized society. As early as 1910 he and his moster, the architect Behrens. hod drafted a Memorandum on

their individual views. The tide 01 Romanticism was rising to a new height in this post-war period. Called expressionism, it was still the some Romanticism which lor a century hod been vaunting individualism in its struggle against academic traditions. The purpose of that struggle hod been to enrich art and extend its horizons. But. because it hod token place isolated Irom lile and its practical demands. the creative geniuses al the 19th century and early 20th

In the '90'5. the Belgian

our times. and announced that the new malerials developed by modern science, such as steel. reinlorced concrete, aluminum. and linoleum. called for a new type of logical structure. (A the same time, however, he was pre"Gropius' predecessor ond Crofts. at Ihe Weimor Academy of Arts

the Industriol Prefabrication of Houses on a Unified Arlistic Basis. The ideo of the prefab-

Henry von de Velde: Weimer Bouhous build· ing, t 905

Students' s udio bUilding. co 1,1 ed Prallerhous

14

ricoted house wcs borrowed from the United States, but Gropius' insistence on solving the pr6blem on a: "unified artistic bosis" was a new move toward the synthesis of technology and ort, In 191 I he demonstrored Ihi 5 in his loctory building 01 AI/eld, and ogOlin in 1914 in his oflice building at the Werkbund Exposilion 01 Cologne (both in collaboration with Adoll Meyer). These buildings were the first 10 show cleorly the elemenls 01 a new orchitecturol style-free from traditional mossiveness, exploiting the new lightness of modern building construction. The 'Early Bauhoius ot Weim.or Storting with mchilecture, Gropiusextended his interests into the whole field of the orts. While still at the Irani. he was at work on a new project for ort educolion, encouraged by the Grand Duke 01 Soxe- Weimar who hod already discussed wilh him the possibility of his assuming the direclarship 01 the Weimar Art Academy. Gropius wonted to combine the Academy with the Weimar Arts ond Crohs School to creole a "consulting air 1 center for industry and the trades." By ochi evi ng this union in 1919 at the Bouhous, he took a most important and decisive new step, for every student at the Bauhaus was trained by two teochers in each subject-by on artist and a master craftsman. This division of instruction was unavoidable at the beginning, for no teachers were to be found with sufficient mastery of both phases. To develop just such erective "ambidexterity" was the purpoSe 01 the Bauhaus. Because of the character of the artists on the faculty, the first products of the new education quite naturally showed the influence of contemporary "modern" movements, por+iculorlv Cubism, evidenced by 0, somewhat formalistic and crbirrorv attitude toward design. The press, quite understandably, sometimes con/used the aims 01 the Bauhaus with Ihe "isms" seen elsewhere, and debated the "entry 01 Expressionism into the Bouhous." Today, considering whot fhe Bauhaus eventually become, it is osronishing to realize that it ever hod anylhing to do

Goethe's garden neor We·imor

house,

Goethe's

house, Weimer

Weimar. Set in charming surraundi:ng.s, a center of clossic German cult ...re. Re,sidence 01 the poets Harder, Wielond, Goethe, Schill .. r, during the golden ero 01 Germain poelry, ond, loler. af Lilzl and Niensc he. Her a, OIlier the revol ution 01 November, 1918, the 'N otionol Convention ossembled and ooopted the Constitution al the new Germon Republic.

with Expressionism. and Dadaism, but it must be remembered how very confused the world of art was when Ihe Bouhous begon. No one woul:d have prophesied success for Gropius, In the world of art his ideas stood alone amid the chaos 01 uncoordinated forces. Creative instinct combined with his strength 01 character mode his leadership unique. At Ihe very slart he stood firm. agoinst relentless opposition and the economic difficulties of the inflation period. With equal perseverance he strug" gled to develop the rigihl program within the Bauhous irsell. Fortunotely, the firsl and diHicult slag!e of development was over fairly quickly, ond Gropius' idea soon achieved reolizotion: modern ortisls, familiar with science and economics, begaln 10 unite erective imoginolion wi,th a practical knowledge 01 craftsmanship, ond thus 10 develop a new sense of functionall design. The Bouhousat DessolJ In 1925 the Bauhaus wos moved frO'm hostile vVeimor to hosoitable Dessau. By this time. a new generation of teachers hod been trained,each of whom wos 01 once a creative ortisr, a' croftsman and on industriol designer, and the dual system of Instruction could be obondoned. New ideas began to !low forth in abundance, and from the Bouhaus of Ihis period derive many familiar adjuncts of conternpororv lile-sleel furniture, modern textiles, dishes, lamps, modern typography and layout. The spirit ·of tunctional! design wos carried even into the "line orts" and applied to architecture, city and regional plonni.ng. Bulla speak 0'1 0' cut and dried "Bouhaus style" would be 10 revert 10 the cultural porolysis 01 the 19th century with its "free styles." lis inlegral port, namely the functional foundation of design, was just as full of chonging possibilities as our own "technical age." We believe that we hove only gllimpsed the great potentialities of this technicol' a'ge, ond thai the 601uhous ideo has only beg,un to make its woy.

15

Mop of Ge,mony showing lccction of Weimar and Dessou

Goethe-Schiller Weimar

monument,

GROPIUS, 1903 Woller. Architect, writer. Born, Berlin, I B83 Studied architecture, Munich 1905-1907 Studied orchtecture, Berlin 1907-1910 Assis ani a Peter Behrens, Berlin 1910-19]4 Privo e ercetice 1914--1918 Serveo in 'he German ormy Appo inled Director of the Grossherzoglic he 1918 Soch.i.eM K~nsTgewerbeschule and the Grossherzogliche Socnsisene Hechschule fjjr 8ilo ende K~nsl Union 01 he two schools under the nome )919 Beuhcus 15100 liehes Bouhcus Weimar) The Bauhaus moves 10 Dessou w:th a I 1925 !eochers end students (Bauhaus Dessou, Hochschule Jur Gestoltungl Resigno'ion Irom posl as Diredor 01 the 1928 Bouhous to resume private practice Member 01 Ihe board of the Reseorch In51; u e for Building Economy of he German Reich Appoinled "Dr. ing. honoris COJSO," by 1929 University of Hanover Moved 10 London 1934 Went into partnership with Maxwell Fry. 1935 A.R.I.B.A. AppOinted Senior Professor. Deportment of 1937 Architecture. Harvard University Appointed Chairman 01 the Dapcrtrnern of 1938 Architecture, Harvard UniversiTY

Wolter Gropius and Adolf Meyer: Fogus Shoe-los Factory. Alfelo-on-theLe·ne. 1911

Woher Gropius: Cologne ExposiTion 0' the German Werkound. Holl of Machinery. 1914.

Wolter Grepius' mo,1 important worh belore the Bauhaus

16

Wolter Gropius: Dieseldriven locomotive cor oesigned for a !irm On Don. tig. 1914

Fro'" 0 p~otogro,,"

0'

1'123

I~e Gropius,

nee Fronk, ioined the Bauhaus comrnu~ity in 192'3

Woller Gropius cno Ado!! Meyer: Cologne E,posi. 'ion of the German We, . bvno, Administration Bu'Idig. Front view. 19 4 "

From the FIRST PROCLAMATION

of the WEIMAR BAUHAUS:

The complete building is the linol oim function

01

the

visual arts. Their noblest

Was once the

decoration of buildings. Today they exist in isoloticn. Iram which they can be rescued only hrough
Peter Rohl Program a' Ihe opening celebra ions 01 Ihe Bauhaus 01 'he German otiono T.,eo. ter 01 Weimar. 1919

the conscious,

coopero

ive eHort 01 all

craftsmen. Architects. mus recognize anew of a building

pain ers and sculptors the compasite choracter Only then will their spirit

as on entity.

work be imbued with the architectonic which it has 105 as "solon crt." Architects. sculptors. turn to the crafts dillerence The artist pointers. There we must all

Art is not a "profession."

is no essential

between the artist and the craftsman. is on exalted craftsman. In rare mo-

18

ments 01 inspire ion, moments beyond the conrol of his will. the g ace of heaven may couse his wor fa blossom into ort. But proficiency in

his croft is essential fa every artist. Therein lies

a source
The contract lor the a ireclion 01 the lkIuho us eluded 01 Weimor April I. 1919. between the Wolter Gropius 01 Berlin ond tha office 01 rnorschell 01 Weimar with the agreement 01 visieno] Republicon Government 01 Sore·Weimor sen.Weimor.Eisenach, ond I;,e Deoor ments Ministry 01 Store, was can. orchitect he Hoi. the oro. [Sechof he

of creo ive imoginolion.

Let us creo eo new guild of craftsmen. withou the clcss distinctions which raise on orrogant barrier between craftsman and artist. Together let us conceive and creote the new building of the future. which will embrace architecture and sculpture and pointing in one unity and which will rise one day toward heaven from the hands of a million workers new faith. like the crystal symbol of a

The ;irst Bouhous seo

Lyonal Fe ini ngar: Woodcut Irom Ihe proclomotion. 1919

fir,t

WHO WERE THE TEACHERS? During the ...or some vaccncies occurred on the stalls of Ihe two schcols ( he Academy 01 Picloriol Art and e Acaaemy a' Arts and Crohs] which Grcpius lc er united in .he Souhaus. This eno bled him !O hove three moslers opeointsd at he very beginning: Joho nes Uten, lyonel Feininger and Gerhard More s in May. 1919. They were joined later by Adoll Meyer, 1919, _ . 1920. Paul Klee, January, 1921, Oskor Schlemmer. April. 1921, Wossay andins y. June. 1922. and L6sz16 Moholy- 09Y. t 923. Replacement 01 cer oin members of Ihe old sloif. who did nol lit into the new educo-io 01 line al e Bauhaus. led to bi ler conlroversy with the older genera ion 01 ortists in Weimar.

PAUL

LEE

GERHARD

MARC

LYONEL FEINI

GER

JOHA

NES ITIEN

WHERE DID THE STUDENTS COME FROM 7 The s udents ol the Weimar Bauhaus come Irom 011over Germo~y. nor hand sourh, and Irom Au. rio. They were Irom seven "en to lorty years old. most 01 rhem in eir early wen ies. woo hirds 01 them were men. hall 01 whom hod served in the ormy during the lost years 01 the g,eo war. Mos of the sludels hod to earn Iheir living. and Gropius herelore persuaded the Weimar Ministry 01 Education to cancel tuition lees. Furlh e rmore, he managed 10 give some financial supporl to 'hose students w a produced saleable goods in ne Bauhaus workshops.

20

ADOLF MEYER

FROM A STUDENT'S LmER When 1 sow the lirs Bauhaus proclamation, ornemented wilh Feininger's woodeu, I mode inquiries as to whal the Bou ous really wos. I wos old hal "during Ihe enrronce exc minations every oppliconl is locked up in odor room, Thunder and ligh ning ore le loose uoon him a ge him inlo 0 so e of ogilo ion. His being odrni ted de oends on how well he d ascribes his reoc ions." This report, 01 hough il exaggerated 1 e oclual lac s, lired my enthusicsrn, My €leona ic iUlire was lor from assured, oul I decided 10 join the Bau ous a once. I· wos during the post-war years, and to this day I wonder w' 01 rnosr Bouhcus members ived On. But he happiness and fullness of those years mode US lorgel our poverty. Bauhaus members come Irom all social cIO'55es. They mode a vivid cppecrcnce. some still in unilorm. SOme barelool or in sondols. some wi h e long beards 01 o· is s or osee ics, Some come from Ihe youth movemems.

LOTHAR SCHREYER

OSKAR SCHLEMMER

WASSILY

ANDINSKY

The s udenl body was composed 01 two hundred Germans. lour een Aus rions, three Ger ens from he Baltic coun rias, wo Sudelen Germons and two Hung,orions. The Bauhaus budget in 1920:20b,+Ob marh ( 50,000.00).

LASZLO MOHOLY-

AGY

THE THEORY AND ORGANIZATION OF THE BAUHAUS .' by WALTER GROPIUS

Translation 01 Idee und Aufbau . Bauhauses Weimar. des Sfaaflichen

many branches should be not a luxury. but the life-long preoccupation of a whole people. The widespread view that art iso luxury is 0 corruption born of the spirit of yesterday. which isoI a ted a rtistic ph enomena (/' art pour art) and

echniques or economics. Lac of all vital connection with the life of the community led inevitably to barren esthetic speculation. The fundamental pedagogic mistake 01 Ihe academy arose from its preoccupation with the ideo of he individual genius and its discounting the value of commendable achievement on a less exalted level. Since the academy trained a myriad of minor talents in drawing and pointing. of whom scarcely one in a thousand become a genui ne architect or painter, the great moss 01 Ihese individuals. fed upon false hopes and trained as one-sided academicians, was condemned too life of fruitless artistic cctivity. Unequipped to function successfully in the struggle for existence, they found themselves numbered among the social drones. useless, by virtue of heir schooling, in the productive life of the nation. With the developmen of the academies genuine folk art died away. What remained was a drawing-roam art detached from life. In the 19th century this dwindled to the production of individual po.intings tOlally divorced from Clny relotion 10 on architectural entity. The second half

DEE

U"D

AuFBAU
DES STAAJUCIEN

Published in 1923 al Ihe Bauhausverlag. Munich. during Ihe -4 h year 01 Ihe

Bauhaus a Weimar. corogrop
So

thus deprived hem of vitality. At the very outset the new architectural spirit demands new conditions for all creative effort. The "academy" The tool of the spirit

01

yesterday

was the

A lew

one occesien-

"cccderrw." It shut off the artist from the world

of industry and handicraft, and thus brought about his complete isolation from the community. In vilal epochs. on the other hand, the artist enriched all the arts and era lis of a community because he hod a port in its vocational life, and because he acquired through cc ual practice as much adeptness and understanding as

_WALTE.R GROPIUS

WEIMAR

BAUHAUSES

nove the ", brev:ty. Many 01 the heading, have been ed.
omit ed, for

ol

sen e nces

been
e 01

subadd-

The dominant spirit of our epoch is already recognizoble although its form is not yet cleorIy defined. The old duolistic world-concept which envisoged the ego in opposition to the universe is ropidly losing ground. In its plcce is rising the idea, 01 a universal unity in which all opposing forces exist in a state 01 absolute balance. This downing recognition of the essential oneness of all things and their appearances endows creative effort with a fundamental inner meaning. No longer can anything exist in isolation. We perceive eve y lorm as the embodiment of an ideo, every piece 01 work as a manifestation of our innermost selves. Only work which is the product of inner compulsion can have spiritual meaning. Mechanized work is lifeless. proper only to the lileless machine. So long, however. as machine-economy remains on end in itself rother than a means 01 freeing the intellect from the burden 01 mechanical lobar, the individual will remain enslaved and society will remain disordered. The solution depends on a change in the individual's attitude toward his work, not on the betterment 01 his outward circumstonces, and the acceptance of this new principle is of decisive importonce ative work. for new cre-

The decadence

01 architecture

The character of on epoch is epitomized in its buildings. In them, its spiritual and material resources lind concrete expression, and, in consequence, the buildings themselves oHer irrelutable evidence 01 inner order or inner confusion. A vital architectural spirit, rooted in the enti re lile 01 a people. represents the interrelation of all phases 01 creative eHort. all arts, all techniques. Architecture today has forfeited its status as a unifying art. It has become mere scholarship. Its utter confusion mirrors on uprooted wo Id which has lost he common will necessary for all correlated ellor . New structural elements develop very slowly. lor the evolution of crchitecturol lorrn is dependent not only upon an immense expenditure 01 technical and material resources, but also upon he emergence 01 new philosophical concep s deriving from a series 01 intuitive perceptions. The evolution 01 form. therefore, logs for behind the ideas which engender it. The art of orchitsc ure is dependen upon the cooperation of many individuals, whose wor reflects the attitude of the entire community. In contrast, certain other arts rellect only narrow sections

any other worker who began at the bottom and worked his way up. But lately the artist has been misled by the fa 01 and arrogant fallacy. fostered by the state, that art is a profession which can be mastered by study. Schooling alone can never produce crt! Whether the finished product is an exercise in ingenuity or a work of art depends on the talent of the individual who creates it. This quality cannot be taught and cannot be learned. On the other hand. manual dexterity and the thorough knowl. edge which is a necessary foundation for all ere- • ative eifart, whether the workman's or the crtis '5, can be taught and leorned. Isolation

22

23

01 the

19th century sow the beginning of a protest against the devitalising influence of the Behrens and oth-

academies. Rus~in and Morris in England, von de Velde in Belgium. Olbrich, ers in Germany. and. finally. the Deutsche Werkbund. all sought. and in the end discovered. the basis 01 a reunion between creative artists and the industrial world. In Germany. arts and crofts (Kunstgewerbe) schools were founded lor the purpose of developing, in a new generation, talented individuals trained in industry and handicraft. But the academy was too firmly established: practical training never advanced beyond dilettantism, and draughted and rendered "design" remained in the foreground. The founda ions of this attempt were laid neither wide enough nor deep enough to avail much against the old l'or! pour l'or! attitude. so alien to, and so for removed from life.

01 the

artist

Academic training, however. brought about the development 01 a great art-proletariat desined to social misery. For this art-proletariat, lulled into a dream of genius and enmeshed in artistic conceit, was being prepared for the "profession" of orchitec ure, painting, sculpture or graphic a t, without being given the equipment of a real education -which alone could have assured it of economic and es he ic independence. Its abilities. in the linal analysis, were confined to a sort 01 drawing-pointing that hod no relation to the realities of materials,

01

life. The art of architecture

and its

Dearth of industrial designers Meanwhile, the craHs-and more especially .' he industries-began 10 cost about for artists. .A demand arose lor products outwardly attractive as well as technically . ly acceptable. The technicians and econamicalcould not satisfy

hand masters moffer

through

the crofts.

and sito

the Bouhous

is he collective

work of art-Ihe
exist between oris." the

with the help of tools and machinery. Conception and visualization are always multaneous. Only the individual's
10 execute

Building-in which no barriers structural and the decorative

Human achievement depends coordination of all the creative not enough separately: at the some the Bauhaus ion of this.

on the proper faculties. It is of them trained

capacity in degree

feel, to know and

varies

The guiding principle of the Bauhaus wos therefore the ideo of creating a new unity through the welding together af many "arts" and movements: a unity having its basis in Man himself and significant THE CURRICULUM The course of instruction at the Bauhaus is divided only as a living organism.

to school one or another they must 01'1 be thoroughly

i . So monulocturers star ed to buy so-called "artistic designs." This was on ineffective substiute, lor the artist was 00 much removed lrorn he world about him and too little schooled in echnique and handicraft to adjust his concepions of form to the practical duction. At the some time, echnicians pearance, processes of prohe merchants and

and in speed. True creative work can be done only by the man whose knowledge and mastery of the physical lows 01 statics. dynamics. opics, ocous ics equip him to give lile and shope to his inner vision. In 0 work of art the laws 01 the physical world. the intellectual world and the world of the spirit function ond are expressed

time. The character and scope 01 teachings derive from the reolizc-

into:

lacked the insight 10 realize thO't apeHiciency and expense could be si-

The

simultaneously. Bauhaus 01 Weimar Every lactar that musl be considered

I. 1.nslrucl.ionin In an STONE Sculpture wor shop

crolts (Werklehre):
METAL Meal workshop and taols estimating. contrac ing CLAY Pottery workshop GLASS Stained glass war shop COLOR Wall-pointing war shop TEXTILES Weaving war shop

WOOD Carpentry war shop

multaneously controlled only by planning and producing the indus rial object with the carelul cooperation 01 the artist responsible for its design. Since there was a dear h of artists adequately trained lor such work, it was logical to establish the following basic requirements for

educational system which is to produce actively creative human beings is implicit in such on analysis of the creative process. AI the "State Bauhaus ot Weimar" the attempt was made lor the first time to incorporate a consisten program. In 1915. during summoned
10

A. Inst uc ion in materials B. Elements

all these

lac tors in

of boo -keeping,

24

training 0/ all gifted individuals: a thorough prodicol, manual training in workshops actively engaged in production, coupled with sound theoretical instrucfion in the lows of design. the fulure Analysis of the designing process The objective of aU creative eHort in the visual arts is to give form to space .... space. form? ... Although we may achieve on awareness 0/ the inlinite we can give form to space only with finite means .. We become OWOfe 01 space through our undivided Ego, through the simultaneous activity 01 soul. mind ond body. A like concen ration of all our forces is necessary to give it form. Through his intuition. through his metaphysical powers. man discovers the immaterial space of inword vision and inspiration. This conception of space demonds realization in the material complished world. a realize ion which is acby the brain and the honds. and dimensions .... how can it be understood But what is and given a

the war. rhe au hor hod been with the Grand Duke

on audience

II. Instruction I. Observation

in form problems

(Formlehre): 2. Representation A. Descriptive B. Technique C. geometry of cons ruction

25
3. Composition
A. Theory C. Theory

of Saxe-Weimar to discuss his taking over the Academy for Arts and Crafts from he distinguished Belgian architect, Henry von de Velde, who had himself suggested Gropius as his successor. Hoving asked full powers in regard for. and been accorded, to reorganization, in the assumed the directorAcademy for So chsische

A. Study 01 nature B. Analysis of materials

01 space 01 design

B. Theory of color

spring of 1919 the author

Drawing of plans and building of models for all kinds of cons rue ions

ship of the Grand Ducal Saxon Pictorial Art (Grossherzogliche

Hochschule fur Bildende Kunst) as well as of Ihe Grand Ducal Saxon Academy for Arts and Crofts (Grossherzogliche Sdchsische Kunslgewerbeschule) and united them under he new nome of "Stote Bauhaus" (Staotliches Bauhaus). The heore icol curriculum of on art academy combined with the practical curriculum of on arts and crofts school was to cons itute the basis of a comprehensive system lor gifted students. Its credo was: "The Bauhaus strives to coordinate all creative ellort. 10 achieve, in a new architecture. the unification of all troining in

The brain conceive5 of mathematicol

in terms of numbers

space The

art and design. The ultimote,

if distant.

goal

01

Supplementary instruction lectures in fields relating to art and SCience, "post and present. The curriculum includes three departments (compare with the plan): '1. The preliminary course, lasting half a year. Elementary instruction in problems ollorm, combined with procticol experiments with dillerent materials in the workshops lor beginners. Result: Admission to one 01 the workshops. 2. Instruction in a crolt in one of the war shops a her 5ig ning legal art ides 01 0 ppren ticesh ip; advanced instruction in lorm. Three yeor course. Result: Journeyman's Diploma

ion and representation-wi

h he in ention of

showing the desired identity of Form and Conen =deline the limits of the preliminary course. lis chief function is to liberate the individual by breo ing down conventional po terns 01 thought in order to make way for personal experiences and discoveries which will enable him to see his own potentialities and limitations. For this reason collective work is not essential in he preliminary course. Both subjective and objective abservotion will be cultivated: both the system 01 abstract lows and the interpretation of objective matter. Above all else, the discovery and proper valuation of the individual's means of expression sholl be sought out. The creative possibilities

become indispensable collaborators in the working life of the people. With this in mind the Bauhaus has ruled II) that every apprentice and journeyman is taught by Iwa masters, a craftsman and an artist, who work in dose cooperaion; (2) that instruction in crofts and in the theory oflorm are fundamental: no opprentice or journeyman can be excused from either.
Productlon work in the workshop of the preliminary course. Work in ell the croft. under the technical.upervision 01 lhe r'espective mosters.

with the feeling for war

which. as on ortist, he

inevitably has, and it is therefore his best opportuni y for practical train ing. The principal difference between factory production and handicraft lies not in the machine'ssuperiority over more primitive tools as on instrument of technical precision, but in the fact that in Ihe faclory each operation involved in manufocturing a product is performed by a different man, whereas the craft product is mode

01 the

Studies in meterials. Free creative work in dillerent malerials

Theory of form and color

entirely by one person. Bu if industry is to develop, the use of machinery and the division of lobar must be maintained. Nei her loctor is in itself responsible for the loss of creative unity which has resulted fromechnological development. The root 01 rhe evil exists rather in the

Chomber

of Crafts (Gesellenbrief der Handwer skammer) and, under certain circumstances, Diploma of the Bauhous. 3. Instruction in orchitecture. Practical participation in buildings under construction and, for especially talented journeymen, independent architectural training in the

01
Drowing from Nature Mathemetics PhysiC$ Mechanics Draughting c nd technical
Construerien

individuals vary. One finds his elementary expressions in rhythm, ano her in light and shade, a third in color, a four h in materials, a fifth in sound, a sixth in proportion, 0 seventh in volumes or abs ract space, on eighth in the relations between one and another, or between the

Synthetic sjudy 01 'pace ( Synjhetisehe Raumlehre)

much too materialistic attitude of our limes and in the loss of can oct between the individual and he community. II follows that Ihe Bauhaus does not pretend to be a crofts school. Contact with industry is

26

Bauhaus Research Deportment. Duro ion: depending on achievemen

General

coordination

[Harmonisjerungslehre)

and spe-

cial circumstances. Architectural activity and experimental wark represent a continuation 01 ins ruction in crofts and form. Result: Moster's Diploma 01 the Chamber of Crofts and, under special circumstances, Diploma 01 he Bauhaus. During the entire curriculum a practical course in the fundamental relationships 01 sound, color and form is followed, designed to horrnonize the physical and psychic qualities of the individual. The Preliminary Course (Voriehre*J Practical and theoretical studies are carried on simultaneously in order to release the creoive powers of the student, to help him grasp the physical nature of materials and the basic lows of design. Concen ration on any particular stylistic movement is studiously avoided. Observecourse was develooed by Johannes a d enlarged at 'he Bauhous the courses he "od alreody been giving in 1918 in Vienna. AI the Bauhaus, he preliminary course wos required as preparatian ior wark in the workshops,
It'en; he continued

two to a third or fourth. All the work produced

consciously sought, for the old trades are no longer very vital ond a turning bock to them would therelore be on atavistic rnis eke, Croltsmanship and industry are todoy steadily approach ing one another and are destined eventually to merge into one. Such a new productive union will give every individual that understanding 01 and desire lor cooperation which is essential to creative work. In this union the old croft workshops will develop into industrial laboratories: from their experimentotion will evolve standards for industriol production. The teaching of a croft is meant 10 prepare lor designing lor moss production. Sorting with the simplest tools and least complicated jobs, he gradually acquires ability to mas er more intricate problems and to work with machinery, while at the some ime he eeps in touch with the entire process of production from start a linish. whereas he factory worker never gels beyond the knowledge alone phose of the process. Therefore the Bauhaus is consciously seeking contacts with existing industrial enterprises, for the sake of mutual stimulation.

21

in the preliminary

Instruction in crafts Training in a croft is a prerequisite for collective work in arch itecture. This training purposely combats the dilettantism of previous generations in the applied arts. Every apprentice, by signing the articles issued by the Chamber of Crofts, engages himself to work through the lawfully prescribed period of apprenticeship. The teaching 01 a croft serves solely to train the hand and to ensure technical proficiency; it is by no means 0,0 end in itself. lis aim is to odd to a many-sided education rather than to develop the specialized craftsman. The Bauhaus believes the machine to be our modern medium of design and seeks to come to erms with it. But it would be senselessto launch a gifted apprentice into industry without preparation in a croft and hope thereby to reestablish he artist's lost contact with the world of production. He would be stifled by the ma eriolisic and one-sided outlook predominant in lacto ies today. A croft, however, cannot conllict

course is done under the influence of ins ructors. It possessesor+is ic quality only in so for as any direct and logically developed expression of an individual which serves to loy the foundations of creative discipline can be called art. Instruction in crcjts and form problems In earlier centuries when there was no academic ins ruction in the crofts or arts, students were taught independently by a master who was a craftsman as well as an artist. Such instruction would still be the best. Bu , because 01 he disastrous secession of art from the workaday lile of the people, in our time such creative versatility no longer exists and it is therelore impossible for one man to underta e a studen 's entire art education. Synthesis is the only solution: coordinated instruction by two masters, one a craftsman, the other an artist. Thus, doubly trained. a future generation of creatively gifted workers may once more achieve a new produc ive coordina ion, and may gradually

The preliminary

From these contacts wi h industry the appren" tice and, later, the journeyman learn not only to extend their technical experience but also to consider, in carrying out their work, the unavoidable demands which industry makes on the individual a economize on ime and means. In the some measure, the academic superciliousness of another day constantly dwindles, and respect lor hard realities unites individuals engaged in a common work. After hree years of thorough training, the

g ammor in order to speak a language; only then can we communicate our houghts. Man. who creoles and const-ructs, must learn the specific language of construction in order 10 ma e others understand his ideo. Its vocabulary consists of the elements 01 form and color and their structural laws. The mind must now them and conlrol the hand if a creative ideo is to be mode visible. The musician who wonts to ma e audible a musical ideo needs for its rendering not only a musical instrument but also a knowledge of theory. Without this knowledge. his ideo will never emerge from chaos. A corresponding knowledge of theory-which existed in a more vigorous era-must again be established as a basis lor practice in the visual arts. The academies. whose task it might have been to cu!tiva e and develop such a theory. comple ely foiled to do so. having los contact wi h reali y. Theory is not a recipe for the manufacturing 01 works of art. but the most essential element of collective construction; it provides the common basis on which many individuals are able to create together a superior uni,t 01 work; theory is not the achievement 01 individuals bu 01 generations. The Bauhaus is consciously ormulating a new coordination of the means of cons ruction and expression. Without this. its ultimate aim would be impossible. For collaboration in a group is not to be obtained solely by correlating the abilities and talents of various individuals. Only an apparent unity can be achieved if many helpers corry out the designs of a single person. In fact, the individual's labor within the group should exist as his own independent accomplishment. Real unity can be achieved only by coherent restatement 01 the formal heme. by repetition of its integral proportions in all parts of the work. Thus everyone engaged in the war must understand the meaning and origin of the principal theme. Forms and colors gain meaning only as they are related to our inner selves. Used separately or in relation to one another they are the means

of expressing different

emotions

and move.

ments: hey have no importance of their own. Red. lor instance, evokes in us other emotions than does blue or yellow; round forms speak differently to us than do pointed or iagged forms. The elements which constitute the "grammar" 01 creation are its rules of rhythm. of proportion. of light values and full or empty space. Vocabulary and grammar can be learned. but the most important factor of all, the organic Iile of the created work, a iginates in the creative powers 01 the individual. The practical training which accompanies the studies in form is founded as much on observation, on the exoct representation or reproduction of nature, as it is on the creation 01 individual compositions. These two activities are profoundly different. The academies ceased to discriminate between them, confusing nature by their very origin they are wonts to riumph over Nature in a new unity, and or -though antithetical. Ar

draughting office adjoining the Research Deparlment, as well as to all the war shops, in order to enable them to study other crolts than their own. They are jnvited to collaborate both on the plans and the actual construction of buildings lor which the Bauhaus hos been commissioned, so that they may have the experience of caopera ing with 011 the building trades and, at the some time, earn their living. In so for as the Bauhaus curriculum does not provide advanced courses in engineering-construction in steel and reinforced concrete, statics. mechanics. physics. industrial methods, healing, plumbing, technical chemistry- it is considered desirable lor promising architecture students, alter consultation with their masters, 10 complete their education with courses at technical and engineering arinciple, schools. As a matter of workshops journeymen should hove experience

apprentice undergoes a work-test in the presence 01 a committee of established craftsmen. Hoving passed this. he becomes a publicly certified journeyman. Every journeyman at the Bauhaus who is publicly certified is entitled, as soon as he considers himself sufficiently advanced. to a further lest as "Bauhaus journeyman"; the requirements of this test are more severe than the public test. especially in regord to the journeymon's creative ability.

28

Instruction in form problems Intellectual education runs parallel to manual training. The opprentice is ocquointed with his future stock-in-trode-the elements 01 form and color and the lows to which they are subject. Instead of studying the arbitrary individualistic and stylised formulae current at the ocademies. he is given the mental equipment with which to shope his own ideas of form. This raining opens the way for the creative powers of the individual, estoblishing a basis on which dillerent individuals can cooperate without losing their artistic independence. Collective architectural war becomes possible only when every individual. prepared by proper schooling, is capable of understanding the ideo 01 the whole, and hus has the means harmoniously to coordinate his independent, even if limited. activity with the collective war. Instruction in the theory of form is carried on in close contact with manual raining. Drawing and planning, thus losing their purely academic character, gain new signilicance as auxiliary means of expression. We must know both vocabulary and

(machine work) in manufacturing other than those at the Bauhaus. The new approach 10 architecture

and to resolve the opposition

and this process is consummated in the fight of the spirit ag!a'inst the material' world. The spirit creates lor itself a new lile other than the life 01 nature. Each of these departments in the course on the theory ollorm functions in close association with the workshops, on association which prevents their wondering off into academicism. Instruction in architecture Only the journeyman who hos been seasoned by workshop practice and instruction in the study 01 form is ready to collaborate in buildIng.

The most important condition for fruitful colloborcrion on architectural problems is a clear understanding 01 the new approach to architecture. Architecture during the lost few genera ions has become weakly sen imentol, esthetic and decorative. Its chief concern has been with ornamentation. with the formalistic use 01

29

mo ifs, ornaments and mouldings on the exterior of the building-os if upon a dead and superlicial moss-not as po of a living organism. lost touch with In this decadence architecture

The lost and most important stage

01 Bauhaus

new methods and materials; the architect was engulfed in academic estheticism, a slave to narrow conventions, and t e planning of cities was no longer his job. This kind of architecture we disown. We wanl
10 create a clear, organic

education is the course in architecture with practical experience in the Research Deportment as well as on actual buildings under construeion. No appren ices are admit1ed to the Research Deportment: only certified journeymen capable of working out by themselves technical and larmal problems. They have access 10 the
The Re.aa,'" Depa'tme~1 o~ty per 'a tty re"tiled. due far a.periman!"I' work was a lod of spcce and funds.

archi ecture, whose

inner logic will be radiant and naked, unencumbered by lying facades and tric eries; we wont on orchitec ure adopted to our world of machines, radios and lost motor cars. an architeclure whose function is cleorlv recognizable in the relation of its forms.

With the increasing lirmness and density ol modern materials-steel, concrete, glass-and "with the new boldness of engineering, the ponderousness af the old methad of building is giving way 10' a new lightness and airiness. A new 'esthe ic 01 the Harizontol is beginning to develap which endeavars to counteract the ellect of gravity. At the some lime the symmetrical relotianship of parts ol the building and their orien otian oword a cen rol axis is being replaced by a new conception 0'1equilibrium which transmutes his dead symmetry o] similar ports in a on asymmetrical but rhythmical balance. The
10

units for industrial production generous cooperation

will require the

of all concerned, in busi-

in production; the few extraordinarily gifted ones will suffer no limits 0 their activity. After they have completed the course of practical ond formal instruction, Ihey undertake independent research and experiment. Modern pointing. breaking thraugh old conventions, hos released caun less suggestions which are still waiting to be used by the practical world. But when, in the future, ortists who sense new creative values have hod practical training in the industrial world. they will themselves possess the means for realizing those values immediately. They will compel industry to serve their ideo and industry will seek out and utilize their com prehensive training. The Stage Thea rical performance, which has a kind of orchestral unity, is closely related to architecture. As in architecture the character eleoch unit is merged into the higher I'fe of the whole, so in the theo er a multitude of artistic problems form a higher unity wi h a low of its own. In its origins the theater grew from a metaphysical longing' consequently it is the reclizotion af on abstract ideo. The power of its effect on the spectator and listener thus depends on the successful translation of the ideo into opticolly and audibly percep ible forms. This the Bauhaus attempts 10 do. Its program consists in a new and clear formulation 01 all problems problems

maintain a thorough understanding 01 all the questions agitating the rest of he world. In spite 01 all the practical difficulties. the basis 0'1 the growing work of the Bouhous can never be too brood. Its responsibility is 10 educate men and women to understand the world in which they live and to invent and creote forms symbolizing that world. For this reason the educational lield must be enlarged on all sides and extended inlo neighboring fields. so that Ihe elfects of new experiments may be s udied. The education of children when they are young and still unspoiled is of great importance. The new types of schools emphasizing practical exercises. such as the Montessori schools, provide on excellent preparation for e constructive program of the Bauhaus since they develop the entire human organism. The old conservative schools were opt 10 destroy the horrnonv within the individual by all but exclusive headwor . The Bauhaus keeps in touch with new experiments in educatian. During the first four years of constructive work, many ideas and problems have evolved from the original ideo of the Bauhaus. They have been tested in the face of fierce oppositian. Their fruitfulness and salutary effect on all phases

ness, in engineering, in art. Such cooperation would be a real demonstration of farsightedness. It would. in the end, prove mare economical than he use of substitutes. The Bauhaus has token the first steps toward such colla bora ion with the building of on experimental house at its 1923 exhibition, which was on actual demonstration 01 new conceptions of housing as well as o] new technical methods. Every archi ect must unders and the significance of the city in order to be able to engage actively in city planning; he must recognize as a guiding prinForm ele-·

spirit 01 the new architecture wanls inertia, to bolance controsts.

overcome

"simplicity

in multiplicity"

Since architecture is a collective art, its welfare depends on the whole community. As on ex reme instance. the monument is only significant when it springs from the will of the whole nation. This will does not yet exist today. But even he construe ion of absolutely necessary housing is at a standstill thanks to the mo eshilt ecanomies o] our time. Nawhere are the fundamental problems 01 building studied as such. Standardization 01 units For this reoson the Bauhaus has set itself the task of creating a cenler for experimentation where il will try to assemble the achievements of economic, technical and formal reseorch and a apply them to problems 01 damestic orchitee ure in on ellor a combine the greatest possible s ondordization wi h the greatest possible variation of farm. Therefore the buildings which are to be thought of os autgrowths af modern technique and design may be canceived as an assembly 01 prefabricated and standardized par's so applied as a fullill the varying requirements 01 those to' be housed. The artist and the technician must collaborate in carrying au this task. Any industrially produced object is the result of countless experiments, of long systematic research, in which business men, echnicions and artists participoe to determine a standard type. To on even grea er degree, the standardization

ciple in the shaping of its character.

ments of typical shope should be repeated in series. All the building ports should be lunclionol limbs 01 the comprehensive organism which depends simultaneously on building. street and means of transportation. The investigation tutes the finol sage

30

01 the

of these problems consricourse in building. A

31

student who has achieved technical perfection and absorbed all that the Bauhaus can teach him can be certified a master. The goal

01

the Bauhaus curriculum

Thus the culminating point of the Bauhaus leaching is a demand lor a new and powerful wO'rking correlation of all the processes

01 modern

life have been demonstrated.

01 ere-

a ion. The gilted student mus regain a feeling lor the interwoven strands of practical and formal war. The joy of building, in the broadest . meaning 01 that word, must replace the paper work of design. Architecture unites in a collective task all creative war ers, from the simple a tison to the supreme or is . Far this reason. the basis of collective education must be sufficiently brood to permit the development of every kind of talent. Since a universally ooplicable method for he discovery of talent does not exist. the individual in the course

01

peculiar to the stage. The special space, of he body. 01 movement,

of form. light color and sound are investigated; training is given in body movements, in the modulation of musical and sooken sounds; the s age space and figures are given form. The Bauhaus heater see s to recover primordial joy for all the senses, instead 01 mere esthetic pleasure. Conclusion: the Bauha us in ed ucati on An organization bosed on new principles easily becomes isolated if it does not cons antly
The lorer Bounous seal, c s-

01 his development must find for himself the field of activity best suited to him within the circle 01
the community. The majority become interes ed

01 building

,;goed

by Q,;,or

Schler-i-

mer, 1922

PRELIMINARY COURSE
PRELIMINARY COURSE: IDEN The backbone of the Bauhaus system was the preliminary course, the foundations of which were laid by Johannes Itten. Gropius hod met Itlen in 1918 in Vienna, where he was directing a private school. ond-s'mpressed by his theory of educo ion-Gropius called him to the Bauhaus as the first collaborator. The following fundamentals of ltten's eachings were re ained in port a the Bauhaus, in spite of various additions and changes made by other ins ructors. I Detailed study 01 nature (see plates opposite), especially: (a) represen atian of materials and (b) experimens with actual materials. 2 Plastic studies of composi ion, wi h various materials (see plates. page 35). 3 Analyses of old mosters (see plates, page 36).
H. HoHmon: Drawing from ncture. Vorious moterlo 5. I 'f2Q

E. Diecltmonn: Cornposition using commonplace meteria 15. Exercise designed to develope sensa of touch a nd subjective leeli n9 ;0' ..,,,te' c I

32

Herber1 Boyer: Drowio9 in various medio 01 dlllerenl ledure5. 1921

Drowing
rnotericls

of con'rosting

Mox Bronsle'n: Com ccsiion. Vorio~s moteriels di:ferer' ·n cho rcc er, but I.;~ified by rh hrric errergemen, 1922

()'~
"-._/ I
'.J

r ,.

-I

'I'

rP,\
~

ell (1'\ )
~ 1"'" ,

~J

\/

,,01

.:
J

<:>
'--Ludwig Hirsch'eld-Mocr: Li e drowing !curved shepes}. Ink. 1922

L Leuoesoori!.Engs

leld:

Ludwig H;rschFelo·Moc~: Line dro ..... g f stroight n li es). Ink. 1922

Drawing showing chcrccteris ic structure 01 wood. 1922

N. Wossiliefi: Compos> tion. Exercise .n c0r:'b, no; tion 0' simolest olos rc ono rn hm'c :or"T1S. 1922

-(-

Johannes l'len: Diagrommarc onolysis o· the Adoration 0: Ihe Magi b)· Ma,ter Franc ke, c, I q 19 From Johonnes Itter s Togebuch PRELIMINARY COURSE, WEIMAR Apri /Moy, 1922 Each Bauhaus student is at lirst admitted lor a trio period 0; ,:~ months 10 work in the preliminary course. This course Is intended to liberate ,he studen 's cractive oower, to give eim on understanding 01 nctera's materials, and a acquaint him wiTh ne basic orincip.es which underly all creative activit in he visual arts. Every new sludent arrives encumbereo with a moss 0: occumu oled inlormotion which he rnus abandon belore he cc n oc hieve perception ana knowledge Ihal ere really his own. 11 he is to work in wood, for exernple, he musl know his material Ihoroughly; he must have a "leeling" 'or wood, He must 0150 ,.mderstond its reloion to other rnoterinls, 10 slone a d gloss and wool. Consequently, he work. with hese motericls as wei, combining and corr-posinq them to make their relationships fully opporen . Preporo ory work also involves exact depicfon of actual moter'ols. II a sludent draws or points a piece of wood rue to no ure in every de oil, i will help him to unders and the 11'10 erial. The work 01 ad mosters, such 0' Bosch, MOSIer Franke or Grunewald also olfers instruction in Ihe study of form. which is an essen!iol port a: the preliminary course. This i-istrucrion is inra nded to enable the stude nl 10 perceive I he harmonious relationship of different rhythms a nd to ex press such !'ormony Ihrough Ihe use of one or several rncterio s. The preliminary course concerns !he student's whole oarsonolity, since it seeks a liberole him, to mo e him s and on his own leet, and makes i possible lor him a go'n a knowledge of both moteriol ond form through di rect experl ence. A student is lentotively admit ed in a a workshop o:ler a 5:X months' trol period if he has suHieiently rnostereo lorm and 1"10 erial. 10 specialize in work wi'h one material only. [l he has a tolen' ior wood, he goes lnto the carpentry shop: if his preference is for wo"en rnaleriols, he goes inlo the weaving wcrkshop. At the eonelusion of a second success lui 'riol period of ,i. ,,"onths he is definitely cdmittsc 10 the wotlshop as on cporentice. Three years as a oopren ice maic.e hi", eligible for examinations to become a [eu-nevmc . As a -ncr er 01 principle, each opere-nice nos to do his own design'ng_ No outside designs, not even designs mode by Bauhaus masters. may be e.ecJled in he wor shoes. Urom Bibl. no. oj

36

Erne I ·emeler.
, io ae onclvsis

Light and
al an

Ann"nciotion.

1921

Johannes It en: Sluoy of hand positions while drowing the figure eig~'. 1919. From Johanne. 11'~"'s Toqeboc«

Johannes It en: Georre'ric ana ys's of the Aoorafon of the Magi, by Moster Frone e I HO'TIb rg, KLn,lho Ie). c. 1919. From Johannes Iiten', Tagebuch

KlEE'S COURSE

Thea va Doesburg and C. von Easterlin: House lor on crtist, 1923 ·THEO VAN DOESBURG: Attracted oy tke endeavours 01 the Bouhou., Theo von Deesburq ono severo otner or ists not belonging 10 I~e Bounous orgonized a section 0: he "Stij" mover-ient " in Weimar in 1922. Deesburg's precccupction with problems of pure lorrr was nol in harmony with he Bounaus ideal or educating the indivioJa' in the in erests 0' he whole co-nmunitv, nor with is emphcsis on technical Iroining. His irr'luence on a grouo 01 the students gradually waned. though there is liHle doubt thai his vis: 10 Weimar he ped to clarify the problerr 01 creative design.
- The 'Sli'l" g'oup 10'0' lcrmeo 01 Leyae, in 19 7 a,d include<! in odcl'tion 10 Doesblirg, ,I'll! Doinler Piet Monar~on ~'e erchireet J. J. P. Quo one mony others. The "Sri]!' ar'it.~s devetoaed c s·y e in """"Iic.h the principle lorrn was the rec~o~gle.. t~e
principle eeters pure red, clue

and

vellow

ood

princi pie

ccmpcsificnol device a co,eful'v be anced o.ymme.ry. The QQuhous puoli"'"o booh bv all the leodirg "Sr"[l" designers (B'b. "00_ 20 21 and 2S _ Fer on Occe.n' c· Ine S';jl, see Cubism and Ab./,ad Arl, he M.seum of Modern Arl. 1'136 np, 140-t52.

38

Po,,1 Klee: Line 0 d plone: three stages. A Ie , the octive line (oroduced by o moving point); 01 right. Ine active plene I pre-

duced by 0 moving line); in Ihe middle. intermediate or ronsitionol territory with linear forms giving the elfect of pia nes

Paul lee: Active. intermediate end ocssive icetors: tne wotermill. (I) T e conllict of the t'...,o Iorces, (0) grovity and (b) he resis ing rncun ain Ibot

octive foe crs], is expressed by (II) t e diogonol wolerfall (in ermediate loctor) which turns (III) he mill [passive foe or)

39

K. Schwerotleger: space. 1921

StJdy in

E. Mogeli : Cueic compcsition. Exercise in observeion 01 so ie-dynomic ra a ions. 1922

lee: Ac ive intermeoiote ond passive factors: (I) he wot8r:oll (active); (II) I e mil wheels (in ermea ia'e); (III) the :rip hommer (possive)

Peul lee: Earth. water and oir. Symbols 01 ths province of statics ore he plummet, which points toword the center of he eorr 0 cd the 00 once

KANDINSKY'S COURSE

COLOR EXPERIMENTS
l"d,.ig
0:

H'"c~ ~Io-I.·od:

:"oef"'men-5

i" the 0 cni··es blod ond ....hi·". V,'h',e '5 oggres've. oovonci"9 centrilugol o"d dy~om·:· o 0 ck is cossive: re~eo irg.
01"10

centricero

sto·j-:;

I
-t..
/

/
/

40

M. Rosch:
norure.

Study

,rom

Construcriono

ono vsis. 1922

L~d.... H'rschi"iO-I.',od: ig
't'es of blod ono wni'e v.. +en rr ixed '" 'tft co ors. Co or; mi~eo ""j'h bloc to receOe' colo" rri~ed w ·T~ '~' te tee a '0 00/0 nee r'
E'oe';rref'TI
OJO

__ohig

Hi"d'relo,
"n the c

.... d: o
C ·..'es

'n +e

Exre:r"rren"s

",,:I

L Kerko\'ius: 5t d I :rom noture. linear o"olysis. 1922

0: b cd- and "r-t~, 5im: 'lor ,~cpes if' ·On!!. shoo'ng iro'T' cod to,.n' e c opacr '0 ~e oo',.ocnc."rg 0" recec"ng occor::l"ng c 'he order i~ .... ,icn they ore ';!JOe r ir-t ccsed

CARPENTRY WORKSHOP

THE ROLE OF HANDICRAFTS

AT THE BAUHAUS

Grop'us we, subjected 10 numerous otloch, even irom hose whe took e friendly in erest in his wor , on the " g(ouno thet his insistence on the value of 'reining in a .crolt was e nee nrani,lic. They denied that ino u,try hod any use 'or hondicrofls. But Grcoius stud to his gJns. He sew mot there were no e eugh -nen Iroined as era'tsmen a supoly induS'ry wi h lne specialized wcr ers it needed and tho industry wcs herelor .. trying 10 give crolt instruction in its own wer shops. He concluded Irem his Hlot Ihe hendicroit 1001 and e 'ndll'riol r-iocnine dilfered in scale bu a in ~ind and Ihol even the most relined machine could be operoled proouclively only by 0 man whose unaers onoing 01 irs development derived 'rom is own Ihorough cnotvsis 01 the relntion between 001 and ma erio Hance he consid· ered 'nstruction in crohs el ne Beuhol!' a rneo ns 01 ochieving tnol unde-s a~ding and estebtished sirnulto eous schooling 01 hono end mind as the basic pedagogic principle 01 ell Ba",haus ·roining.

-<----;
Marcel Breuer: Polished block table. 1921

-<----f
E. Diedmann: Sed. 1922 Mare;el Breuer: obi e, 1923 Dressing

42

FUNDAMENTAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE BAUHAUS "lid OTHER CONTEMPORARY ART SCHOOLS The discrepancy 01 form 'n Bauhaus produc s 01 the lirs' iew yeors was 01 en misin erpreled by the pres. and even by Iriends oi Ihe Bauhaus who lailed to recognize in this variety a logical result 01 the director's edu(afonol pion. In conlrost 10 other conlem'pcrary ert IC heels whose I ud e "Is were Iroi ned 10 learn from ekisling forms produced by artists 01 lorrner periods or by their own teachers, the Bauhaus emphasized ine method of creative approach. It st ove provide On ob;ec:tive education in design in which he institution as 0 whole perlicioc ed. Each individual, accordingly, rod a lind, even il ind'reclly, his own woy toword he common aim. His iniliotive end erebccie delou's were no a be oostruc 'ed by 0 J hori otive outside eressura: no seeming harmony i style was 10 be ochieved premoturely by the odao ion 01 reody-mode forms. These pedegogic melhods insured a slow orgon'c ceveloorr an and breught abou 1 ~e genu' ne Jnily 01 'or""1"l w hie ~ 01 Sou hous p'ao ue's one ined in lerer years. Alma Buscher. Toys, Brigh Iy lae;'luered wood. 1923

'0

-<----t
Morcel 1922 Breuer: Chcr,

Jesel A oars: Shelves lor mogazires. light and dar. ook. 1923

-Josei Albers: Conletence toble. Light o,d do·, ook. 1923

Moreel Breuer: Bed. lemonwood ond wolnut. 1923

44

Moreel BreCler: Choir. Fobric seot ond bod res'.

19"24

Wo ier Grooius: V/ei",or Bouho us. Diree tor. '00""'. 1923

H. Nossell; Ch"" !able. Red beechwood. portly sloi ed bloc. 1925

J. Hor wig: Cess

1924

se.

Pc.,n and Costte move on lines porollel to he edges of Ine board: expressed by the cube.

Knight

moves on a right ongle: righ ong e surmoun ing square. Bi.hop moves diagonally: cube wi h cross cu from op diagonal.

moves 0 e square .traight or diogo oily: ''''011 cube set diagonally on a larger cube.

King

.~.

Quee,~. the most cctlve piece. moves any number of space. stroight or diog. onolly: cylinder and boll, ln sharp can rosl 10 he cube, sy",bol of weighl and moss, which che roc erizes ~e King, Castle and Pow»,

J, Horl",'g:
1924

Chess se',

•
Morcel Breve: Kitchen cabinet. Wood locqvered in color. 1923 Alma Buscher: Nursery co-nrncda. Brigh-Iy locque ed ..... cod. 1924

AlMa Buscher: Ploy cu pboord in use. Sioroge cobine's can 0150 be used as lobles. c hair. a nd co'',

STAINED GLASS WORKSHOP

Morcel Breuer: Desk boded with boo shelves. Plywood locquered in two colors. 1924 S oined gloss workshop,
1923

49

.... orcel

Breuer: Snowcose.

Josef Albers: Sal'ned

glo ss in the stair well. Sommerfeld 1922 house 'n

Gloss ond wood lecouerec "n block a d white. 1925

Berlin, by Gropius,

/·/.crc.e Breuer~ Wooden seol ond bod res·. 102(,

cner , Fccr.c

POTTERY WORKSHOP
In Dornburg neor We'",or
0 tredtiono cO"ery cen er

0,

l.'nolc:

P cs er model

01

0 c:olf~e pot designeo

50

for moss prodJction

0, Lindig:

Eorthsnwere

iug, Decorated by Gerhard Morcb, 1922 0, Lindig: Woter pitcher

Pol'ery .... rkshop, e Oornburg,

OORNBURG,
town

Ro ncntlc

on Ine river SO" Ie, One c· Goethe s :ovorire

retree-s.

Left T. Bog er: Connislers. Ccccc set. Porcelen oe.igned ler Mon production, Executed by the Al'asle Volk-tcdter Porzel.en'obrik. 1923

RigM O. Undig:

O. Lind·g: Glozed eorthenwore cocoo po'. 1922

T. Bogler: Earthenware ilchen containers designed lor moss preduct" on. b:ecuted by the Steingutlabr ik. VeltenVordomm. 1923 O. Lindig, Eerthen· .... ore coliee pots designed for rross produc ion.

52

-<1= O. Lindig: Left

Cup. Cost. Right Morgorete Fried'onoer, Mugs.T urned. BoHom T. Bogler: Teopot. Cost, 1923

O. Li~dig Col-ee set. 1922

T. Bogler: CoHee mochine designed lor moss preduc'ion. E.ecJled by the Stcotliche Porte llcnrnc nuio 'ur, Berlin. 1923

METAL WORKSHOP

M. Kraie .. ,ki: S'Iver-brcr ae eo-glo .. holders w] h ebony ~ondl es. 1924

J. Pop: Steel and nideled

brass /loor lamp. 1923

J. Pop: Woler pitcher.

Copper, 19"22
ororne and brass.

54

K. Jucker: Bross samovar lined with silver. c. 1922

J. Knau: Samovor wi h
spirit lamp and small pot for teo essence. Silverbronze wilh silver lining and ebony handles. 1'124

Noum Slutzky: Pendant. Silver, wooa, ivory and quartz. 1'123 Naum Sluh.ky: Ring with selling designea to permit c ho "ge 01 stones. Component ports and the whole. 1924

Morianne Brandl:. Metal teapot. 1924

Morienne Brendl: Colieeeno teo pots designed for moss oroduction. 192b

Wolter Gropius: Lighting lixlure 01 tubular bu lb s. Wired tnrough thin

aluminum uoes. 1923

Meto

workshoo,

Wei"",o'_

• JLC

er o-id

56

W. Wogenield: Gloss omp. Shede or mil~y gloss. W'red throlJgh 0 silverbronze tube with in the gloss >ube. 1923 -1924
-)--

orionne

Brondt:
leo se 1924

Silver-bronze

with

ebo y hondles.

O. R'l'weger and W. Ti:mpe : Silver-bronze teo bol s ond ste nd. 1924

Josef Alber<: Gloss berr\, Dishes wilh metoli rims cno ..ood en be I leet. 1923

WEAVING WORKSHOP
G n'ro Shoron-Stoln: Woven cover, Gray cod whi e. Wool ond rayon.
\923

Ruth

Holies:

Woven

cover.

Repeo ted paUer n odacled tor ...,atl,;ne mod ucr'o n deriveo from handwoven
cover
0'

r i91,1

58

59

Guntho

Shcron-Stohl:

Wall hanging_ c, 1924

'~l

B. 01 e: Wall hanging. Ye low, gray, brown, violet,

white. Cotten. \924

R uth Citroen-

Vo lIent' n :

Applique ond embroiaered honging lor child's room. 1923

.'

Gunlna

Shcron-S

olll:

Topest rv, 1927

60

61

G. Ho ntschk:
S".,yrno woo _

Knotted

In"

reg.

Martha Erps: SMyrna wool

notted rug.

STAGE WORKSHOP

.'

K~. Schmidl: Sloge se lcr The Mecitooicol Bollel. 1'123 Oskor Schlemmer: F'g"r .. 'ro rr- The Trioaic Ballet

Os~or Schlerr ner ; Tlte Figurol Cabinet. Secon(l

Ve,.io~. PnOTomonloge.

1922

62

Osker Sch emmer:

CosTume designs lor The Triadic Bollef. 1922 Os: or Sch emmer: Design lor 0 scene 01 Melo, or Ihe Pantomime of PIOCe5. Firs' produced in We'mor, 1924

T. Herg':

;01; deiign' ... acution. Morioneltes :or The Adventure. of La.,'e Hunchback

Kurt Se hrr

In ..

Jr1 Scnmidt with F. W. Bog '" and Georg Teltsc her: FigtJres 'or The Mechanical Bol/el. F'r51 produced in Jeno. 1923

Oskor Sc"I",,.,,,,,,,,r: Di.k eoncers "0"" [he Triadic Bolle. PhotO'TlOrloge Oskor Schlemmer: The Triadic Ballet ( Dos Triodisc e Bolie 1"'), begun 01 Stut go rt in 1912. Bollel in three acts: a climactic development; donce scenes, the meoning of which is inlensi:ied as iest becomes earnest The lirst oct, goy a nd burlesque, is do nced ago i nSI lemon-yellow stage 5£1'5. The second oct is a restive ri uol on a pid stoge. The! ird oct on on 0:1 bloc stage has a my;terious. :ortoltic cncrocter. Tne -welve di;lerent oonce scenes in eighteen d,Herent costumes are exacu ed by three dancers in 'urn, two mole and one femole. The costumes consist 0' podded tigh s on one sioe and. on the 0 her, rigid pc pier-mocha forms, w'lh colored or me ollie surjcces, [Irom Bib!, No. 19)

as

or Schlemmer: Delinection of space by humc-i ["gures. Theorelico drow·ngs. 1924y

>;.

A elonaer Scnow'ns~y: Top doncer and lop oancing robot. 1925

64

65

Oskcr Schlemmer:
Farkas Maino,: in cction U-Tneoler Co,st~ "'es for t he Ih ree octs of The T'iodic 8011£11

. Scnwerdrfeger: efleded lig~1 compos'!"on

THE REFLECTED LIGHT HIRSCHFELD-MACK Analogous 10 he obstroc' films of Egge"ng, Rich er ana Rutlmann were me reflected light cemoosilions (Reflel:tori.che lichtspieIe) of Ludwig HirschfeldMod. He 1;,.1 produced lhese 0 the Weimor Bauhaus in 1922 and 10 er 01 the People's Theater (Volksbuhne) in Berlin. He oescribed hi, innovation os follows in he Ber/iner Bersenkurier 01 A~g;JS 2'\, 1'124: "Ye low. red. green, blue. in glowing intensity, rneva about on the dar boegrO\l nd of c tronsporent linen screen - uo, down. sideways-in vorying tempi. They opoeor now cs angular lorms - triangle s,

COMPOSITIONS

OF

Oskcr Schlemmer:
in space

FigJres lor The Tr'cdie Bo/let. Photomontage

sqLores. polygon. - and again in curved [ormsc i rc les, orcs ond wova-l ike ootterns. They join. and over opoings and coloro endings result. "A' tne Bo uhcus in We:mar we war ed 'or two yeors on the development 0: these re;lec'sd light compositions. which hod begun cs a chance discovery during a <"'pie shcdowpay entertainment ... "After much e~per;menl. control woo successfully oc h'eved over w hot hod originally been occidental and by ths fme it was ready lor public disoloy. the process hod been matured technico Iy end oristicolly ... "

66

Osler Schlemmer:
Figural Cabinet. version

The Later

Schowinsky and Fritsch: Scene irorn The Circus. Firsl oroduced 01 the BouhoJ"ln4

'1.1 j
Ludwig Hi"chfeld-Mad: Color sor-ct' no in red

Ludwig Hirschfeld· Iv oc : Cen er ond bollom R"flected ;9h' composi ions

WALL-PAINTING WORKSHOP
The following in eriors were exacu eo in color oy the wall-painting workshop: Theoler in Jana. 1922 (building by Gropiusl Somma r!e.d House. Berlin. 1922 I but Idi ng by Gropius 1 Otle House. Berlin, 1922 I buildi n9 by Gropi us 1 Room 01 'ne a-jury chibition in Berlin, 1922, from design. by Kandinsky House 'Am Horn," Weimar. 1923 (building by Muche wi,h collaboration of tne Bauhaus Architec ure Deportment) MOMY privc e residences

Oskor Sch err mer., Murcl in Irasca and oils in the entrance holl. Weimor BauhoJs_ 1921-1922

68

Os or Schlemmer: Murals and relief in the entrance hall, Wei"'ar Bauhaus. 1921-1922

Oskor Schlemmer; Mural at the nead of Ihe stair we Weimar Bouhcus. 1921·1922

-oe:Questionnaire given to 011 Sauhau. members 10 investigate psychological relofionship belween ior-n .ond color. Herbert Bo er: Sgreliilo Right woll: R. Paris: Colcimine used in voricu • ways
Left wal]:

Specie lily (Prolession): Set NOlionolity ..

. For experimentol purposes the woll-poinling workshop 01 Ihe Weimar Bouhous asks you 10 do the following problems: I. Fill in Ihese ) forms w'ln 3 colors: yellow, red and blue. Each form should be completely filled by one color. 2. II possible. explcin your dis!ri ution 0; colors. Explonetion:

10

W. Menze,: Fresco in Ihe woll-oo'nl;ng wer shop. Wei".,or

Osker Sc hle-nmar: Reliel in Ihe entrance he II. We'mor !lounous. 1921-1922

Herbert Boyer: Design for murals in Ihe sloir well, Weimar Bauhaus. Various techniques. First 1Ioor: composition in dor~ blue; circle. Second llccr: ccrr pos;lion in brig hI red: squc reo Third floor: comoosi ion in lignt yellow· lriongl e. Ao· plication of exoeriments: ir Ih... relotions:nip be~eer colors ond 'or.." s. 1923

Herbert Boyer: M ural in he s:toir Nell. ground f oor. Wei or Bouhcus, 1923

.'

DISPLAY DESIGN A 1nough here wos no speciiic wor shop for eXhibition technique. new ie ees were developed and 'urldomen a prnc'ple, eutlineo

12

Herber Bo ter: Proiect 'or small e.h·oilion POVI ion ot on ind~striol fair. Toothpaste lor so e inside and advert'sed Outside by ll) c lilm (projected Irom wi!,,i ). (2) e ectric sign. (3) loud soe c ker , ('I) le!'ers larmed by sma e. 1924

Herbert Boyer: ;ask d esignee jar Ihe sa Ie 0 d odvertisernent of newspc pers. Small bose supporting loll engule, suoerstructere w' h many diHeren colored Oleo, lor posters. 1924

Herbert Boyer:Open strae cor waiting room wi~h news sand. Colored odvertlsements lor various products on the roo'. S'mple construct'on adopted 10 moss prod.rction. 1924

Exnibition tower odvertising eleelrcol orad ucls, Let... r in e' ec'ric bu lbs revo ve ccout the shalt. 1'124

Herbert

Beyer:

Herber Boyer: Exnibi ion eovi ion. Revalv' ng spnere ceve-ed wi' e eel' c bulbs. 1924

Herbert Boyer: K'os aesigned for the sole ana edvar+isemenl 01 a bro~d of cigarettes. 1924

ARCHITECTURE
W. Grcoius.: Sammerle a House, Berlin, 1921. For he firs' time BeJhe". wor sshops ectuelly collaborated in decororlnq and 'ur· ni.h·ng the roorr s.

"

Wolter Gropius arid Adolf Meyer: Model 01 proposed ocademy or philosophy. 1913

WIll

.I C

WO"er Grapius and Adoll Meyer: Model ior e house 1921

~
II:

0 >

14
THE ARCHITECTURE

Architecture department: Standordized serial houses. Drawing shows the various units or which he houses are compa,ed according 10 he needs of the inhobitan s. 1921

• ~
c
% II:

..
". .
II:

Fred Forba : Atalier,nOJs. and typico near pie Three studios and adjacent bedrooms, kilchenet e and lavatory. 1922 ..;S.
-:.j,

OEPARTMENT

I hod been Gropius' inten ion to reinlorce the courses i orchi eclure with a brood program of practical wor , but he wcs hindered in this by lac of understanding on the por of the authorities and by the eHects of iniloion. He roised money privately 10 build the house "Am Horn" for the 1923 exhibitio , hooi g thot i would mark he beginning of on ex ensive housing development. The Th~rin9ian government leosed the lond surrounding the house "Am Horn" to the Bauhous ond on eloooro!e building scheme lor additional houses was drown up but the lu nds ior t heir construction were never lorl~coming. * The correspondence between the Bou hous administration ond the various political regimes reveals both the bureoucrotic indolence and the tragic linenciol impotence which prostrated Ihe coun~ry at Ihe time. Nevertheless, in order to assure the workshops scrne rnecsure 01 prccticol build'og expe ie ce, Gropius employed them on his private orchi ee ural cornrrussroos, including the cons ruction 01 the heo er in Jano and the Sommerle!d residence in Berlin. • In crder
fIIDlhing bu

to use the lond I e director could,

turn

it oyer 1he students. to be cultivo~ed in their .pore lime a. " service to Ihe Bouno., community. gord.n produce wo' sold in the 8cuhous cont •• n, \II~en the -progr.e,u"ve cotoalrcphe of infia'ion menaced this cc.1i'Yi'Y Gropi IJS sold an historic Forni y heir oom-a si ver table service

'0

therelore, do

'The Eleuhou, .eHlemen' wes also born [rcrn necessity. A 'lege able ana frui' form, leased lrom he S ate, was worked oy the Beuha,"" and mooe the kitchen indepenoent of price Fluctuations in the morkels. A plan was being evolved for single houses ond apartments for Bauhaus mem bers in a beautiful section of Weimar. adjoining tne form. ne construction at these community buildings W05 to be directed by the Bauhaus and to orovids contracts for the worksho os. Inquir ies concerning the Bauhaus settlement were answered by the 'Bouhaussiedlung G. m. b. H.: S oatliehes Bouhaus, Weimar." IFro,"" Bibl. no. 4FI

n.
Architecture dBoortn"ent: General view of the Bauhous com"lluni'y planned lor Weimar, Thehou,e"AmHorn," 1923 !lower left), was the onl building comoleted. Drawing by F. Moln6r.

o~d linen which hod belonged to Nopoleon.

Archi aefure deportment: Below models showing variations of houses comoosed 01 standardised units' above plans. 1921

For os Molnor: Pro' ec lor o house. "Tne Red Cube."

Farkas Moine,; Projec for a wood freme house. 1922

1922

For' os Molner: Pions lor "The Red C~oe," Lelt: lirst llocr. Riaht: second 1I00r. 1922 -

./~

"

. ....
"

Welter Gropius one Adoll Meyer: Entrance (olioda a remodeleo municicc thee er Jeno, 1922

'"

..........
'

...... ~ .

. ....

For~os Mainor: a U-theeter

Project lor

Welter Gropius: Design lor o stucv, Drawing by

Wa rer Gropius end AdaIr Meyer: Proiect submit'ad to the Chicago Tribuna Cernpetirlon. Re'nforced
concra-e.

Herbert

Beyer, 1922

1922

TYPOGRAPHY AND LAYOUT

Albums of Ii hogrophs ' Frovings [Bibl, nos. 1.' ;;\~o:c~ 5 ;nd copperplo e enn a workshop equipped with' h' ,5, 7) were printed were bound in he well . on.d presse s. The olbums equipped Bouhous bi d ery.

LyoneJ Feininger: Tille poge. EurOpOi5c~e Grapnik. Woodcut. 1911

19

'F''0" ,R _=~=..::M:...!..!E~N!.::!·•",eoenbiae"""""""uat ••••••• -.;.

.. L L ••

..

1111111

: Project

lor

cn.opCrlmeol house. Rel,!orced concrete. 1924

Morcel Breuer: Mode proposed cpor+nan] house. 1924

01

Johannes IIten' Typo. .' grophlcol design . Poge ! rom Utopia. 1921

AUHAUS t-lt: .fJfC1919 :11923 ..

~
...

TYPOGRAPHY AS A. MEANS OF COMMUNICATION. byMOHOU~N A.GY

It must be cleor communication in its most vivid form, Clarity must be especially stressed for clarity is the essence of modern printing in contrasl 10 ancient picture writing" Therefore, first of aU: absolute clarify in aU typographical work, Communication ought not to lobar under preconceived esthetic notions. leiters should never be squeezed into an arbitrary shope-like a square. A new typographic language must be ereated, combiningelosticity, variety and a fresh approach to the materials of printing, a, Ionguo'ge whose logic depends on the oppropriale application of the processes of prinling,
[Irom Bibl, no,

L. Moholy-N09Y: -itle pc g". Peo, o~c;c, ad verti ,in 9 Sloat Jiche. Bauhaus in We;",,,r 1919-/923

STAATLICHES AUHAUS
"

mJill

1919 ;1923
D::

,z

::
w
Specie]
0'

" ,: ;;

. -·~ ~ .
' c

L Moho y.Nogy: Die pO'ge. Sioo/liehel Bauhaus in Weimar 1919./923

BI

: Tirle ooge, Bo u no us ;" ""ber Junge Me"cnen, 1924

80

81

THE BAUHAUS PRESS

On the occosion ol Ihe 1923 exhioition, the iirst BoClhou. publicotion was issued by the newly founded BOClhous Peess [Bounousvar og), Weimor-Mun·ch [lcrer A'bert Longen Verlag, Munich), in collobororion w'tn Karl Nierendori, Cologne. The book. S TAA iLl CHES 'BAU. HAUS IN WEIMAR 1919.1923, edoled oy Gropius ono Moholy.Nogy, is chiefly 0 record of Bo.rhcus activities duro ng 'he lirsl three yeors.

THE 14 VOLUMES OF JH.E BAUHAUSPR:ESS

_. > The lu,l hero im 011he Bo uncus Press wos 10 lid i- 0 series 01 becks os evidence at Inll 'otegro,t;on oi c~ll"ro oroo ern. These Be u nous booes ore isted in 'n e tl ibliog.cphy.

Herbert Boyer: Cover design, Firsl Bauhaus book, 1923

L Moholy.Nogy: Page loyout. SlooJlicnes Bauhaus in Weimar 1919-1923

WEIMAR EXHIBITION, 1923

In I 23 "T h~ri~gion Leg' slotiva Assemb y ILondtog) asked for 0 Bo~hous ... hibi io -which would serve os o repor: on ""hot had been occomplished in iour yeo .. , [This wos conlrory 10 the in'antions ol rne O;,,,dor, who , wou d have oreferred to postpone 0 pu,,,';c disploy until rrore morure resu 's hod been oblcined.] Every depot" rre'! I\"mmed w'lh oc i"ity in oroer 'hot Ihe exhibition mighr ce " tncrouqh presentation of he ideo, which onimoted lne Bouhcus. Grooius stoled , e heme' "ART AND TECHNICS, A NEW UNITY," Tne e.hibition inc Jded,

EXHIBITIONS

IN THE MAIN

BAUHAUS

BUILDING,

oesig s, murals, relief. in voroJS vestibules, sro'rcases o"d rOO'05: 'nterncrionol e~h'b'lion of moderr orchilec'ure, h I"e workshoos, i the clossrccrns: useum
0

product

a'

he wc-r snops,
pre-

theoretical siudies'lhe imi,ory course, Bouho~5 oo'n'ing scu " ere, and

in the S a e Weimar:

on II-e ground of Ihe Bouno~s sartlernern' (SiealungJ: "BAUHAUS

ecturas:

one-Iorrily house "Am Horn," b~ilt o"d iurnished by the BOL.onous ork.shops, w PROGRAM: Woller Gropius "Ar' ana Technics, a New Unity Wossily Konoin.~y Synlhe'ic Art" "O~

WEEK"

J, J. P. Ouo." ew Bu'ld'ng in Ho ono" Oskor Sch ernrr er, "Des - r' 00 isc ne BolIe'l he eloss mechanical C,
concerts Scherchen

'I

s ogecrolt, Ifoudev'Ue
'T1S

och, lecture with ii

83

cond uctac by H.

Progrem: HinoeMi,h Busoni. Krene , Srrcvins~y

1 Mas 01 T e composers were presen' 0 t ne concer-s.]

poper Ion ern le.l'vol, lireoonee wi h m~.ie by BaJhoJs [orr-bond. rei ecfed 'gol composilions
works,

/'

Entronce to Ihe 1923 Exhibition, Poster by Heroe" Boyer

Oskor Schlemmer: Cover design fer prospectus 01 Ihe 1923 Exhibi ion

ERSTE BAUHAUSAUSSTELLUNG IN WEIMAR 1923

Ff een 'ho~50nd
"n Weimor, 1923,

persons visi'ed

he Bouhn u exhibitior

i
Postea rds printed 1923 Exhibition lor
Ihe

George Teuscher LJdwig Hirsch:eld-Moc Herbert Boyer Herbert acyer Farkas Molner Lyonel Feininger Paul Klee Wa"i y Kondin,ky

bperimerto builoing house "Am Hcr-, ' Weimar. 1923

l~e

The house "Am Horn Weimar. Floor pan

84

EXPERIMENTAL BUILDING "AM HORN" It is hord 10 recl'ze lodoy to what impassioned pronouncement. the H,,! experimento IBou hous buildi "g, tne house "Am Horn," inspired its critics. Their opinions reHeded h.. conllict between their prejudiced conception of 0 ho me and Ihe eHect prod uced by a new type of house conceived in new terms. me Bauhaus had attempted 10 crystallize the s ill un. Formulated desires 0: 0 new mon-the post-wor German -who hod not yel realized whol he needed. This man hod 10 cons rue 0 new way 01 life Irom Ihe debris 01 a wreded world-o way 01 life utterly dilierent from tnol 01 pre-war limes. He hod to recreole Ihe world around him with limited means in a limited space: a losk pre. ceded 01 necessity by psychological reodjuslmen s. Conservative critlcs mode much of Ihe lomous Weimar "Goelhehaus" as on orgumenl ogoin51 Ihe oppropri. oteness 01 the "Hous am Horn." But Ihey were unexpec.ledly counlered by a young unorejudisted Canadian, Miss G. Wookey, 01 the University 01 Toronto, who observed thot Goe he's garden house in the Weimar pork was the only building in Weimar thot possessed a certoi ~ conge nia I relotionshi p to the Bouhnus.

Herbert Boyer: Poster lor 1923 exh:bition

85

WEIMAR, 1924 The 105 leipzig Fair was a distinct SUCCess. All Bauhous workshops were busy for five months filling orders. At this time more than fat)' firms were buying i)ouhou5 produc s a such on extent tho he scarcity or machinery and copi 01 ode i impossible 0 fill 011 orders. Orders were received from obrood, from Austria, England, Hollond, America. Five hundred and twenty-si. s udents were trained in the Bauhaus between October, 1919, ona April, 1924. A large number 0 0 hers 001: only he oreliminory course. In 1923, in order to moin oin Ih" highest oossible 5 and. ord, forty·.even of these students were not odm 'tted to he odyo nced courses.

The house "Am Horn," Weimar. LeH Corner 01 bedroom. Righi Ki·cnen

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
The Bauhous bond storIed wilh ne musical ·mproviso. lions 01 a gro~o 01 poinlers and sculp ors on rips around Weimar. Accordlon-rnuslc and he pounding 01 chairs, Ihe rhythmic srncc ing 01 0 loble ond revolver shots in lime wilh Irog'ments of Gerrnen, Slavic. Jewish and Hungarian fol songs would swing the com pony into 0 donce. This donee music soon become know~ all over Germany and wes played 01 or ists' festivals everywhere; but since il could never be successfully rons/erred to poper. il remained goily impromptu. even later when he ir>. rumen otian wos exponded 10 include twa pianos. !wo saxophones, clorinet, trumpet, trombone bonia" traps. ate,

The" ite-Ies ivai" was a big yearly even. Every outumn a troop 01 Bauhaus studer s we t out into the lie Ids to :Iy the amazing ites which they hao bui I. In the summer. therll were parades 01 night through thll peaceful ~treets oi Weimar with pa'per la~ ems 01 thll students' own invention.

Postcards desig ned lor kite-Iestivo Is and lantern poroaes by lee Mo n6r. lee, Hirschield - Moe , Feininger. 1923

IffifHT

Ludwig

Hirschfeld-Moe

S Oonce

Peter Rahl: design program. 1921

for

BAUHAUS

EVENINGS

86

Archi ecrs, scholars and pointers who were in sympo'hy wilh the iaeols 01 Ihe Beuhcus generously canlr;auled their services far BOlJha~$ evenings." Among them wllre Such celebrities as the erch.iec 5 Oud, Serloge and Poelzig; the pianist Rudoli Serki nit he violin i,l Adolf Busch; Ihe composer Bela Bartok; l-e cancer Polucca; tne writer Thecder Doubler; Professor Freundlich 01 Ihe Einslein Insti u e; the physio-chemist Wilhelm Ostwald; and Ihe biologist Hans Driesch. Thus tne Bauhaus strove to keep:n ouch wi h the besl and newes in other fielos of science ond or. The lectures, concerts and dance recitals oroug" loge ner no only those ac uolly connec ed wilh Ihe Bauhaus bu also the townspeop.e interested in he school. III this way they served as a link between Ine Bou ous and Ihe eornrnunitv.
0<

THE FRIENDS OF THE BAUHAUS The cssociction nown cs "The Friends 01 Ihe Bounous proved of 'nvoluoble more: and linonciol help during he s'o''''y years of development. lis council waS composeo oll"e :ollo.,.:ng: H. P. Berlage, The Hogue Peler Behrens. Berl'n Adolf BU5Ch,Berlin Marc Chogoll. Pcris Hans Drieseh, Leipzig Alberl Einstein, Berlin Harber! Eulen berg. Koiserswerth Edwin Fischer, Berlin Gerhart Hauptmann. Agne endarl Josef Hollmann. Vienno Oskar Koka5Chko. Vienna Hans Poeh.ig, PotscorArnold Schonberg. Vienna Adolf Sommerfeld, Be' in Josef SIf'lygow.ki. Vi.. nrc Franz Werlel, Vie~no

-- - ':;::.. ? -.:-~'.~~~

... - ~- .....
.."

:_

.....

EVERY MAN A MILLIONAIRE

,:

Et

.E MILLION

MARK

The rapid oevoluo ion of the German mark during he inllction year< led to incredible 9(0 esquens ss in dc'ly life.:- th~ heigh of the economic crisis in 1923. money received In he morning hod to be disposed of before evening oi Ihe some day ier by Ihat ime il was likely to be valueless. When the BOJ aus &hibilion a' 1923 ooened, a m" lion marks in paper money equaled in volue one mark lorly-seven pfennigs in gold. Four months later one reckoned in billions; a man paid for his lund in billion mark noles. The one million ",ark note was oesig ned by Heroerl Boyer in 1923 lor the Srcte Bon k 01 nuring-o. Two <lay. loter it was iSSued with he in. st'!l wet.

At/SivER

Tne Bouh<iusier presenled a higfdy curious appearance fa the provincial eyes of he Weimar citizenry, PorI y Ihrough pure 'cotosy, and pori y throug" entnJsiosm for clothes inlenaeo to forecos :uture sty,e', he wonted 10 e. press in dress his entire .noe'oend e nce 01 conve nlionol modes. He wcs so wropped up in the fascinating los of discavering and shooing his own ego and his environ"'enl Tnc he scarcely observed the radical contrast between his own i Tensive existence and Ihe ordi· nary small-lawn liie which surrounded him. Sfli less did ha t,ink of record'ng in word or pho ogroph I e life of those lirsl law colorful and exp osive years at the Weimor Bauhaus. Aosorbed in living, he fauna no ime for the task of observing and recording. Marcel Breuer: Portrait 0: Josef Albers. Etching One ,tuoent did tailoring work. Under Illen s inHuence he mode fantastic Bauhaus clothes: wide trouser, wi h· out creases, narrow a Tha lee, high closed joe eT wi a bell, seer] held by c pin. Alter the lirs romon ic years 'hese clothes were discorded in accordonce wi h Gropius' opinion hot the artist 01 lodoy should wear conventional clothing. Lika so many generations of young Germon., BaJhaus students went sou h to Italy. Mostly on foot, like v090bonds, they earned their livi ng a long the way as craftsmen. rnechonlcs or pointers. The Bauhaus canteen enabled the students 10 eot well lor lil1le mo ney. The poverty of a greot mony Bau hous oporen ices and journeymen maoe tne can een 0 vital necessity. II W05 mode possible by the unseliish aid 01 Bauhaus members and Iriends. Some of he conteen work wcs done by the Bauhaus members hsmselves. Every Saturday a Bauhaus donee was held eitner in Weimar or in one of the any nearby ccun ry inns. The greol enthusiasm 01 he eorly doys in Weimar found on outlet in soontoneous shows and parties lor which lontostic masks a nd costumes were irnprovi sad. l-norovised, loa, were the oosters which oppscred in the Bou hous lobby every week to onnou nc a the dances. For private celebrations, such cs birthdays. a special kind of "gilt design" (Geschen grophik) Wa5 devalopec. Somewhat inl uenced by Dadaism, these unconvenliona and imaginative designs played on imporlan pori :n the develcpman of loy-out and typography.

Top, Oskor

Schlemmer,

1922: baHam, Ale.onder

Schowins y, 1924: lmnroVlseel sketches at Bauhaus dances

Marcel Breuer: Birlhday greerirgs 10 Woller Gropius Herbert Boyer: Poster for Bauhaus dance. 1923

PRELIMINARY COURSE: MOHOL y. NAGY

Owing 0 di!ferences of opinion 05 0 Ine cctuol conduct of the course ITTEN ,eh he Souhous in Ihe spring of 1'12]. About th's time Josef Albers. who hod been .' a stud e "lot the Bo uhous, began to work actively on .'he development of the preliminary course. He too charge of fhe studies in moteriels and conti n ued this war: even w"en Moholy-Nagy was called to the Bou· • IlQUS shortly of erword to direct Ihe preliminary course. Each aug , .ndepenoently and hU5 widened the scope

01 The ·eoching. Because 0; his unusual pedagogic gifts. Albers was formally oHered a posi ion as teacher at the Bouhous of er the ins ilulion hod moved to Desseu. From hen on. he directed the preliminary course during Ihe lirs! term. 'Ie Moholy· Nogy look over Ihe second term. Whe, Gropios and Monoly-Nogy left the Souhou. in 1928. Alber. continued to teach in bOlh prelilTlinory classes until the closing of the Bauhaus in April. 1933.

PRELIMINARY COURSE: ALBERS

wn

Susoended

construe ion.

The war

with materials

in this course was

1923

planned to prepare the first semester students for later craft-studies in the various Bauhaus workshops. The students were intraduced to a simple and elementary. bu appropriate use of the most imporfont croft materials, such as wood. metal, gloss. stone, textiles and paint, end to on understanding of their relationships os well as the differences between them. In this way we tried, without anticipating
Tomo G'ote: Study in balance cased On specific gro/ties of vcricus woods. Rig,t ha; " mode 01 heavy wood to be once projection of left half which is 01 light wcoo , Whole construction rests . n perfeel ba a nee upon a sing e point. 1924

later work-

shop practice. and without workshop equipment. to develop on understanding of the fundamental properties of materials and the principles of construction. To this end we analyzed typical treatments end combinations of materials. and worked them out with our hands. For instance, we visited the workshops 01 box, choir and basketmakers. of corpenters and cabinet-makers. of coopers and cartwrights, in order to learn the different uses of wood, the dillerent characteristics of flat groin and quarter-sowing. split, bent and laminated wood. and to learn the various methods of joining: pegging and screwing. glueing, nailing,

91

We tried to apply our nawledge to the making of useful objects: simple implements. containers, toys and even toy furniture. first of one material alone. later of several combined materials, but. as already indicated. using no maIrmgard Sorenson-Popi~: Suspended construction. Chorlot e Vic oria: S'udy in volume and space. Gloss and calico. 1923

192+

chines and only simple everyday tools. Thus. of first, we studied malerial more or less on a traditional handicraft bosis. Soon. however. we expanded our practical work to allow more inventiveness and imaginoion, as a fundamental training for later specialPoul Reichle: tion. 1924 Construc-

ized design. This development is briefly described in my article on our more developed preliminary course ot Dessou. (page I 16).

OPPOSITION TO THE BAUHAUS

011

1.4',. /,t'fl'/ r/ r",//,'r",",i1;'J

Character of the Bauhaus

The Non·Political

T~raughout its e~istence, Ihe Bauhaus found itself •nvalved in the political convulsions 0' post-war Germany. In Thuringio, the govern"'ent ron he gomut !rom Lei Sociclst to Ihe ' People's Potty," Ihe forerunner 01 the otionol Socialist Pony, The fact the the Bouhous hapoened 10 open during a Socialist regime (the progrom hod been initiated earlier und er the 00 ronoge of he Grand Duke of Soxe-Weimor), caused iT to be a toded by all subsequent governments on Ihe grounds !hot he Socialists hod slorted il. Gropiu, foresaw these dillicul ies, He lound it necessary alan early dote 10 prohibit poriticcl octivity of ony kind in the Bou hous, and iocli Ily ond students he d themselves 01001 Irom participation in the work 01 any political party" AI hough the enemies 01 the school tried in every conceivoble woy a confirm their suspicions (they even went so lor as 10 order house- a-house searches by the ",il;lory au hori ies] they never succeeded in producing any convincing proal. Bul without ils nonpertisnn oHilude, the inslil~tion would cerlo:nly hove come to a premature end"

The shortsiqhted olt"lude 01 the ere] srr-en 5 or gcnizct"ons in Germany wos one 01 he greo es obstacles ne Boynous encountered. Ins'eod 0; recognizing he Bounces cs a natural i~ berween cror· and indJstry, they fo~ghl 't, ond leo reo it es a MW :octor Ii ely 10 occa ero e thO decl'na of 'he erohs w"ich hod resulted from 20th century incus r'o development,

PRESS COMMENTS 1923-1932

The cri'Ic s 01 the Bo"~o~s snowed 0 tendency, oicol of Ihe parled, to narrow do,," n Ihe comprehensive BOJ~oUS p'ogrom "n order to make it liT in ..... one of the many i·h d"f;erent cu 'urol ideologies !nen current, However, he Bcuhous never forced its noturo growth, never chose a coliey pre'T\oturely and preser ed tnereby its moin SOl; ce of srre g h, A chorocteris ic critico estimate coc ecr ed .n Slovbo, the leoding orchitecturol periodicol i1 Czechoslcvc ic. ..... ere, in 1924, Kanl, Teig,9 wrote: ~ "" " . unforlurolely, the Bcuhcus is not consiste , 0, a schoo for crchitecture. as 10ng 05 il is sti I concerneo w"tn the queslio~ 0: opplied or s or 'art' as such" Any ort school, no mo·ter gooo, co, toooy be 0 lyon cncchronisrn ond non,enSe" " " " II Gropius wo nts his scnoc to figh ogoinsl d"le'tonlism in the arts, ii he assumes 'he machine to be ','e modern means of production, i; he odmi s the division of looor, why does he suppose a know:edge of tha croh 0 be essen "01 lor ind"s·riol monJioe ~re? Crcitsrncns ip ana industry hove a :ur.domen a Iy d'Herent opprooch, theorelicolly as well os procticclly. Toooy, the crof 5 ore nothing bul 0 luxury, suopor'ed by ·he bourgeoisie with ·~eir individ"olism o~d snoboery ana the"r purely decorotive point of view" L"ke any olner art school, Ihe Beuhous is inco coble of improving indus rio orcdcction: 01 ,e most it m"ght orovide fleW impulses, 'The crchitac s ot tne Bo"hous propose 0 poi I ural cornpcsi+.cns on tne '''0 S of heir rooms, bu' 0 wall is no' 0 p;c~ur9 and 0 pictoriol composition is no solution of Ihe problem 0: scoce_ " " " Modern orlist:c vitoli y has 01 los: come to deny oainting ond sculoture as such."

ao .. hous bu"ld'ng

wi"1 10 e pace"

Tne ~oro

BOLhou<

hcs ceCO'T1e a ro v"ng-cry ior friend ond foe" To do it

jus'ice .. e ,",us' oon n,," her -he rose-co oreo 9 csses of COU"d'9SS enrhusicsrn nor he bod scsctoctes 0; blind re:u.o 1-10-5ee. II is poss" p e TO stc te q"" te SODer y who' he 5oJhoJ5 's wor'h to Germany ono who! it "'oy be worth 'n rne '"lure. It shou a be \rolued cs t,e I""t end. u"t"l now, virt ro Iy 'ne onl, ins!"tut"on for crecticc expermen! in new moterio s, ne·" methods ono raw forms, 'he only ins!"tution concerned with Ihe inlegrotion 0: 0 e soects 01 contemporory cult.rre. It is IJnderstordoble cno ~u"'on tnol such on exoeriment, in the mOdS!01 presentooy cheos, should rot proceed withou clashes of o oinio . " _ " Bwt '~oi "s ~o! the main I";ng" The Bou ous is 01 net'onc i--noo"+c"'Ice' i co ocerr s ell Germany. Wolter Curl Behrendt" in the De,,'sc.he Allgemeine Zeituog, October 2., 1823, COMm er Iin9 0 nih e exh ibition of 192.3: "Aopren ices 01 rne f!o~ho,s are tough' by two rr esters. o crolts'T1cn O'd on or';S', wor ing in C ose coooero ion. The diff'{;u ties 0: Ihis novel met nod or educotion begin here" The ouollsrr. 0: this s .Iem can ne¥er eoo to tho I In"tl' of art ond -echnics 01 wnic, Grcpivs dreorns. . " " And 0 r'er e ccrelo I scrut' ny of the resu I15 0010" ned in W"".,,or " is to be leored tnat his met~od o· tne Bcul-cus conno ovoid ereoting again Ihe scr-ie oongerous diJeHon:i.,.," ". The problem remo; ns, cs be'ore, how a educo e human oei gs to rr eet the mas JrgeM needs in the fie d of industriol prodUCTion" T " rood chose" by the Bouro"s wi.l no , we be'ieve, eoo 10 Inis goo 1_" " " 'e¥er'he Ie5S, Ihe ex oerim en I oeg .. n here by 0 few courogeous ond stecc lest men rernc ins 0 voluob e one in spite of 011 ,he problems it raises ond it shot, d be 01lowed to cant" nue unoer all circurnsrcnces. Thee von DOBsburg, 1924: ·When I iirs become acquainted with "he oirr-s 01 the BOJMa,'s, I wOs not on y c-nczeo but e"Ihusiosfc. Where else i the wor"d wos ;t oossible to soti,'y the ne" desire lor a sys eMO'"C er! educotion, 0 des're whic ... hoo begun to ossert iTse ! in 0 countr" es in ne 'ieldS of ort, .cience o~d technics? Where e se bu· nere in Wei".,or was a generot"on struggli,g for selr-e<pression ollered the pos· sibil'ty 01 develop" ng i!s creo live powers? Neither in Fro nce, nor Eng 10nd nor 0 n yw h ere else wo, t here on "n. itu ion w~er" the studen s themselves ere encouraged :0 create in'leOd of being o"g"t merely to repeot hot w "ch hod olreody been creoted" " " He Bounou, is open 0 cr"ticism in mony re,oec'S; 05 0 whole it sho I not and mest not be otToded" I,soired oy '~e BOJ~aus Exhibition a' 1923 Dr" Horkort, t e croorietor O"d monoger or a ceromics pont 01 Vel. !en, near Be,i"n, "'fO·9 in the periodicol Die Kochel- 6Top/erkunst (The orIs of tile and pottery):
'Spedal lee'".r at Da~''''cu'i Co ~., 19J4" no"" Technicol Drrec:rcr of Re:seorcn Station Su'folo Cr·), Planning Auoc.iation
,;,.

"'0 .....

92

Nt

//,'"

/,r",/ r/ r/;;;',;',;;
Manager (Syndikus) of

From

newspaper:

From 0 letter Irom the Susineu the Bo uheus 10 the Director

E!fJ(onenneirtet ano !Riln filr bit tnff=

1\aufJQu.! Quousque tandem?
14.

... Since October, 1922. I have done my utrnos to further the development of Ihe Bou ous, Cooperation, which should hove been a matter of course on the por of Governmen officials, notobly the Deportment of Fi once, hos no been forthcoming; the a i ua a shown by su oerior ollie iols is malevolent, obtuse and so inllexible as consto ntly to endanger the growth 01 ths i nsfitution; furthermore, this attitude hos enlo iled financial loss" Until recenlly il wos possible to overt the most pressing dongers, but since Ihe odven of the new government he olliciol altitude, wl>ich hod hitherto been indiilerent, has changed inlo open animosity. ," (signed) Emil Longe

nd}en mom

contra"

Bravo, Lac smilh Arno Muller, lor your lelling words o.goin$1 the

93

Bouhous!
How long" .. 1

29/3/1924

MI //,'" /,m./

-I' /Jf.

t"Nt/i1

The Beuho"s worhhops o.apored designs much in he manner of a laboratory lor indus rial and crof use, Not only was this in accord wilh Ihe originol conceoHan 01 he Bauhaus; it 0150 took the sling out of the a tacks (foreseen from the storl!) of croll orgonizo ions, which opposed he sale 01 actual obiec s produced al publicly financed schools os unfair compe ilion wi h private enterprise" But he sole 01 Sou Ous design' in re'urn lor royolties on mo .. produced object. could nol be denounced as competition wilh the hondicrofts"

In con!ros' to t e above is a review of he e. ibition of 1923 by he SW"5S0"1 historian, Siegfried Giedion*, in Dos WerA, Z.urich, Sa ptemb"r, 1923: "Aher 'hree and a no,lf years of ".isterce Ihe Bo'uhoJ5 a! Weimor coiled "n ils Iriencls o,d foes 10 judge for Ihe'T\selves is aims ond achievements" It is ossured o' respect in any cose. I, pursues wi h unusual ene gy Ihe seorcn for Ihe new ori~cipla5 which will hove to be found ii "ver the c-eo'ive urge "n numonity i. 0 be reconciled with indus'riol me-roos of producfon" The 50u ho us is co~d uc·i n 9 Ihis seo rc h wilh sea nl su p port in On irr ooveri5~ed Gerrrony, homoered by tne cheap derision ond moliciOJs 0 tocks of he reoctionories, ond even by oersonol diHerence. within "ts own gro~o" "He Bouhous is under a "ng Ihe bold and, in these ti'TIes, olmosl presump'uou, tos of reviving orl" II ears oow ~ the borriers betwee n "no ivi d~ol oris. " . It recog. nizes ono emphasizes Ihe common rool 01 a I 'he arts"" The op"nion of 0 GerMan rooe oooer, Slein Ho" Eisen (Stone Wood Iron). on the inauguration oi the Bounoes a Dessou, 1926-_ "0, Decerroe 4 h, Ihe formal inougurolion of 'he new • Cnorles Eliol Nor'on Lec'uter, >iorvcrd Unive"ilv, 1938-1939"

cno lecTurer 01

Unive,,"ty of hffolo.

,-J ....

~<CI'.. v.~
'tIO:b\
~1).\1.

\0<;' -ott'

~~.'11

. I 's "viae~i • at a 1undomentol improvamen in i dusrial production, which all i formed persons agree is nece ss crv, ceoencs largely on the wide.pread and enthusiastic oor+ic.pctien 01 cr-is s, The~ should not remain olcol Irom -h' s important lask b wt u nderto k" it a 5 he ma,t pr essi n 9 orcble-n ol rhe eress nJ dol'; for its be neiit they mus socrifica heir own p ecsnn inoividual praeecupo ions. "The Bouhous wonts to en isl on en ire generation crtists in a s nIggle 10 solve the erective problems 01 ind ~s',io Iism. It used to be mare or less e cha nce occur 'e nee [or a creative a rtist to Iind his way irlo a lac ary ord rnester the problems PJI to him. This will now be done censciocs yond 10 on ex-ent worthy 01 the importcnce 01 these proo ems. "The ceramics indus ry in oortlculcr, where esthetic ccnsiderorlons are so im oere!"ve ana where industrial requ ir arn e nts MOve had a porticu lady d svcstcf ng i nil u· enee on orrisrie quo ity. should lee obliged to pcrtlclpa'e in he elfor' mode 01 Weimor ond should be eoger 10 accept and develop who, has been begun there."

0'

cution in on e,hioit"on hon the one submned. A. 0 mo er of princ'ple, I am • ep icol obout the construe ion of houses 'or display purposes. but in this case it is a question a' a new tyoe of builaing, ihe r eolizo ion of which is Iikely to hove for-reaching CU Itural and econom ic ccnseq renees, Tna need lor a strictly economical ",ethod 01 ccnstruction. as we I as our altered way of life seem 10 call or" new treatment of Ine one·lam·ly house in which i cease. a be on imitc-ien of he villa with rooms oi equal s·.e. There is evidence tho a type 0; oe,ign is develap'ng whie~ orgonically unites saverol srno! rooms 0 rou nd a lorga one, tn us bringi n9 a bout 0 comp~ete che g9 in form as we as in manner of living, Of oil tne olans I have seen, none appeors 10 me to be so apt to clady and a solve Ihe aroblem as Ihe one suomitted by the Bou~o~s. me aligh "n which we f'nd ourselves as a cricn nece,si'ates ovr be'ng t~e first of 011 notions 10 solve Ihe new problems of bu! ding. These olons clear y go 101 toward blOl'ng 0 new loil.' The re otion between I.e Bcuhous ond ·he Sate Governmen presen'l'd a problem which conlron'ed almost all publiciy appointea airec crs of cultu 01 ·nstitution. in Ihe new democracy: how for the democro'ic orincip e of the VOt9 should be a Ilowed to i oteriera with non·politicol rT'ot ers. Koch. a de-nccrot'c Secretory 01 Slate finally settled tne dispute by declaring hot any ind of puolic vot"ng on questens of art was On obsu dity. The Deutscne WerAbuno'. u der the leodership of 'ts president. he crcbtact Hans P,oel.ig. aaopted the some point 01 v'ew, in a leiter addressed to the government of rhe iree s'o'e of Sare-Weimor: "The pLolic cor-iroversy now rog'ng around the BaJhous 01 Weimar is no local mot er: in more ways than one. it concerns all hose interested in I~e growth and dave]oamen! 01 our crt. I is always undesiroble to confuse pro olarr-s 01 art with portical trends. The fury of politico I ,\,ile iniec ed into oil aiscussion of the work and purpose 01 the Bouhaus impedes y real consideration of he greot and imper ant experiment be dly going Io...-.'ord here. We trust that the oilieiels and departments having jurisdiction over this motter will do their II 0' a prevenl poli icol pa .. ions from destroying on underta jng whien should not be meosured by personol a'rejud'ces or by considerctlons foreign to art, bi.t solely by its own s ,oignlforwardne5S a~d its own unimpeachable objec-

Dr.E. Red.lob. Nationol Art Director of Germcny, cornmenting On the p on. lor the House "Am Horn" to be eree 'ed for ' e proposed exhibitio" in 1923: "I nviled by he Director 01 the Ba IJ ha,",s 10 rnc ke a s a emen concerning ne plans for 0 house in the pro DOsed exhbitio n 'n 1923. I a1!irm hot I con hardly imagine. under present circum. o nces, a plan "'are suited for exe-

95

-<--...;
A FEW HEADLINES The Collop.e of Weimor Art Disintegration 01 the Staalliche Bouhou. in Weimar Swindle-Propoganda Storm over Weimar Stootliche Rubbish Bauhau. Scandal Save the Bouho U5! The Menace 01 Weimar The Art War in Weimor The p.".a ult on the Bou haus Culture Demolition in Weimar The Cultural Fight in TIluringia Protest 01 the Weimar Arti.ts

l{.,ltur .. lb"a" in ttt,uringen l

sne Dolfi'cf:ien oerl .. ltgen Oen 1166.... Oe. St .. Qtlicf:icn. tJa"",, .. 'e.

ftnnnpbUl~et.

It"

tives."

F. H. Ehmke, 0 wei nown ort teoc~er and poqrcpher, com menti ng on I ~e cover of th e book. Sioo/lienas 8auhous Weimar I Bib!. nc, 8). 1923: "Wholly concerned with shopwindow eHec s, or, il one wonts to be nasty sheer bluff; bru 01 in coloring. without rernament of form ... " Br'uno Tout. architect. com men ing on e Preliminory Course: 'The me 00 01 test'ng a studen by lal1ing him a.peri-

qibt r~ c~lIm
",:,,":... a,;j\lUll~T'

s.

J-Y·

me~' i"dependen'ly ord [·eely 01',," seems curious 0 the 10 mon; b~' :0' Ihe leocher it is he MOSI in!ollio e indico!ion 01 wh,,'hor a studen ~os ony creative obil"ty ond whether he con prol'to o y be oomitted to a speci'ied wor~shop. Tnis met nod of se ection 's, oerhc ps, one a' ..e most 'rrporton ochievemen-s of tne Bauhaus, Kole KoH in the 8 Uhr AbendbloH, Berlin,. February, 1924, ....o·e or 'Ie Bouho as donces: r 'The IImschlosschen [on inn) is lor au! i the country, in Ober .. ai-ncr. What a dercole pcelic nome. and w~ot a shod the. c eccrcred! Throug~ a norrow passageway one aene role, in 0 a dance holl 01 medium size, 0: "X urio nt ugli ness, The decorative rnu '0 I. dOle assuredly from 'he '80 s: 'hey represer rnoidens ploying the harp On some green meadow 'n porooise, Cor it be 0 he pupi's 01 l·on .. 1 Feininger, oi Kcndins y or Pou Klee Ore going to conee ~ere? Idle deuors disopnecred oiter or hour S en husics ic oorticipotion! In 'his throne-room 01 itsch [cheop bod 'oste 1 here is more reol yo"thlul erris ic atmosphere t~on in 011 'he sty'shly decorated nrtists' bolls of Berlin. All is arimitive 'here is nol the leas refinemenl, nor is there hot yown'ng blase o emeoncr nor tho overheo'ed ormosphere "hich necesstotes the stofoning 010 oolicemon in Iron 0; every dor~ recess 0' our bolls in Berlin. Everytl,ng bos bee!'! done by 'he BouhoJS srude nts themselves, Firs or 011, rhere is tne orchesirc. the bas ion bond thet I ever heorc raging' they ore musicions to Ihe'r finger ios. In inven 'on o,d glorious colori~g 'he costumes eave ior benind anything tho' con be seen 0' our periormonces .. , , T'e BOJhoJS ccmr-iunitv, mo. ers, journeymen, oppre tices, form a small islond ill 'he ocean 01 he Wei",or bourgeoisie. Four years 0: serious iobors have ot been oole ro oc custorn the Bauhous peop e lo '~e good 10 ~s of Weimot--ond vice verso ... :. S'x years 101e' the Solon des A,fisi e, Decoroleurs in Poris included on exnibirion 01 Ine Deuische Werklll/Md, organized under the direct'on 0: Wo er GropioJs with Ihe colloboro'ion 0; Herbert Boyer, Marcel Breuer ond lodislo~, Moholy-Nogy_ On ~is oecos'on Poul Fieren, wrote in the JOllrno/ des Deba1s. June 10, 1930: "In oil EJropeon coun r;es. he some ideas have been odvonceo, Ihe some e=lorts ore being moae_ In our own coun ry ney are too disper5ed, In Germany. 'hey ore more concen'ro eo; ods. and ind~s:riolis. are wor ing togelner i Ihe some spirit. The Bouhou. 0' DessoJ represents a woe generotion of explorer, co poble oi e'ploirng he numerous resources of modern 'ecilnics: it is 0 school and 0 laboratory at t"e some time, Germony hos reolized Ihe impor'once 01 the problem, which she has considered in connec ion wi'h the social reodjuslment now going on. And tho is ",hy, in h.. ni.ory of orchitecture ond Ihe 'naustriol orts 01 -he 20ln century, Germany will have the I"on', .hore," In June, 1924, Dr. August Emge, Prolessor 01 NO'ionol Economy onO P'lilosophy at 'he U nivers' yo' Jeno. oub-

96

ished !wo lactures ent'j ed The Conception of fhe 80uhcus I BioI. xu). Bo;ing his v·"w. on 1M theses set forth by Gropius in his essoy. The Theory olld Organization of fhe Bo"halJ' IBibl. xxx) D·, Enge compored -he 'esthe'ic synthesis" of the BouhoJ, wiT its "social synthesis." Ai er quoTiog the Grocius thesis .. -nechenired war is neiess, proper only 10 the ifeless machine ... _ Tne so ution aepends on 0 c ho ~ge in the individ JO s at'i'ud e 'oword his war. not o~ Ine ae erme'll oi his o~tword c' rcurnstonc es. Dr. tmge wri es: • A blun er rejec ion 01 Morxism ana kiMdred Utooras is inccncalvob e, I 's clear y sto'ad here -rot hormonious creation is or ethicol problem 10 be solved Oy he individ"o'.' later I,e alludes to the relcrlon 0: Ihe Bauhaus coneeolion to ·he contemporory world: "A movement which is limely in the ~est sense oi Ine word con not be said to deny history .... It is dHicult a delerm;ne jusl how the or+is: is o'leded by rrcditin-. Trodi'o~ must live in a no~-j conno' be cultivo\ed in him. 'Once spirt hos to en or mo erial forO": soY' Heg .. l, "t is lufl" to try to 'rnpose on it forms evolved by earlier cUlhJfes' hey ore Ii e ..... ithered lecves 'hrv", de by bJds which have oeen nc arisned lrom he some roots, I -nev be true even in a her lielos 0: endeovor thcr rrooilion ""US make itS9: let ho-menicusly, unoblrJsively ond subconsciouslv, bu- i' is esoeciol y opcloble 'n he reolm of ort. Es'nelic 'odi ion 's embod'ed 'n 5 le, But 0 s yle must be "nborn in tho o"is' ond generic to "Is epoch os were the great sty es 01 the post, All conscious a tempts \0 £loin insigh inlo 'he essence of a s·yle. 011 onil'c'o preservetion, eoo to on ~isloricol o!lituoe which is hos-ile 0 liie o nd consicerinq the MU Ti lic ity of choice, 10 a c hoos n 01 style, in One ond the some period."

The iollowing persons and sociefias par ic'pcred i • e flood 01 pretests ogoins tne discontinuance of Ihe Bauhaus 01 Weimor whic were addressed to the Government of the S a e of T uriogio: Prolessor Bernhard Pon~ok Dr. Mo~ Osborn Prafessor Dr. Hons Thoma Professor Josel HoHmonn Hugo von Hoffmonn. hoi Professor Oskor Kokosch a Professor Mox Reinhordt Arnold Schonberg Prolesso S rygows~i Fronz Werlel Grolin Kolkreuth Dr, N, Muthesius and many others

Professor Peter Behren. Prolessor lovis Corinth Proie .. or Alber Eins ein Dr. Alexo·nder Dorner J. J. P. Oud Professor Dr. C. Fries Dr, Gerhart Hauptmann Lud wig J usti Mies von oer Ro e Dr. Roland Schoch Hermann Sudermonn Prolessor Rohl's Prof. Dr. RiametSchmied Prolessor Hans Poellig

THE
From
0

BAUHAUS

QUITS
Weimar,

WEIMAR
26th, 1924

leiter to the Government

01 Thuringio
December

0"

Leogue 01 German Archi ee s (Blind Deu+sc er Archilekten) Architects Society "Architecturo et Amici ie." Amster. dom German Werkbund (Deutscher Werkbundl Austricn Werkbund (Osterreichischer Warkbund I Soci .. y 01 Social BJilding Trade, [Verbond Sozio er Boubetrieoe) Society of Ger on Art Critics (Verbond Deutscher Ku"'Tkritiker) Newsoooers from tne following continuo nee of the Bcuhcus: cities recom end he

Th e Director ond moslers 0' the S ote Bouhous 01 Weimar, comaelled by he otti"'oe of the Governmenl 01 Thuringio, herewith a "nou nce their d scislon to close I e insti tion creo ed by them on their own initiotive ond according to their conviction s, on the exoirotion dote 01 their contracts, thai is. April lirst, ninete~n hJn. d red 0 nd twenty./ive. W_e accuse the Government 01 Thuringia of hovi g per, mltted and approved the Irus rotion of cui urolly irnpor. ton ond olwoys non-political ellorls Ihrough the intrigues 0' has ile politico I porlies. , .. (signed by 011 the mostersJ From a leHer ta the Government Weimor, of Thuringia Jo "ory 13th, 1925

91

Beriin
BielFeld Weimor Dresden Dorms 001 Jeno Bremen Chemnitz Magdeburg Edun

Attocks on the Bou hous Th e lollow'og quercrion Irom on o"ic e by H, PIlug. prinled in T e ooli icol wee Iy "Die Tal" in 1932. de." ribes the "nceosi.'g ·... . orlore he Bou nous was forced to "'oge ogo,ns' 'ts odversories. "DiHe"en' vo Jo'ions moy be p aced on ~e role of the BaJhous 'n Ihe developMenl 01 moo ern orcni eC urol de"gn. bUI urdoubled y tha: role wo, 0 great one. The v:oJence of the oltoc s 'esti'ied a Ihe s'renglh and historical sig"'ficonce of Bounol.;s ideos. The polTcol otlocb ~od as their oosis psychologicol o~d phi osophicol re,entment. Those no longer oble or nol ya w'lling to chonge o.,d leorn, realized Ina Ihe Bauhaus ,1000 lor 0 new li'e and 0 new stye in 0 new lime. Philistines and reoctionories rebel ed. All the animosity Ihey could not ,,,,Iood e sew here wos oirac'ad ogo'ns he visib e embodirrent of what Ihey feared."

Apoldo leipZig Homburg Munich Fron lort Stut gort Heilbronn Honover Korlsru e school 0:

We notify the Go~ernmenl of Th"ringio thot we, collebe-c ors at the Slole Bauhaus ot Weimor, sholl leave the Bauhaus together wilh the leaders of he Bouhous, because 01 Ih.. actions of the Slote Government .. _ [signeo by all Ihe studsnts ]

Also orolesting he discon inuonce of the Weimor wete the following publications: Germany: Die Tot Der Cicero e Weltb~hne Die Bou..... el Kunstchro i in Sc hO'Lkommer

Holland: Tefegrool. Bouwerbndig We .. kelo". Nieuwe ROI erdamsche Courant u s morkt Czechoslovo ;0: Progertageb'olt Hungory: A II ogyor, BJoopes
£I

S'"i/zerlond: eu" Zuricher Ze'tu Dos Werk

U. S. A.: The Freemon.

New York

Menaced by on uncompre enoing ond antagonistic go~ernment and co sciolI' 01 Ineir solidarity ana rights as tOenoers of the institulion, the d'rettor ond counci 0/ mo" .." decided, at Christm", time, 1924, on the dis50Iu"on 01 the Bauhaus in order to orestoll is destruction. In spile of 011 proohecies 0 The co Irory. h's, eo proveo to oe wi, e. The e'pril de corp~ whic h hoo g.rod uoily develooed among Ihe student. and masters withS ood this riol. or eir own occord the s'udent. infor ed the government that they stood with the direc or ond mo,ters and intended 0 leo'le w'th t em. This ~nited o-t"tud .. wos ",lIected in ne entire press and oecided 'he fUTure of he Bo"hoJs. Vorious cities, De .. ou, Fran _ For, Hogen, Monnhe'", DarMstadt opened ~e90tictionl with 0 view TOtron'planting Ihe Bouho~s, On • e 'ni ia. t;"e o· Moyor Hesse. Dessou. in the center of the midGer'T1an caol bel, iovi ad the en ire B.ouhous to reestob, lish itself there. This invitotion wos occepted ond. ofter carrying o ... their can roct. in We·mor. mosters ond t students Oiled a Dessou in the 'prj 9 of 1925 and t"'ere bego n the reorgon ilOtion of 1 he So u ho us,

ADVANTAGES
Only once why site nu hose of of the ber on two ne

OF THE SMALL TOWN

wi h Ine cvlturo] Gerrran a srrall town nos and quality con wos on ond irr-porcrov;ncial lawn unaerstood large in chor-

ferni'ior occasion,

chosen as ! e
unusually

Bcunccs, Germany

of srnc

towns unique

in''''iloble

octer. Thanks 10 the;r civic structvre ana their splrituo] vitol'ty, they provide on ideal envircnr-ient lor culture] movements o lo ...orcble tro!ivemo,ch which req"ire c+ncsphere. in ery;

I
: cover a prospectus Desscu. 1928 edver'ising from

stro g personal direction end Co.,.,porot"vely sirr ple odminis,

few out hcrities

car>" po,rO'iveiy

decisions con be quic ''I carried a corn-nunrv whose various elements ore c eorly d'fferentioteo and defineohese ore the odvontoges 01 the provincial Both in Vo/eimor and in Dess,,"
0

0",1:

(whos"

,,:y,
in

fruit'ul

wor

ing otrncsof bacu:0'::0[5

ohere, free 1rol"'l oistrcc ion, end Ihe proximi'Y riful no'uro1 surrcundnqs were 'ndispensoo'e 'he

r v es

0:

nose w 0 wor oed 01 the

Bevhc as.

U{)[1 {tt

DESSAU, APRIL, 1925

99

DESSAU,
160] t""

I~enlicned ,eo'
0: 0

'or 'r e oi

rhe fOrST "'11e "n 213, Since 'r e ~o~!e of An no " m porto nt
cenler: induS'ry,

'~dl.il'rio ·O.vn 0"" Jr""5Cor'0t'on o -rne:c cir clo nes ] cher-iiccl "T1ochil"'lervt rc II'"ced cors, ,I"gor, ReroiHonce palace, Anl-olt: smo

J ~~. ers Wor~s mon,,;oc'ore 0'

wooden

res'dence

or icles. cncco ota, of 'he D es 0; ond lorge

nec-cross.c sty as .•
, B-~ c"otvry

cclcces ono ·OW" houses in boroo~e ear the to ... r 0- Worlitz ore 'Rome .. lic' "yle,

perks ir- the Eng ish

FACULTY AND STUDENTS

.'

Almost all the former rnesters, Feininger, Gropius, Kondinskv, Kle e, Mahaly-Nagy, Muche, Schlemmer, remained wilh Ine Bouhous when it moved a Oe'50u. Gerhard Moreks, however, want 10 teach near Holle since there W05 no money or room to reinstall his ceramics workshop in Dssscu. Five former. udents, Josef Albers, Herbert Boyer, Moree Breuer, Hinnar Scheaer, Joost Schmidl, were appointeo masters, end neorly 011 the Bouhous studan s moved Irorn Weimar a Desscu, where wor c W05 imme· diotely begun in provisional quor+ars.

NEW BUILDINGS The mayor

!or seven

01 Dessou hod o oproved on appropriation houses with studios for the former Weimor mosier. ond lor a new building to house boih Ihe Bo~ ous and the Municipal Arts ond Cra,lts School. Construction. from Groaiu' designs, was begun at once. Especially noteworthy was he city's decision to odd to he Bouhous building proper a wing wi h twentyeight st dio opor men s, boths, laundry and ain'ng holl for he studen s,

THE NEW CURRICULUM

100

T e curricu urn underwent several changes: joi nt instruction by a crohsrncn and on orris was abandoned. Henceforth each workshop was directed by one moster. The deporlment of architecture wo s considerably e nlorged a d l~e leochers of the Municipal School cooperoTed with it. A dapcrtmen 0: typography ond lev-out W05 added. The principles 01 the Bauhaus were again c:lorilied: The Bauhaus is on advanced school lor creative work. Its ouraose is: I. The in ellecluol, manual and technical raining 01 men ond women of creative talent [or a I kinds of erea ive war, especially building. 2. The execution of oroetico experimen 01 work, especiolly building and lntarier deeoroticn, os well 0' the development 01 model. for industrial and manual pro· duction. A business organization. the Bauhaus Ccrporo-icn. was established a handle I e sale to indus ry 0' mod "Is created in lhe Bauhaus workshops. The Mayor or Dessou, Dr. Fritz Hesse. wcs on eminently farsighted person, one 01 hose notable individuals who demonstrote the imparlance 01 he smolt German cily os a celturo loctor. Owing to his energy ond cour09", Ihe Junkers airolane worh moved to Dessou, He encouraged culrurol activity wHI the some tenacity. On his initiative, the Bauhaus 100'05ronslerred Irom Weimar to De550 u: he 101'0lIy 5U poor1ed its orinci p .es: and thanks to him it was able to develop relatively undisturbed for a number 0: years.

The Transitional

Period al Dessau

Wolter Gropius: Dessou Bauhaus. Vie .... from northwest. 1925·192b

A er eO,,;1\g Weimar, Ihe Bouhc as hod to move into !"moorory quarters in Desseu, pending he comole ion 0: its new bu'ld'ng 01 he and of 192b. The workshops were set up on a floor 01 the Seiler loctory; classroom ins ruction oak place in the rooms 01 he existing Arts and CroiJs SChool. which hod 01,0 been placed under GrODi,,! supervision; and ateliers were provided for 'he artists in Ihe old a nd, a the t: me, e"ll ply Art Museum.

Wal er Gropius: De.sou 60uhous. Air view, 1925·1920

THE BAUHAUS BUILDING

designed

the bridge, containing the adminis ration ofIices and Professor Gropius' office. The auditorium (8.) on the ground lIoor, only one story in height, is connected with the

by WALTER GROPIUS

A. Studio wing, which contains scholarship stu-.

The Bauhaus building was begun by the city of
A characteristic bui ding of the Renaissance or Baroque nos a symme· rico I facade, w' h he entrance on Ihe cent',ol axis. The view olieree 10 Ihe spectotcr as he drows near is 1I0t a a two-di· mensiono .. A builaing express-n9 the modern splrir reiec s sym. me ry and ihe ron is piece facade. One must walk around tnis srrue ure in three-dimensiono character of its form and the function of its ports. Pia n of Ihe Bouha us: Ground Floor Considerations 10 be hp in mind in orgoni1ing a pion: proper orenrction to the sun .hor , time-saving communication clecn-cu separation of 'he different par soil e whole flexibility, mo ing possible a reossignmen of roomuses, ii or90 nizotione I changes make this neeessory. A Stucio wing B Auoitorium, stage and di ni ng.ho' I C Laboratory worbhoo o Bridge lodmi~istrotion oHices) E Technical sc 00 (from B·o. no. 27)

Dessau in the autumn of 1925 and was cornpletely finished in time for the formal dedication in December, 1926_ The whole building occupies on area of about 28,300 square feet, the volume is approximately 1,150,000 cubic feet. The total cost amounted to 902,500 marks, about $230,000.00, or rouqhIy twenty cents per cubic foot. The cost of furnishing the building amounted to 126,200 marks.
A

dents' quarters. The stage, situated between the auditorium and the dining hall, can be opened on bo h sides, so that spectators can sit on ei her side with the stage betwee them. On gala occosions, all the walls surrounding the stoge can be removed, and thus all the space occupied by the dining hall, stage, auditorium and vestibule can be cornbined into one large halJ lor the occasion. The dining hall communicates wi h the kitchen and several smaller rooms. In front of the dining hall is a spacious terrace, which in turn leads to the sports areas. In the live upper stories there are twentyeight studio oportments for studen s, and in addition each floor has a kitchenette. In the basement of he studio building there are ba hs,
0

The building consists of (see plate opposite): E. The wing which contains the Technical School (later Professional School), its classrooms and administrative quarters. instructors' rooms, library, physics hall, room for models. These ore housed in a three story block (with basemen ). The two upper Iloors are connected with a bridge across the street, carried on piers. On the lower floor 01 this bridge are the administrative offices of the Bauhaus, and, on he upper floor, the architectural de-

102

~-

gymnasium and locker-room,

and

103

.Cl

c. The
. c.

portment. The bridge (D.) leads to laboratory workshops and the classrooms. In the basement, half below and half above ground, are the printing plant, the dye-works, the sculpture room and the packing and storerooms, the servants' quarters and the furnaces. On the ground (Iirsl) 1I00r are the carpentry shop and the exhibition rooms, a large vestibule leading to the auditorium with 0 raised stage at one end. On the second lloor, the weaving room,

on electric laundry. Material cnd construction 01 the project Reinforced concre e skeleton with "mushroom" columns, brick masonry, hollow tile floors. Steel window-sash with double weathering conlocts. The flat roofs designed to be wal ad on ore covered with asphalt tile, welded together, laid on insulation boards 01 "torfoleum" he tile (com-

pressed peat moss); regular roofs hove the some type of insulation mentioned above, covered with lacquered burlap and a cement top. ping. Drainage by cast iron pipes inside the building. Ex erior finish of cement stucco, pointed with mineral paints. The interior decoration 01 the entire building was executed by the well- pointing war shop, the design and execution of all lighting fixtures by the metal workshop. The tubu.lar steel furniture of the assembly hall, dining room and s udios was executed from designs by Marcel Breuer. Lettering was execu ad by the printing workshop.

rooms for preliminary courses (grundlehre), a large lecture room. The bridge conecting buildings I and 2 [oins this floor .. On the third floor, the wall-pointing workshop, metal workshop, and two lecture halls

Wolter Gropius: Dessou Bauhaus. View Iror- southwesL 1925·1 '126

which can be connected to make a large exhibition hail. T is leads to the upper story of

-<---e
On December 4. 1921., the Beuhaus wos formally inaugure ed. The 'naugurel ce.ebrotions i eluoed an exI,ibi ion, lectures, motion pictures. as well as a do nee in he new cuilaing. The inaugural oddress was de ivered by NOTional Art Director [Raichsku nstwor"] Erwin Red· sleb who hod been born in Weimar and who hed. from ! e very beginning. shown greel interest in the 80u ous. The reopening of the Souhous under more orosperous condition, was regorded as e greol cui urel event and brought mor a han 1500 visitors to Desscu. Two thousand 0' ended a Bauhaus bell Ina evening. Six y pre ss ,eore.entotives were present a the Bauholls ooe ing in 1925. Re oorls in 'he press indicaled that only few c rilics understccc thaI he ;'"Iler;or hod been designed mainly oy he war .!,oos ·hemselves. Most 01 Inem believeo il hod been designeo by the o-chirae s and only executed by Ihe worhhops, Wolter Gropiuo: Dessou Beuhous. Staircase. 1925-192b Wolter Gropius. Desscu Beuhous. Corner 01 the workshop wing. bridge and techn ico I school beyond. 1925·192b

-<--..=:
Walrer Gropiu5: Desseu Bauhaus. Nigh view. 1925·1926

104

Wol er Gropivs: Oesseu Sol/hous. Oliice 01 the o: rector, 1925·1926

Welter Grooius: Dessou Souhous. Dining ream. View towerd s age end. 1925·1921.

Wolter Grapius: Desseu Bau~ou s, View from the steirecss toward the workshop s, 1925·1921.

olter Grcp'vs: Desscu Bc.uhoJs. View of studen s' studo build'ng from southeast. 1925-I92b

Life 0 he in Dessou

801.1'00'

106

Room
w;ng

n the studio

Wolter Gropius: Dessc u Bcuhcus. Balconies of the students' ,judio ouiiding. 1915-192b

Wolter Gropius: View 01 masters' houses, Dessc u, 1925-1926

Woller Gropius: Dirac or', hou se. Dessc u. 1,925-1926

Wo'Ter Gropius: Studio in a mosler's house, Dessou. 1921> Wo or Grepius: Mo ... rs' houses, Desseu, 1925·1921>

A few hundred yards from Ine main Bauhaus building were three double houses and one single house built by l~e town of Desscu for the Bouhaus masters. The interiors were designed and executed by the Bauhaus workshops.

Walter Gropius: Living rccrn in moster's house, Dessa u. 1926

Woller Grocius; Ciry Employment Olfiee Dessou. I'?29

Wolter Gropius: CilY Emoloymerl Ol';~e. Dessou. lnterior view, 1929

Wolter Grooivs: City EM. ployme~1 Or:ice. Desso~. View showing rodioling en ranees :or voricus vccotiono groups. 1')'29

II D
In Mid·Sa olember. 1926 60 one-:omi y ~o ~.e. using 5'oodord'zed units were peg;.}n in Torlen. cs per: 01 0 -ew ho~s'ng crojec' ior Ihe city or Dassou, Wolt!!r Gropius wos the orchi'ec~, By 1928 he hoc comole'eo 316 houses, which we'" pori y lurnis' ed by th!! BouhOJ. ""or ...s e ons ,

III

Woller Gro oius: Dess'lJ' Torten. 0 co-nrnu-iity 0: wor~ers "OW;!!5. Generol ,,'ew. 1926

Anonymous: d'.'olei'ng

"Minimal

Wolter Grcpi.rs: DessouTor e«. S'r;Jc!uro' sche,...e of 'ypico I U nirs, 1920

\"/0 I ler Gropi us: Desso W· Torten. Sire pan. 192&

Marcel Breuer: Bernbcs Houses. A project to house Bve Bouhous masters. Two lo.ge rooms, seDOroled as we os co"nee'ed by Ihe en .once ho" and the itchen and bo hroorrunils are pia 'led wi n on eye a the d ua phases a; 10m'Iy lile (husbonowife; porer+s - chi dren: day - nigh!). A voriction

01 the pion below 'ndudes a stud'o unit. An elle 01 wos mode to ne oort lrorr the rigid horzornc l=vertico, composition prevclenj in mod ern a rchitacture. The sew-tooth design of he roofs 0 "ows for clerestory wi ndows, hus increasing !unlig t ono adding interest to the inlerior design. 1927

Hans Witwer: HOJse 'or Dr. olden. Moyen. 1928

112

Moreel Bre.Jer; Plan and i,ometric drawing of small metal house designed for preiabrieotion. 1925

ARCHITECTURE DEPARTMENT
Specie lists in Cons ruction, S otics and Descriplive Geometry were oopointeo 10 he s a,l in Dessou 'n order wioen he scooe of the orchitedural troining, In 1927 Gropius succeeded in bringing he Swiss Hannes Meyer to Ihe Bouhous as ins raetor in Architec ure. Hennas Meyer become head of the Architedure Deportmen and, alter Gropius left in 1928, Director 01 the entire Bauhaus lor a shon oeriod. Tne pedagogic procedure Iollcwed in he oren; ec ural courses. os in a o hers. was the indUC'iv" method, which enables Ine pupil a lorm conclusions on the bests of nis own ebse'voliol) 0 nd e~ periance. Some oi t ~e po' nls 0: Gropius' program were never realized, how ..v ..r, beccusa 01 tne shorloge of lunds.

'0

HANNES

MEYER. 1928

r
I
.1 •

fi

,.; ,

,/' ~

:~
~l

I
\

g.
--L--

I' ,

..
t

»:
...

.('

'l~

.1,

,, 114

L!-.

j~-

-:

\
\

115

"

r,

.....

'.'

. ,
,
• ~. I

:.... _.

...
He.nnes M e YIlf' Trede Union School, Bernou Isometric. view. 1928 .

PRELIMINARY COURSE: ALBERS

S udy in plastic use of poper. Cu without wOS e Iromane piece of paper. The twisting is outamotic resu It of lihi ng or stretching

In order to insure first-hand, monuol knowledge 01 the material we restric the use 01 tools. As the course ocvonces the possibilities in the use 01 various materials os well cs their limitations are gradually discovered. The most 10miliar methods 01 using them are summarized: and since they are already in use they are for the time being in hondic oft lying fiat: the reason we try as a building
JOSE F ALBERS, 1921>

forbidden. For example: paper, and industry, is generally used edge is rarely utilized. For his paper standing upright, or even material: we reinforce il by com-

/\~
CONCERNING FUNDAMENTAL DESIGN
by JOSEF ALBERS
Learning through experiment Economy of form depends on function and material. The study of the material must, naturally, precede the investigation of lunction .. Therefore our studies 01 form begin with studies

plicated folding: we use both sides' we ernphusize the edge. Paper is usually posted: instead of posting it we try to lie it, to pin it, to sew it, to rivet it. In other words, we fasten it in a multi ude 01 different ways. At the some time we learn by experience its properties of flexibility and rigidi y, and its potentialities in tension and compression. Then, linolly, alter having ried all other methods of fastening we may, of course, pas e it. Our aim is not so much to work differently as to work without copying or repeating others. We try to experiment, to train ourselves in "constructive thinking." Constructions To increase our independence of the traditional use of materials we solve certain given problems in technique and form by making original constructions out of a great variety of materials: out of corrugated paper and wire netting, for instance, or with match-boxes, phonograph needles and razor blades. These constructions must demonstrate the qualities and possibilities of the materials used by fulfilling he techn' col requirements set forth in the wording of the problem. Sometimes the results represent men! of methods rived at of these experiments

Exercise in transformofon on one plone

116

01 materials.
Industrial methods of treoling raw materials represent the results of 0 long technological developrnent, Technical education, therefore, has consisted chiefly in the teaching is given alone, of established it hinders creprocesses. If such training

G. Hossenpllug , Study in plastic use 01 paper .. Cut without woste from OnB sheet of po per. 4 feet hig h

liT

ation ond invention. The learning ond opplication

of estobl.ished

methods 01 manufacturing develop discernment and skill, but hardly creative po entialities. The ability to construct inventively and to learn through observation is developed-at least in the beginning - by undisturbed, uninfluenced and unprejudiced experiment, in other words, by a free handling cal aims. To experiment of materials without practithan

is at first more valuable

innovations in the application or treatmaterial. But even when we evolve which are already in use, we have arthem independently, through direct ex-

Marg,i! Fischer: Study in materials combining similar and diHeren le.tures

to produce: free ploy in the beginning develops courage. Therefore, we do not begin with a theoretical introduction: we start directly with the material. ...

perience and they are our own because they have been re-discovered rather than taught. We know thai this learning through experiment lakes more time, entails detours and in-

-«directions; but no beginning can be straightfor..ward. Consciously roundabout ways and controlled mistakes sharpen criticism and promote a desire lor improvement. .. . As the proportion 01 ellort to achievement is a measure 01 the result, an essential point in our teaching is economy. Economy is the sense of thriftiness in labor and material and in the best possible use 01 them to achieve the ellect that is desired. Economy allobar is as important os economy 01 material. It is fostered by the recognition of quick and easy me hods, by the constant use 01 ready-mode and easily procured means, that is to soy, by the correct choice 01 tools, by the use of ingenious substitutes lor missing implements, by the combination of several processes or by restricting oneself to a single implemen . Learning in this way, with emphasis on technical and economical rather than esthetic considerations makes clear the difference between the static and the dynamic properties of moterials. It shows that Ihe inherent characteristics 01 a maleriol determine the way in which il ;s to be used. II trains the student in constructive thinking. It encourages the interchange of experience and the understanding of the basic lows 01 form and their contemporary interpretation. It counteracts the exaggeration of individualism without hampering individual development. Texture Experiment with surface qualities is another method lor the study 01 form ond the development 01 individual sensibility. These exercises in textures alternate with the "construction" studies described above. They are not concerned with the inner qualities 01 the material, but with its appearance. Just as one calor inlluences another by its value, hue and intensity, so surface qualities, both tactile and optical, can be related. We classify the appearance of the surface of o malerial as to structure, facture and texture, which we differentiate carefully. These qualities of surface can be combined and graduated somewhat as colors are in pointing. The sysleWerner tion.

Feis : Can. rucMatchboxes

S·udies in plastic use of Ii . Tronsformo'ion of a cone by cutt"ng, bend'ng, stretching ond co""' pressi ng. This sort a: exercise replaced I;nol examinations

S'udy -n plcs ic ~se of paper. CJr~ed laid.

S'udy in plastic pacer

use of

118

119

Study in plastic use of paper. Cut withou waste from one sheel 01 paper. -+ leet high

First oUem pis 10 use cord. board plastically

Study in plastic paoer

use of

120

matic arrangement of surface quofities in scoles ond series makes one sensitive to the minutest differences and the subtlest transitions in the tactile qualities a/surfaces, such os hard to soh, smooth 10 rough, warm to cold, stroight·edged to shapeless, polished to mot; olso in the visual quali ies of surfaces such as wide-meshed and norrow-rneshed: transparent and opaque; clear and clouded. Through discussion 0/ the results obtained from the study of the problems of materials, we acquire exact observation and new vision. We learn which formal qualities are important today: harmony or bclonce, free or measured rhythm, geometric or arithmetric proportion, symmetry or osymmetry, central or peripheral emphasis. We discover what chiefly interests us: complicated or elementary form, mysticism or science, beauty or intelligence. To summarize briefly: the inductive method of instruc ion proposed here has as its goal selfdiscipline and responsibility toward ourselves, toward the material and toward the work. It helps the student, in choosing his vocation, to recognize which lield of work is closest to him. It develops lIexibility. It leads to economical form. We must, as students and teachers, learn from each other cantinually, in stimulating cornpetition. Otherwise eaching is a sour bread and a poor business. (from "Werklicher Formunterricht," published in Bib!. no. 3D, 1928, nos. 2.3)
"Struetura' refers 10 those quo I itias al ,urioce which reveal how th .. row material grow, or is [errn ..d. such os: the grain of wood or the composite' ructur e 01 groni:". "Foe ure' r..Iars to those quoli ies of surioc .. which reo veal how he row rna erial has been treated technically. such a, the hammered or polished surlace 01 me 01. or the wavy surioce 01 corrugo ed po per. "Texture" is a general term which refers to both "structure" and "Iccture," but only i bolh are present. For insronce, he" exure" 01 pelished wood reveols both he "srruc re" Ismin) and he "lecture" (polishing l. These surlcce qualities co n be perceived usuo lIy by .ish' and ol'en by both sight a d touch, Examples: the stTvelura of high Iy polished wood co n be perceived by eye but not by touch: the fodure 01 0 orinled poge can be perceived by sensi ive IingeMi ps but, 01 course, for more easily by the eyes: the le.rlvre 01 0 carpet is eosily perceive" by both hand and eye.

E.hibi ion of 0 student's lirst semester work. These ore chielly s uoies in the properties 01 wire. 1927

S udy in plestic use 01 paper.l92b

S ud yin illusory three dimensions Studies in plos ic use of paper. Transformation 01 a cylinder through cu ins and bending

-<-6

Study 01 three dimensions, octuol and illusory

Study in optical illusion . Flat wire nelling mTong,ed in one plane

G. Hessenpiluq: S udy in plostic use or gl055

Study in onticol F at wire netting

il usicn, Construction. Wooden stids lostened osether with r070r blades. 9 feet high

10",

122

G., Hossenpllug: Study in between colors ond lorrns. Inverse use 01 colors ond forms. 1.929
re.cfionship

Above G.earge Grosz; eeP. To' ner: S "dies in optical illusion. Threedimensional "'f,,els ccbsved by repetition oi
wc-drnens'onct elements:

circ.es ond ports of circles Deto il 01 construction right at

123

PRELIMINARY COURSE MOHOLY - NAGY

-<----.i

THE CONCEPT OF SPACE by MOHOlY-NAGY

We are all biologically equipped to experience space, just as we are equipped to experience colors or tones. This capacity can be developed through practice and suitable exercises. It will, 01 course. differ in degree in diflerent people. as other capacities do. but in principle space can be experienced by everyone even in its rich and complex forms. The way to learn to understand architecture is to have direct experience of space itself; that is, how you live in it and how you move in it. For architecture is the functionally and emotionally satisfactory arrangement of space. Naturally. just as in every other field, long preparation is necessary bela e one can appreciate this essential character 01 architecture. Most people, unfortunately. still learn architecture out of books. They learn how to tell the "styles" of the great monuments of the pasthow to recognize Doric columns. Corinthian copitols, Romonesque orches, Gothic rosettes, etc. But these are only the togs 01 architecture; those who learn by the historical method can seem to know a 101 when all they have really learned is to classify and dote the monuments of the post. In reolity, only a very few ever learn really to experience the miracle of esthetically arranged space. In general the "educated" man today is incapable of judging works of architecture in 0 true way. for he has no ideo 01 the real ellect of pure space arrangement. of the balance 01 tense contrary forces. or 01 the flow of interweaving space. Today spatial design is on interweaving 01 shapes; shapes which are ordered into certain well defined, if invisible, space relationships; shapes which represent the fluctuating ploy of tensions ond forces. Pure space arrangement is not a mere queslion 01 building materials. Hence a modern space composition is not a mere combination

Klau, Neumann:
structien. 1928

Co,,-

. Hinrlck Bredendied: Suspended cons ruction. Gloss tubes ia.teneo tegether with thin wire. 1928

-<--ci
Merionne 6'endl: belence. 1923

S udy in

124

125

Gerde Marx: Study in tex ure. Be/ew: An ettempt at graphic rronscription. 192a

--(--

Werner Zimmermann: Censtruction. Wire end tubes. 192a

01 building stones, not the putting together of

dilferently shaped blocks and especially not the building of rows of blocks of the same size or of dilferent sizes. Building materials are only a means, to be used as for as possible in expressing the artistic relations 01 created and divided space. The primary means lor he arrangement of space is still space itself and the lows of space condition all es hetic creation in architecture. That is, architecture will be understood, not as a complex of inner spaces, not merely as a shelter from the cold and from danger, nor as a fixed enclosure, as on unalterable arrangement of rooms, but as an orgonic component in living, as a governable crea ion fo mastery 01 life. (Adopted from Bibl. no. 29)

Ab".e l.other Lang' below Siegfried Grlesenscblog: Studies in texture. 1927

--:
Construct;o .,cod . Wire and

126

SCOPE OF THE BAUHAUS Gropius:

TRAINING

Bri"ge '11u5 '0 ing vibration and pres,ure 01 various mote. rials. Below; an 0 tempt oj graphic transcription. 1927

G. Ho.senp!iug.:

George Gros~: ConS'rJC' ion. 1924

"W at tne Bauhaus peached in prcc ice wos I e com. men citizenship 01 all [orrns of creoti v e work, ond their logical in erdepe dence on ana ana her in the modern world. It wa nteo to help the lormol artist to recover the fine 010 sense of design and execution being one and e some. and rna e him leel the he drowing.boord is merely a prelude 10 the active joy 01 fashioning. Build. 'ng uni e. both monuol ond mentol war en in a common to s k. Herelo,e 011 olike, artist as well cs orti.on .• hould have 0 common Iroini g; ond 51 ce experimental and productive work are of equal "rocticol impor once. I e oasis 01 thot lreining should be breod enough to give every .ind 01 tolenl on equal chance. As varieties of talent conno be dis ingui,heo belore they monilest t emselves, t e individual must be able to discover is proper sphere of activity in '~e course 01 ki. own de. velopment. NotlJrorfy the greet mojori y will be absorbed by the building odes. inouslry. etc. But Ihere will always be a small mi ority of ou S onding ability whoss legitimate ambitions it would be lolly to circum. icribe. As soon as this erte has linished its communol tro'ning i will be free to concentrate on individual work, con emporory problems. or tho inestimobly u5elul spec. ~Iotive reseo eh 0 which humon'ty owes the sort of vol. ",es S odbrokers co I 'Iv u res. And sinee all t hess com. monding brains will have been through he some indus'rial mill they will know, not only how to mo~e 'ndustry odopt their i"provements and inventions. but also how to mo e 'he mochi. e the vehicle of their idees." {lrom Bibl. o. 321

12T

FURNITURE WORKSHOP
Josef Albers: Wooden armchair wilh ,pring bod. 192b

A piece 01 furniture is not on arbitrary cornoosition: it is a necessory component 01 our environment. fn itself impersonal. it tokes on 'meaning only lrom the way it is used or as pmt . 01 a complete scheme. A complete scheme is no arbitrary composition either but rather the ourwcrd expression 01 our everyday needs: it must be able to serve both those needs which remain constant and those which vo.ry. This voriction is possible only if the very simplest and most straightforward pieces are used: otherwise changing will mean buying new pieces. let our dwelling halve no porticulo:r "style." but only the imprint 01 the owner's character. The architect. os producer. creates only hall 0 dwelling; the man who lives in it. the other holl, Marcel Breuer (Irom Bibl. no. 15)

G. Hcssenplluq:

.Folding,

wooden

teble.

1·928

12.8

... the new inferior should not be a sellportroit 01 the architect. nor should il attempt to Iix in odvcnce the personol environment 01 the occupant. And so we halve furnishings, rooms end buildings allowing as much change and os many transpositions and diHerenl combinations as possible. The pieces of furniture and even the very walls 01 Oi room have ceased to be massive and monumental, opporently immovable and built for eternity. lnsteod they are more opened out, or. so to speak. drown in space. They hinder neither the movement of the body nor of the eye. The room is no longer a sellbounded composition. a closed box. lor its dimensions OInddillerent elements can be varied in mony ways. One may conclude rhot any object properly and proctically designed should "IiI" in any room in which it is used as would any living object. like a flower or 0 human being. Morcel Breuer (Irom dos neue frankfurt,
1927)

129
Moree I: B'·euer: Firs! tubuchoir. Fobric seol. bad end arm rests, 1'1'25

lor

Mo.rcel Breuer: Choir. Melal lube, and wood. Designed lora dining room.l92b

-(----'1f Mcreel B,euer: Fold ing

choir. 1928

Marcel Breuer: Tubular choirs. Fabric seal and backrest. 1926

Woller Gropius: De550u Bouhous Auditorium. Choirs by Marcel Breuer. 1926

Marcel Breuer: Pisco or House, Berlin. Dining room.ln7

Morcel Breuer: Tubulor c airs. Fabric seal ond bod res. 1926

Woher Grcnius: De;;ou Bauhaus. AuditoriUM. Choirs by Marcel Breuer. 1926

130

131

Breuer: De!so~ Bedroom in Directors house. 1916

Bouhcus.

Morcel

Morcel Brauer: Iurnitur e u its. 1927

510 ndordiled

Co,rpentry Dessou

worhhop,

1921

T. Mindon': Colopsi le srcc], S retched fabric sect, Below: legs without seot. 1926

Coroentry wor shoo: Desk composed 01 toble and drower unit. 1928

Corpen'ry workshop: Drawer "nit for desk. 1928

1924

Morcel Bre, er: Dining room cobir. .. 1. 1926

132
1925

G. Hossenpflug: Folding choir. Fobric sect and bockrest. 1928

133

-(-

Marcel Breuer. Wood~n table wilh lubulor supports

1977

P. Bucking: Choir.
Plywood seal. 1928

A Bou heus Moyie lo.ting Author: Operator: Life demanding Marcel

fiye yean. it. right s, these right ••

-(

Breuer who recognizes

Beller and beller eyery yeor; in the end we will sit on resilient air columns. (from Bio. no. 30. t926. no. I)

Lotte Gerson: roder. 1928

Child's

AI er Marcel Breuer hod comole ed he :irsl steel cheir 01 Iha Bouhous. Ihe Monnesmonn Works were osked 10 pUI steel pipe at our dispose! lor furl her experimenls. The reque,t wOS rei used on the grounds Ihol such exoerimenls were unir-rpor 001. Todcv, 01 er !hi rtaen yeo r s, the production 01 tubulor steel furniture hos lo~en on . tremendous prooor1ions. It hos spread all over the world, exercising 0 decisive inlluenee on many other cscec s 01 interior design.

During J 925 the workshops of Ihe D9 •• cu Bouhous executed orders lor lurn iture, lig hting lidu res, and designs in co lor lor tha lollowing firm" Nierendorf
aw Art Dresden

COOPERATION

WITH

INDUSTRY

Gallery, Gallery,

Berlin Fide"

King Albert M"seum, Zwido" Showrooms of the 'A streets." Berlin Children's Home, Oronienboum

The prcctico] objective of the BO.Jhous workshops-to evolve designs soti.foc!ory from formo and technical poi nts of view whic h shOllld t hen be soJ it ad to inbm dustry 'or prod uction - wos pursued on 0, large scale only ofter the Bouhow. ad movea to Desscu. Design' lor rurni ure, lamps, tedile lcbrics, rnatol- and gI055-. wore were accepted by monufocturers. The factories were Ihen olten visited by Bcuheus designers who 5 udied Ihe orocesses used and cooperated with technicions to simplify and improve the designs. Conversely, he lcctories oltan sent t eir tec nicicns a the Bouhous wor shops to keep them informed obou the development 01 designs, This wos a greo improvement over he ineffective dependence on pc per orojects ogoin.t which the Bouhous hod rebelled cs on inodequo e macns or communicotion between designers ond industry. ROYA'LTIES Each worhhop hod the right to confer independently with indus rial [irrns regording technical problems, but commercial nego iotions were and led by the Bauhou, Corporation. When a workshop considered a design ready for sale i wos rned over a the Business Menager or the Corporotion together with all the necessery drawings ond descriptions of the processes involved '0 tho contracts could be drown up. The income was divided between Ihe Boubous Corporo ion ond the school itself, which poid the designer. Half the royalty paid the school wos credited 10 the Bo"ho"s lund, while the other 11011went to a welfore j"nd used 10 poy lor desig'ns which were considered voluoble but which could not be disposed 01 for the time being. Income from royalties rose steadily, until, under Ihe direction 01 Mie, van der Rohe. in t932 it elCeeded 30,000 mark s.

Some poges from colcloqs olloclories prod uci n9 lurniture designed 01 the Souhous

~f
~
~

Uncle Tom's Cobin, restcurcnt. Berlin 1

1

........
('\lSlB!.'I33I-lL

~'~1 ~~

_._I .n.A.NI\

ARMLEHNSTUHL

and for a number of private oportmen s, including he masters' houses in Oessou and the new Bcuhous building.

134

Moreel Breuer' S,wivel choir. Steel tubing and plywood

THONET~

135

Stahlrohrmobel

Bouhous products Gesolei, Dusseldorl

were exhibited

at:

Lei pzig Spri 119Fa ir German Society of Women's Apporel and Culture, in vc rious lowns Kestner Society, Ar Museum Monnheim Werkbund Honover Trade Museum. 80.,,1 (Kunstholle),

Exhibition, Tokio

The Bavarian Notional Museum, the Trade Muse"m of Basel. the Art Museum, Monnheim, and the Werkbund E.position, Tokio, purchased Bauhaus products for their res peetive collections,

METAL WORKSHOP
t
Droug~l;ng
melol orionne Brandl:

FROM WINE JUGS TO LIGHTING FIXTURES

byM OH01Y-N·AG·Y
When Gropius acpoin ed me to toke over the metal workshop he asked me to reorganize it as a workshop lor industrial design. Until my arrival the metal war' shop hod been a gold and silver workshop where wine jugs, samovars. elaborate jewelry. calfee services etc .. were mode. Changing the policy 01 this war shop involved a revolu ion. for in their pride the gold· and silverSlT'ithsavoided the use a/ferrous metals. nickel and chromium plating and abhorred the ideo of making models lor electrical household appliances or lighting fixtures. It took quite a while a get under way the ind 01 work which later mode the Bauhaus a leader in designing lor the lighfng fixture industry. I remember the lirst lighting Ii ture by K. Jucker. done before 1923. with devices lor pushing and pulling. heavy strips and rods of iran and brass. looking more like a dinosaur than a functional object.* But even this was a great victory. lor it meant a new beginning. After this we developed lighting fixtures introducing such useful ideas as: the close-litting ceiling cop: combinations of opaque and frosted glass in simple forms echnicolly deterrn'ned by the action of light: securing the globe to the metal chassis; the use 01 aluminum, particularly for reflectors. etc. All 01 these were adaoted lor industrial production. In addition to these innovotions may be mentioned one which even today presents a very uselul solution 0'1 ane lighting fix ure prablem. especially in localities where the quic se tling of dus makes ordinary lighting inellicient. This principle 'nvolves the use of concentric gloss cyr nders to ovoid a glare. From this originated the louvre sys em 01 concentric rings of metal and recen Iy, 01 translucent plastics. The metal workshop also handled 01 her probRl!prod~ced. Bib,. no. 8, page II b.

Egg boil e r , 1921. room of the

Desscv ·...,or.shop,

w.

ond T~rrpe: Ind'YiduQI se·.ln)·1925

M. Kroie",."

teo

Morionne Brondl: Ugh ing (i.IJrl!. Frosted end ploin gl055 g abe. Choins hold globe whi e electric bulb i, 'ng chongl!d. 1'l25

las

Morionne

Brandt:

Fish

COS5ero e. Si ver-brome lineo w'ln 5i ver. 11121.

Josef Albers: Glo" set, 1925

teo

-<~
Morionne Movable

Brandl: wo,1I fixture

ref ector,

cojustobta

witn 1925

-«lems of industriol design: utensils ond household oppliances. The function of the metol war shop was 0 . speciol one, involving simultaneously education and production. We therefore selected lor young oppren ices problems from which the use of materials, tools and machinery could be learned and which were at the some time of practical use. During those days there was so conspicuous a lack of simple and functional objects lor daily use thot even the young ap' prentices were able to produce models for industrial production (ash trays, teo holders, etc.) which industry bought and for which royalties were poid.
Marianne Brandt: Chromium and frosted gloss lighti ng fi.,u reo 1914 Marianne Brondt: Wall fixture. c. 1915

Mor'onne Brondt: Night toole lorna with adjustable shcde. 1928

139

138
Me 01 works op, Dessce Marianne Brandt: Ind ustrially produced lamp shodes. 192& Marianne Brondl: M'rror lor shoving or rna eup. Dull aluminum reflector Iii by electric: bulb behind mi ror. 1911>

M. Krojew,ki: Chromium a~d Ira' ed gloss lighting fixture. Hoo 5 suppor ing the globe are easily odjus able. 1925

Morionne fixture

Brondt:

Ceiling

Melol worhhop,

DeS50J

Melol wor shop: Adjustoble desk lomp.

1924

Merionne Brondr: Spun chromium lighling fixture ror corridors. 1925

M. Brondt cnd H. Pnyrembel: Adjustoble ceiling Ii. ere. Aluminum shode. 1'126

Morie~ne BrondT: Lighling fixture lor wells or low ceilings. 1925

Pages irom co ologs or loc cries monufocturing lighting fi.tures from

BounolJs designs

- :1_.,,: ..

_.~-

- ....... - ..

---

WEAVING WORKSHOP
THE WEAVING WORKSHOP by ANNI ALBERS
Any reconstructive work in a world as chaatic as post-wor Europe had, nalurally, to be exparimental in a very comprehensive sense. What hod existed hod proved to be wrong-even its foundations. to

At the Bauhaus, those starting to work in weaving or in any other croft were fortunate to hove hod no raditionol training. It is no easy task to discord conventions. however useless. Many students hod felt the sterility of the art academies and their too greot detachment from life. They believed that only manual war could help them back a solid ground and put them in touch with the problems of their time. They began amateurishly and playfully, but gradually something grew out of their ploy which looked like a new and indeoendent trend. Technique was acquired as i was needed and

142

as a foundation for future attempts. Unburdened by any practical considerations, this ploy with materials produced amazing results, tex. tiles striking in their novelty, their fullness of color and texture, and passessing olten a quite barbaric beauty. This freedom 01 approach seems worth reo taining lor every novice. Courage is on irnportan factor in any creation; i can be mos active when knowledge does nof impede it at too eorly o stage. The weoving improvisations furnished 0 lund of ideas from which more carefully considered compositions Were later derived. Lit Ie by little the attention of the outside world was oroused and museums began 10 buy. It was a curious revolution when the students 01 weoving become concerned with a practical purpose. Previously they hod been so deeply interested in the problems 01 the material itsell and in discovering various ways of handling it that they had token no time for utilitarian considerations. Now, however, a shift took ploce from free ploy with forms to logical composi-

143

t.
Ann; Albers: c.I927

••••
Woven rug. Weaving

.._
elms, Desscu

Anni Albers: Doublewoven woll honging. Si 1925 Anni Albers: Topestry. Red ond yellow sitk. 1927

_= ...

l"!P.J"-~-.'

~e'
feI ~.
Weeving workshop. Dessau

lion. As 0 result, more systemotic troining in the mechonics 01 weaving wos in roduced, as well as a course in the dyeing 01 yorns. The whole 'ronqe 01 possibilities had been freely explored: . concentrotion on a definite purpose now had a disciplinary elfect. The physical qualities 01 ma erials become a subject of interest. Light-reflecting and soundabsorbing materials were developed- The desire to reach a larger group of consumers brought about a transition from handwork to machine-work: work by hand was lor the laboratory only; wark by machine was lor moss production. The interest 01 industry was aroused. The changing moods 01 the time aHected the Bauhaus workers and they responded according to their ability, helping 0 create new art forms and new techniques. The work as a whole was the resul of the [oint efforts of a group, each individual bringing to it his interpretation 01 a mutually accepted ideo. Many of the steps were

.JJ ll!l".

144

more instincive

than conscious and only in re-

145

trospect does their meaning become evidenl.

1'127-t928 Ann; Albers: Wall cover-

ing. Tal' cotton. paper Iibre

and cellophane Anni A bers: Drapery and rayon Drapery

rno-

OMi Berger; Bled.

Knotled

rug.

terio . Wool Anni Albers:

blue. red. gray

motericr. T "'0 shcdes of brown. Co Ion and reyon Anni Albers: Wall coverCotton

Guntha Shcrcn-Stdlzl: Coot material. Wool

Gun ho Sheron-S Cur'oin me eriol. Ce.lopnone

a[.I:

ing. Ton. brown,

and cellophane

leroL
Wool

A~ni Albers: Drooery moBlue end while. and rcvon

011.

Berger: Textile.

While

ce 'Icphc ne a nd colton

Lis Volger:

Rug, Heavy

wool ond :ine hemp

146

141

Ott' Berger: Reg, Whi'e, clock, br'llion bi~e" red yellow, Smy'no wool oed heme Ann; I\lbers: Dreoery rr o'eriel, Bloc end while. Co'lon, royor ond wool 1\on, Albers: Wo COlfer'og, Ce oohone ond cotton

I\nni I\loer5: no'ted rug, Grey. red, bloc" Smyrno, woo, 1925

typography workshop
~erberl boyer: pege loyau . bo uho us pros oectus. o ;n lid a the bauhous war shop. 1925

typography by herbert bayer

why should we write and print with two alphabets? both a Iorge and a small sign are not necessary to indicate one single sound.

•
jlJl.IILImIdiIto,.....,........". ~I.~~ ~~

KINDE._QPII!L5CHRj,,,IC

'==::--;:~~:__-

----,_ ----,_ ...

•

,..__

148

esker schiernrner:

poster,

VOI\'rI(AKAUJ' lUI tl(lI'H[if!; ~0ftGSIUi' UNOu>LEI!IIllAII:.I.IICM]( """,,,(Sl'R2"

fhe triadic Ii hogroph

bellet.

SCHAUBU AG
........

DIENSTACi'iS FE8RUAR8~~ • DI ENSl AG 26. F{MUM ""'"

BAUHAUSBOCHER

lille ooge. neue orbeiien de, beuhells werksiaiten, 1925

I. monoly-nogy:

.. ..._1.~a;"

.",O.'Y'II L-M·O .. O""...·N ......

-,

NEUE ARBEITEN

NaJ&.a.M:.....-.:N
eAUM .... .WCJit~ U

~~

eAUHAUSWERKST~TTEN

..

'I

we do not speak a capitol A and a small a. we need only a single alphabet. it gives us practically the some result as the mixture of upper- and lower-case letters, and at the same time is less of a burden on all who write-on school children, students, stenographers, professional and business men. it could be written much more quickly, especially on the typewriter, since the shift key would then become unnecessary. typewriting could therefore be more quickly mastered and typewriters would be cheaoer because of simpler construction. printing would be cheaper, for lants and type cases would be smaller, so that printing establishments would save space and heir clients money. with these common sense ecanomies in mind the bauhaus began in 1925 to abandon capitol letters and to use small letters exclusively. this step toward the rationalization 01 writing and printing met with outraged protests, especially because in german capitol initials are used lor all nouns. moreover, the bauhaus had always used roman or even sans serilletters instead of the archaic and complicate.b gotijic alpfJallet customarily employed in german printing, so that the suppression 01 capitols added fresh insult to old injury. nevertheless the bauhaus mode 0' thorough alphabetical house-cleaning in all its printing, eliminating capitols from books, posters, catalogs, magazines, stationery and even colling cords. dropping capitols would be a less radical relorm in english. indeed the use of capital letters occurs so infrequently in english in cornpcrison with german that it is difficult to understand why such a superlluous alphabet should still be considered necessary. to recall this. typographical experimen~ the balance of thiS volume, to page 221, will be printed without using capitol letters.

I
D.KOHLEPAPIER

1~95 : ~ .. .~..
J

i '~'" ...... ~'. ._.,~_

149

1924

A hondbills.

.'"

herbert ooyer: cover oesign. bOJhcu, prospectus. 1921>

I. mchoiy·ncgy:
design. mogc!ine quolil"#. 192b

cover

abcde'GhiiH I mnpqrstuvw
he rber' boyer: univerSal tyee. condensed bole, cherecters 01 bose snow med'um ana j'gh! "eig'*,

xqzaS

dd

l:i

:4:

1: .:J

I t
l
!

herbert bayer: basic e ements Irom whie the universol type is b~i r up: a :9" orcs. nree angles, verticol and o,;zo~tc line.

nertlerbayer: universaJ toe. chorccrers at oose show bold, rl'edium cnd lighf weights, 1925, improveo, 1928

!~ !
: cover

design. 1926

magazine

aflsel.

herbert bayer: resao reh in the developmen 01 he universal type

stuvwxyz a dd

abcdefGhi iK mnopqr

150

neroert 1926

oyer:

po, er.

nn
rill

L mohaly-nogy: jcc er. 1924

bco]

P,..

uu
U

151

U 'JU

MONDRIAN
NEUE

GESTALTUNG

., It." d to. I~., la iii: I.aa.a tt It tl."'" ~~" I"If ,. ". ~'I~ "'1' tla tI~ I~

josef clbers: stencil letters, design based on three fundamental shopes. 1925

nerbert boyero e~hibi 'an DOSier. pi med in The beuhc.rs pr'n!i~9 shop. 1921>

jaser albers: stencil leiters, basic elements Irom which the letters ore built vp, 1925

r......

(r •• 4If.r.....

·tril.lu·

course
a anonymous: slud ies in can rosr, given: a cross b anonymous: studies in contrasl. given: form 01 leHer T

c ononymous:

5 dies in illusion of dislance a d proximity for purposes 01 layout and display. given: form of let er z, free choice 01 odd"lionol elemenl;

d anonymous: studies in comoosi ion. given: seven bars of equal size e anonymous: STudies in composition. given: nine squores of equal size

I anonymous:
rhemotic contrasts

studies in and optic

+
+
olexo nder sc hawi ns~y: poster advertising hars. 1928. e"ec<.Iled in :Ialy. 1935

11-:

1+
:.

<.

u
b

6l +

--,,~ I C
IIIr ~III
~ ~

7 __U~§§III
----_
~

+
b

152
alexander schawinsky: cesser adverlising men's clothing. 1928

T1 T T __:__j
JT[

-% #'.•••• ••._ •• :\4 ••• '1

T
c

rpm

--. rr" ........ t

M

153

.. .,. ;... - .....

••
-:.

photography
no technicol photogroohic worhhop was in e.islen~e . until 1929. photogroo~y. nowever, hod 0 very lmpcrto~ in!luence o~ 0 II bo ~~ous work. it wcs moholy-nogy who first encouroged the bouhovs to consider photogrophic oroblems. is course os well -cs his own photogrophic work (such cs the photogrorn. or exposure without 0 comero I s im",loled ne s ude" s to rno e Ihei' own experiments. ine bOlJhous stuoenis deeply concerned with new prob ems 01 spoce relations ,e,ponded eagerly to the new ortisfc possibilities 01 pho ogrophy: bird', eye ono worrr', eye view. "negative e1le<::5," double exposure ond oouble printing microphotogrophy cno e~ orge,.,e 15. no only wos ehetogroohy thus considered 05 on eno in 'tsell, bu '1 wos pul to proclical US" in odvenising loyout, oosle rs ood typogrophy. ,"us the bauhaus 100 on active oorl in Ihe development of pholograpnic orl.

applied photography,

by moholy~nagy
54
the most importont development affecting present day layout is photo-engraving, the mechanical reproduction 01 photographs in any size. on egyptian pictograph was the result of tradition and the individual ortist's ability; now, thanks to photography, the expression 01 ideas through pictures is lar more exact. the camero's objective presentation of lacts frees the onlooker from dependence on someone else's personal description and makes him more ap to form his own opinion. the inclusion 01 photography in poster design will bring about another vital change. a poster must convey instantaneously 011 the high points alan ideo. the greatest possibilities lor future development lie in the proper use of photographic means and 01 the different pho agraphic techniques: retouching, blanking auf, double prinlinq, distortion, enlargement, e c. the two new resources of poster art are: II) photography, which ollers us a brood and powerful means of communication; (2) emohotic contrast and variations in typagrophicalloyout, including the bolder use of color. 1923 (from bib1. no. 8J 155
I. moholy-ncgy: gram. 1923 pho
0I.

moholy-rogy: 1926

do s.

~' :stucio rellecled in gorde n cry,lel. 1923

I. moholy-nogy:
~oSIer. p~o omontoge

I. mohol -nagy: led a ond The swon, oheremor rcqe. 1915

I. rroholy-nogy; enerogrurn. 1922

---florence hetlry: photograph. 1927

____ anonymous; o!fentior.! ohatamantage

lut leininger: photograph. 1928 . mohaly-nogy: negative prin!. 1927

156

nerbert 1928

boyer:

balcony.

werner 1928

leist: the pipe.

herber boyer; photograph lor cover of magazine bouhou r, awarded first prize in the exhibition af foreign advertising phatagraphy at the art center, new york. 1931

exhibition technique
'i'n addit'on 10 e hibilions 10,wi~g exh:bifan des'gns me"lianed: heroert ocver, ".hiDition
01 the ba~ho~s

by bouhcus

'Isell, the 101pea? e may De

herbert boyer; design lor a tronsportoble exhibition pavilion advertising ogric ulturo Mac hinery. 1928

oi lh" lawns 01 d essou and

lilrbs' berl' n, Iq17 herberl DO yer, noll of elementary 'Vpograohy, ot he press e.posi'ior, colog-e, 1928 herbert baler and hermon Foulik 'ronsporsoble oovil'on lor exhibiiior purposes e"'7 i, 1928 alexander sc:nowi~5l<yand joos: schmiol. i~n ers Dov·lio·, gas cnd wo'er exhibition. oerli", 1928 wolter gropiL'. mOholy-nogy ole.ander scho v(ns·t morce breuer, e,hio'tion oi hOL,ng orcble-ns (gogio) berlir , Iq29 wo.ter groo'u5 moholy·nogy, marcel brevet, herbert bayer wer.bund elhioition paris, 1930 herber' boyer monoly-nogy welter 9rooi",s. 9lnibi'ie· oi the buildi ~g unions (502:01" boug"we',schol'eo I building e.hibi'ion. oer;in, 1931 Noher grop'us ana ole.ano e ' schowi~s.~ oui Cling ex· oosition, berl' n 1';>31

olexc ncer

schcwi nsky: transparent oisoloy lor hot water boi ers, gos and water eXhibition, berlin, 1928

-<:----.:i
orexoneer sc~owjns.k)':

plosiic health pos'er in jun ers pcvilion, gas and woter exhibi'ion berli , 1928

'1.58

heinz Ioew and franz ehr ich: siudies in luminous adver ising. 1928

olexonder st~o",'n' y: heo If, eosrer in junkers pavilion, gos and we er exhibi'ion, berlin, 1928

: port of d'sploy lor i~ nkers go s water nacters, gas o-id woler e.hibi,ion. berlin. 1928

ol"xo-de schowinsky: povilion ior ju ~kers 901 boi ers, 905 a nd wCJ~er e.h·c't"on. berlin, exec ~ted oy rne bo u hous workshops. 1928

wall-painting workshop
_ pointing
"

: wolldesigns. 1927

inslruclion in Ihe worKshop included instruction 01 'arm. color and moleriols. and horough training in oc ual pain ing. I technical composi ion 01 he poinling

in heory practical

ground

160

lime ploster, ploster 01 Doris. gypsvm plosler. marble and a obosler dust plosters ior empero poinling; spa tier pointing (airbrush) on ploster, wood and metal; preporalion ol Ihe ground lor panel pictures

161

2 siudy 01 all known po in.i "g tech ~ique, 01 the post

lresco, casein and mineral pain 5 tempera. watercolor. celscrnine, encaustic oil point lacquer, melollic point 3 lundomen 01 principles

01 color harmony
lacquers. dryer. and

chemical nature 01 oils, varnishes, pigmen s

4 prcc icol opplicotien of the new ered in he experi-nentol workshop 5 proiects !or color schemes models. plans and elevo"ons b poster work
7 knowledge 01 tools, erection

echniqves

discov-

lor given

architectural

ing 01 stencils ana cnrtoons, tives. models wall-pain ing workshop. desseu. on Ine walls, exoerimenls in various echniques and MO erial. 8 taking dimensions.

0' 5collo ding working drawings.

he mOK' perspec-

preparing

est:mo es, bookkeeping

wall paper produclion was planned under 9ropiu s. octuol execution too place under ho nnes meyer and. late'. m,iis von der rohe. he enphosis was not on potlern bu on lexlure:

scud colo" were used. and a number 01 new techniques were introduced. he influence on german Man ulocturers was very greo ' bcuhous woll paper was widely imitated.

sculpture workshop
_ : pcrcboloic

sculpture.

1'1'16- 928

carr DO .. I'ar a' arimary plostie larm s, 1926· 1928

_ co-n oorisor-, negative

: llJoy'n posirive
'101'0
I",.

o..,d
'1'1

1926·

na

con co

as.

162
L ahr ich: sculptured r"liel.I918

163

,_ elosrie 'arm.

linear

end

__

: cemperotive

,_

prlrnorv

lorrns. lap lrc nslcrmotion 0' cyl ino er to hvperoololc. boliam 'ran,iaf'llatian a' in" and circle '0 hyp"r· boloic a no sphere

plo.;lic 'or.." S. 1926··1928

stage workshop
olexonder schawinsky: 5 oge set ior a sho kespeoreo n oloy. the units con be combined in various wcvs, exec uted at zwidou, 1926 olexonder schcwins y: design lor" theoter curtoin

from a lecture with stage demonstrations by oskar sch/emmer, delivered before the friends of the bauhaus, march 16, 1927, published in bibl. no. 30, 1927, no. 3, pp. 1. 2
in weimar, where we hod no theater 01 our own, we hod to use some one of the local stages for our productions. now, however, in the new building at dessau we are lucky enough to have our own theoter. we are interested in interior space treated os port of the whole composition of he building. stogecralt is on art concerned with space and will become more so in the future.. a theater (including both stage and auditorium) demands above all on architectonic handling of space: everything that happens in it is conditioned by space and related to it. form (two-dimensional ond three-dirnensionol] is on element of space: color and light are elements of form. light is of great impor once. we are predominantly visual beings and therefore purely visual

askor schlemmer: donee of gestures. danced by schlemmer, komins y. siedoll. 1927

164

experience can give us considerable so islcction. if forms in motion provide mysterious and surprising effects through invisible mechanical devices, if space is trans/armed with the help of changing forms, colors, lights, then all the requirements of spectacle, a noble "feast for the eyes," will be fulfilled. if we go so for as to break the narrow confines of the stage and extend the drama to include the building itself, not only he interior but the building as an architectural whole-on ideo which has especial fascination in view 01 the new bauhaus building-we might demonstrate to a hiherto unknown extent the validity 01 the spoce-sioqe, as an ideo. let us consider plays consisting only in the movements 01 forms, colors and lights. if the movement is purely mechanical, involving no human being but the man at the switchboard, the whole conception could have the precision -<-:i
olexonder schowinsky: ligures lor robbers' bolle· in two ganl/emen of verooa. 1925 osl:or schlemmer: stiltwal ers, design lor 0 ballet. drowings lor co's in stage theory. c. t 927 alexonder s<:howins~y: design for georg kaiser's From mor« fill midnighf_
1926

es or sell emmer: varia lions an 0 mcsk, drawings 'or c es s in ,loge 1heory

of a vast automaton

requiring

tremendous

technical equipment. modern engineering can produce such equipment; it is only a question of money_ but there is also 'he question of the extent to which such equipment would be justified by the effects obtained. how long can a soectoror's interest be held by rotaling, swinging, humming machinery, even if accompanied by innumerable variations in color, lorrn and light? is entirely mechanized drama to be thoughl of as on independent genre, can it dispense with man except as a perfect mechanic and inventor? since at present no such mechanically

heinz loew: model 01 a mechanical stage set. 1'127

esker scnlemmer:

spire]

figure from the 1riodic ballet I;glht ploy. experiment with dillerenl way. of using light

equipped stage exists, and since our own experimentol stage until now hos had even less equipment thon the regular theaters, the humon actor continues to be on essential element 01 drama for us. and he will remain 16& 50 as 10'1g as there is a

stage. heis the antithesis olthe rationally constructed world of form, color and light· he is the vessel of the unknown, the immediate, the rronscendentol-on organism of lIesh and blood as well as 0 phenomenon existing within the limits of time and space. he is the creator portant element 01 drama, perhaps i rnporton I-speech. we admit that we have cautiously this problem so lor, not because it concern us, but becouse we are well its signiliconce ond want to moster for the time being we ore sotislied 01 on imthe most avoided does not aware of it slowly. with the

-<-=
o,exalnder schowinsky: preliminary sketch lor space theater. 192b
0

ISl

alexander schowi r.s~)": stage set. l'l2b

mute ploy of gesture ond movement, with pantomime, but firmly believe that some day we shall develop soeech quite naturally From them. we wont to understond words, not as literalure, but in an elementary sense, as on event, as though they were heard for the first lime.
i am speak'ng af ccmplatelv independent mechanical not of the mechanization and rechnico renovation of sloge equi ome nt- the Ihealer 01 steel, concrete and 9 ass with rolaling slage, film projections, etc. - which is meant 10 serve as 0 background lor per. lcrmonces by human actors.
cutcmctc,

alexander scnawiMky: s~ekh. produced by s10 gil class

OS or schlernrner : bOJ: ploy. danced by siedoH

esker schlemmer:

donce. produced
class

wives by sage

os

0'

schlemme-: by weininger

musical clown. donced

andreas

OSKor schlemmer: drawings of the human body. drawings lor clcss in sloge theory

"

169
a exa oder schowinsky: sketch. do need by schowinsky, heibig, schlemmer. produced by sage clcss

andreas weininger: oe.ign lor 0 spherical theo er. the speclotors .it olo"g the interior surface 01 Ihe g obe; each ovenooks Il,e whole interior, is drown toword the center ond is, therefore, in 0 new psycho log lcol, opticcl end ocoustica! relo ionshi p fa the whole

stage closs rehearsing On the bouhous roo I. block ligure in cen'er: osker schlemmer

.;::oskar scb .emmer: de'ineo ion 01 space by human figure. donced by s·"dol'. c. 1927

kandinsky's course
analytical drawing
!irst stage: the sn..dents and their , reduction ple, major certain began with
5

the 101l0wing must be added:

I d owing
ill-lile compositions, were: to a simwi hin drawn rendering, on object,

instruc ion at the bauhaus

is train-

ing in observation, irs! analytical of the entire problems composition

.in exoct seeing ond exoct

not of the external oopearance of but of i 5 constructional elements,

01

form, to be carefully

their logical lorces or tensions which are to be discovered in the objec s themselves the 0

limits to be determined the charocteris

by the studen

himsell. 2 distinguishing

and in he logical arrangement of them. handling of plone surfaces is prelirn'norv

second sloge: oojects recognizob.e (sow, grindslone, poi), mo'~ len.ions incicoted :n co. crs, pri ncipol weig hIs in brood lines: loco poinl 01 the cons rucliona net in dottea lines above: essen ial schene 01 .he comaosition

ic forms of sin-

gle ports of the still-lile, studied separately and afterwords in relation to the whole composition.

2 drawing

the hondling of space. instruction is based upon the method 'n my other courses, and which in my opinion used in oll other fields. (from bibl. no. 3D)

should be the method of the entire composi ion in a 01 in-

3 rendering

simplified line-drawing. grodual transition to the second s ruction, briefly described

sloge

as follows:

I indicotion of the tensions discovered In the composition-rendered in line-drawing.

2 accentua
the use

01

ion of the principal tensions through brooder lines or the use of color. \
\ \

110

3 indication of the constructional net with its local or star ing poin 5 (see the dolled lines in drawing opposi e; the obiects suggested are a sow, a grindstone and 0 pail).

(11

third stage:
I the objects rangements are considered of lines.

tensions; the composition 2 different

vious

solely os energyis reduced to orobdraw-

possibil't'es of the composition:

hidden construe ion (see

\
\ \

ond

ing opposite). 3 exercises in the mas drastic simplification of the whole and of the individual tensions-concise, exact exoression. subjec s ond methods can be described only very generally in these few words. in mony cases there are more possibilities to be considered than hove been 'ndicoted here. for instance, the main theme of a composition can be explored in relation to the most varied partial tensions, such as the significance of single ports 01 he composition, shope, character, etc. their weight, cente ,
lint stoge: cornbinetion 01 sing e, simila obiec 5 into o lorger for",: 01 lhe teit, 'op, essen iol scheme 01
the composi-ien

,
\

\ \

\
~

third sloge: left: objects com pletely ro sloted into energy tens;ons. moin construction indieo~ed by do ted lines. above: .enema.

administration
w~ot authorities hod to be consul-ad by the director when it was necessary to make important decisions efiecting the internal conditions or edernol relcfions of the bouhous? at weimar, the who I.. institute, including the director, W05 under I~e jurisdiction of the ministry of public educotion; ot dessou, this au hori y wos vested in the municipal council. the annual budgel varied between I ]0,000 and 200.000 -nerks. 01 weimar it was prepared by the minister of pua:ic educalion end submit ed to the thuringian /andfeg; at o esseu Ihe budget was prepored by the municipal council and subrni ted 10 the sledfpar/ament. in he bauhaus itsell. the director hod far-reaching powers. he was given "Iull charge 01 the creative and cdrninistrn~ive activities of the bauhaus." in the early year., the faculty had 0 nom ina I right to vote on vital decision s. in Ihe belief that problems ollecting creative work can never be solved by a majority, t~e right to vole woo discorded in subsequent stotutes: in fact. decisions by majority vole were dropped altogether. futl responsibility .... s granted to the director by 0 una ni mous vote. o the stotu as provided. ho ..... ever, that 011 decisions hod' to be preceded by discussion, all ins rue crs end the student representatives hod the right to por icipote in hese discussions. the lormal consul onts were: I. for the sale of models 10 indus rial lirms: the business mo oger [syndikus] who was in charge 01 the commerciol activities 01 the bouhous and loter of the bouhous corporation. 2. for proble-ns of internal argo izo ion and teaching: the bauhaus council, mode up o! moslers eaching probIems of form ond lee hnicol instructors in Ihe workshops (the loiter were included only at weimar), the business manager, and the student representatives.

oaul lee: holl c. oil on canvas. 1920. courtesy bucbbclz go ery

112

113

paul klee speaks:

we cons ruct and construct and yet intuition still has its uses. without it we can do a lot, but not everything. one may work a long time, do different things, many things, important things, but not everything. when intuition is joined to excct research it speeds the progress of excct research. exactitude, winged by intuition, is temporarily superior. but exact research being exact research, it can get along, if tempo is disregarded, without intuition. it can get along as a matter of principle without intuition. it can remain logical, it can construct itself. it can boldly bridge the distance from one thing to another. it can preserve on ordered attitude in chaos. art, 100, has been given sufficient room for exoct investigation, and for some lime the gates leading a it have been open. what had already been done lor music by the end of the eighteenth century has at lost been begun for the piclorial arts. mathematics and physics furnished the means in the form of rules to be followed and to be broken. in the beginning it is wholesome to be concerned wi h the (unctions and to disregard the finished form. studies in algebra, in geometry, in mechanics characterize teaching direc ed toward the essential and the functional, in contrast to the opparent. one learns a look behind the fOCiode, to grasp the root of hings. one learns to recognize the undercurren s, the antecedents of the visible. one learns to dig down, a uncover, to lind the couse. to analyze. (from bibl. 14)

extra-curricular activities

discuuion

in the beuheus:

influence

of the student

body

III

the basic conception oi the bouhous hod so many rornificotions Ihot it gave rise a 0 vosl nu mber 01 prob ems demanding solution. this led 10 spir'ted ciiscussions in . the early yeo rs and even to via en' eonfroversies, not only among foculty membe ..., but between the faculty and Ihe siudent body (see klee's leHer righlJ. cs 'he years possed, I e educational syslem ond "5 orgorizo· lion were Irequent·y reviseo as a result of hese discussions. gropius ir'ended thai the process of learning shou d merge imperceptibly in a a comr-iueol ask (as Ihe firs monilesto pu' i , 'the school is ~e servonl 0' the workshop: ard the oay wi come w~en he school will be absorbed ir to the wor'shop"). in accordance w'lh these views, the stuo ents were permi ted 0 'o,e on ecfve pori in she pi ng I~e oolicies of the bou hous. Ihe cri icol were cho lenged 10 formula e prccli col suggesior-s fer 'mpreverrenl. Ih's gave eoch sl~den " leel. 'ng of responsibility lor the worl as a whole, ond mace "t easier to clarify I~e problems og;lol"ng everyona. I ere con be no douor Ihot this ospect of ne s uoenls' erective oC'ivily eontricutad lorgely to 'he .ns ; ~ ion s subsec.rer-t successes. i~ Ihe course of titre 't become possible 0 g've the student oeoy more and more direct i :Iuence in he olfoirs ol tne whole orgenizo ion. or"g'nolly here woo o sh..dent council which wes co sui eo Irom time a time by Ihe director. 10'er on. the s udents were granted Ihe rig I to seod one delegete 'rom each workshop 10 Ihe loc!;lty council when vi a decislo s were to be mode, still 10 er, "n o assuu, ore or two siudent representotives alteno eo all meeli ngs of the laculty cou ell.

rhe bou hO~5 bo no

I. rr onoly.nogy: wo II· oisp oy for 0 bouhous :es ivo 1925

peul klee: leiter to the faculty eou neil i welcome Ihe foc Ihot forces 50 d'versely insp. reo are worki~g oget~er 0' our bouncus, . oporove a' the conHici between hem ii 'Is eHed is evioent in the lino produc. 10 ottock on obs oc'e 's a good les' 01 streng'h, i: i o ,eo ebstocle. cri icol estiMO'es ore olwoys subjective and thus a negolive iudg'llent on oncther's work can have "0 sig, nillconce fa, tne wor~ as a whole. .n general, Ihere is no rig hi nor wrong, but Ihe wor~ ives o"d develops Ihroug~ the oloy of oppos' ng lorces ius' cs in no ture good and bod war together proci uclively in 'he loeg run, (signee) peel klee december, 1921

Irom a manuscript u,eO for a covhcus eve~'n9 niscussion: eve s 'I i try, i see no choos in our tiMe. -1,01 some pointers con't make up -heir minds whether to pain' nolurolis(colly, o ostroc Iy or no' 01 0' does not Mean chaos. o~r needs are c1eor eoo"gh: the pO"'oili ies are lim'ted only by ourselves. Ine moi .. thing is to lend a hond where some h'ng needee is [oc ing, and to -neve wi!" w otever forces we can commend award o singlerrindeo economicol solution. . . . me-eel bre. er

i"

926 tne 'irst issue of the bouhc as periodical, beuIeitschrih fiir ge.toltung, W05 published, edited o 9rooiu5 end monoly'nogy, wi" he eelleborc io 01 all members 01 Ihe bevhcus. publica io wos cont.nued for several yeors. clrer 1928 under vorying edilorshio.
heus:

alexander 5cl-lo",'ns y: birthday greet" "95

man oge 1928

iron

gil

clb ..,."

costumes porty

lor a bauhaus

DAS WEI SSE

FE

r
photogra ph by lux le;n inger

beach

Iii"

herbert

boy e r:

invitation dOlled and

10 the while feslilla!. Iheme:

while checked, striped. 1925

116

: page irom o bitlhdoy album. montage 01 pictures and newspaper clippings. 1925

-: visual

re-

port 01 a lrip a jugoslavia. mal' 09'" \92b

a bouhcus

costume

patty

at; oerger: ligure baked doy porty

g'ngeroreod ior 0 bi rfh-

lh .. bauhaus band. photog'aph by lux feininger

118
heroe" ooyer: birthday gilt 10 wol er gropius. screen irrprir.ted w"h ki"es ira," s'udeols ond -ncsrers.
192b

le!ler

119

! I
I

...
"e'

b."hauskllp.n"

£
01... 0

.,31._

herber bayer: invitation o the beord, nose ond heart festival. prin eo at 1 he bou hous war shop, 1928

nde' 5C nowi""y: ooster lor me beo'o. ncs e cno heor' 'esrivo _ 1928

painting, sculpture, graphic arts, 1919-1928

"iconoclasts" -the "house without pictures"

he opposition 01 the bauhaus to conventiona and acoaemic ideas led to the charge 01 "iconoclasm." for insto-ica, at one period Ihe bouhous reocted violently ogoinst the custom of overloeding the walls 01 a house wi h all kinds 01 pictures. the bauhous lelt Ihot the "woll" itsell hod to De rediscovered a"d its tree men! experimented with in many 1N0y', so lno~ interest could be centered on Ihe murol or reliel "''lieh would exis as on in egrol 'eoture 01 the room rother rnon on framed pic ures which W!!re 00 chen casual oiter· hougnts. the "house wi houl pictures" (hous ohne bilder] wos merely the shor -livsd bot Ie cry 01 a lew ex remists lor. 05 a metter or lact, he bouhous 1001 the eenest in eres in poin'ing and sculpture. otherwise it would hardly hove invitee world-famous ertisls 10 ioin its faculty, nor would it have includee SO many poi ntings in i15 exhibition,. Irorn Ihe very beginni ng the student boo '/ indud ad 0 nu mber of ortists who were a owed a devole themselves exc usively 10 pointing.

180

181

poul llee: outdoor sport. watercolor. 1923. courtesy i. b. neurno nn

poul klee: orcflc InOW. oil on cardboard. 1910. courtesy nierendorl gallery

Iyonel lei ni nger: nieder-reissen. 0'1 o~ convos. 1924

182

183

Iyonel leininger: go!hen. oil on canvas. 1919. courtesy nierenaorl gallery

vcnel leininger: villoge. weterce or. 1923

.'

184

wassi y ond.ns y: graduated blccs. ail on cor-vcs. 1927_ courlesy [, b. ne rma nn

185

~as,ily c-id'ns t: camoosition 307 11'0di'ied, oil an camoo.ilion booro. 1925. courtesy n'srendorf gal sry

.... ossily kanain. y: colored woodc~t. 1922

'Hossily anain.ky; serene . oil on ccnvos, 1924. courte,y j. 0. neumonn

"

186

181

johannes itlen: cubic composition. 1919

k. schwerdtleger: reliel. gloss and elester. 1922

ty olean

k. schwerd lege: morble.

torso,

1922

os Or sc nlernrner: Iree sculp ura. closter, 1923

gernard more s: the you+. otoster. 1922-1923

wei "nO esker schlernrner : orch -lee .onic relia: .• 923

I'"

00

uhous.

oskor schlerr mer: orehhectonic rel·a'.

sc ulpiure workshop 1923

0,'0

r schlerr mer:

figure ~I. lithograph_ 1921. ('rom blbl, no. 30) k_ schwerdtfeger: crchitectur el sculpture. sondstone

190

gerhard marc; 5: mother cot. woodcu • 1922. COL' esy j. b. oeuman~

gerhard mcrcks: he owl. woodcu'. 1921. (lrorn bibl. no. 30)

191

gerhard more s: coin and abe. wooocu·. 1923

friedl dicker: lantostic animals. lithograp . 1922

I~:J
OS

«:
.·· .. 1

~~

or schlemmer: ligure h~. lilhograph. 1921. (irom bibl. no. 30)

,/'

I. moholy.nogy; construction a II. empero on convcs.

1924

192

193

esker schlem 'TIer;

do neer. oi on convcs. c. 1923

cs or schl ernmer: 'he bauhaus stoirs, 0'1 on canvas. c. 192'1. COL' .. sy philip [chnson

, moho v-nagy:
cens-rucrlce .

tempera

on cerwos.

192b

_ colored

:slilliie, Ii ogroph. 1926

194
herbert boyer: the live. we lercolor . .1922

195

pou ci roan: o;ter oreque. s·c" ing. 1923

I. menoly-nogy:
constr ~ction b 100.

!empero

on ce nvos, 192B

196

iosef 0 bers: Die ure . •rogmen s ot colored gloss boo as. 192

pou citroen: -neircpc Is. mon"oge. 1921

191

jose' 0 loers: gloss oic ure, single pone. Inb

josef olbers: lcrtice nicrure. stoineo g1055. 1921

r~do I boschcrn: composition. etching. 1922

esker schlere <ner: varia io . red and bod' nk. 1914

: vcr ioricn.

pencil a no was n, 1924

1
198
photograph from magazine showing crowd ana oudspaoker. the pia as on this ond the opeesite page am individual vorio ions on his photograph, 01 er on ideo 01 rnoholv-nogv, which were rnade up into a portiolio as a oirthdoy g'" to wo"er grapLu,

Iyonel !eininger: varia ion. watercolor ond in . 1924

199

I. moholy-nogy: variation. pencil and wash. 1924

paul klee: vorlcf on. tempera. 1924

...ossily ke nd insky: variation. wotercolor and ink. 1924

o oe"· b-e ~: wol~rco 1927

0 r,

ludwig

h.rschleld-rncek:
wcrerco or.

200

campo5i"on,

201

1922

werner

drewes: ce cil.

Me,g.i

fischer:

cbstrcctlon. 1927-1928

composTen. Monotyce, 1928