Bauhaus

Bauhaus movement began in 1919 when Walter Gropius  created a school with the capacity of bridging the gap between art and industry by mixing crafts and fine arts. Prior to the Bauhaus movement, fine arts such as architecture and design were held in higher esteem than craftsmanship , but Gropius asserted that all crafts, including art, architecture and geometric design, could be brought together and mass-produced. 

The Bauhaus movement teaches “truth to materials” as a core tenet, which means that material should be used in its most appropriate and “honest” form, and its nature should not be changed. For example, supportive materials such as steel should be exposed and not hidden within the interior framework of a piece of furniture.

The Bauhaus movement captured the attention of many respected artists, designers and architects such as Le Corbusier, Eileen Gray, Mies Van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer and Florence Bassett Knoll.

The Bauhaus movement transformed the design and production of modern furniture by incorporating the use of steel as frames and supports for tables, chairs, sofas and even lamps. The use of machine-made, mass-produced steel tubing created simple forms that required little handcrafting or upholstery and contributed to the streamlined, modern look of Bauhaus furniture.

The Bauhaus school founded by Gropius was one of the first to teach students modern design. The school closed in the 1930s under pressure from the Nazis, but the movement still influences modernist architecture and modern design today. While Bauhaus has influences in art, industry and technology, it has been most influential in modern furniture design. Bauhaus bridges the gap between art and industry, design and functionality.