- The word “Bauhaus” means “house of
construction”.
- Despite the school’s great effect on the world, it
was opened for only fourteen years and was attended by a total of thirteen
hundred students.
- During these fourteen years, Bauhaus was managed under
the direction of three men, each of whom made unique contributions to the
School of Bauhaus.
- The Bauhaus was much more than just a school. It was a
commune, a movement, and a philosophical idea.
- Bauhaus Innovations
- When Gropius created
the Bauhaus, he established an institution in which artists combined their
talents with craftsmen within architecture allowing students to study not
only the functional aspect of design but also the aesthetic.
- This idea that form follows function advocated
designing in its most basic from by eliminating all elements that were not
essential to the function of the product.
- Gropius believed in
limiting the materials used in the workshops to those which can be easily
attained by any person. Many of the materials used were wood, metal, wire,
and glass.
- In order to avoid constructing a building that was
supported by its walls, Bauhaus used an internal skeleton that could bear
the weight of the building. This efficient innovation not only increased
the floor space of a building but it allowed taller buildings to be built.
The walls of the building were no longer used for support but instead
served as a “skin” to cover the steel frame.
1919 - The school was founded in
the German capital of
Weimar
by a man named Walter
Gropius
1927 – The school relocated to
Dessau
and created an architectural department known as
the Higher School for the Design of Forms.
1928 - Walter
Gropius resigned as director of the Bauhaus and was succeeded by his
appointee Hannes Meyer.
1930 - Because of his communist
views, Meyer was immediately removed from his
position and replace by Ludwig Mies van
der Rohe who removed all communist
students form the school.
1933 - Due to financial problems
and political unrest, the Bauhaus was forced to close.
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