Bauhaus Art. Architectural Style: Bauhaus

2023 Author : Hannah Pearcy | [email protected] . Last modified: 2023-06-01 01:49

Bauhaus Art: The principles, goals and experiences of the "German Werkbund" lay the basis for the "Bauhaus" founded in 1919 by the architect W. Gropius in Weimar.

In 1907 the "Deutsche Werkbund" was founded in Munich. It is an association of artists and craftsmen that promotes the quality of artisanal and industrial products. The principles, goals and experience of the “German Werkbund” became the basis of the “Bauhaus” in Weimar, founded in 1919 by the architect W. Gropius. It combines the "University of Fine Arts" and the "School of Applied Arts" by Henry van de Velde to form the so-called "folk unity school based on manual teaching". Upon entering school, students begin apprenticeships, are trained in the Bauhaus workshops and then take the journeyman's or master's examination in front of the chambers of handicrafts. The obligation to carry out regular daily workshop work gives them the opportunity tomake a living yourself. In 1925 the Thuringian government withdrawn the school's financial resources, followed by a move to Dessau. Here the school is given the name "State Bauhaus Dessau, University of Design". "Master" and "journeyman" become "professor" and "student".

architecture

After the First World War, the situation in the construction industry changed suddenly. The architecture has a new style. A simple design language is becoming more and more popular, smooth, unbroken surfaces are used, trim and cornices are reduced to a minimum. Important architects are Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Le Corbusier.

The basis for this purely functional architectural style is American architecture. In America, the first skyscrapers were built as pure skeleton buildings, the walls of which no longer supported and which allowed large window areas.

The Bauhaus school in Weimar initially does not have a pure architecture department, only Walter Gropius' private construction studio offers information. The model house “Am Horn” in Weimar is created, a white building, consistently cubic in layout and layout. The move to Dessau leads to an increase in construction activity at the Bauhaus school. The new Bauhaus building in Dessau, the “master houses” and the Dessau Törten settlement were built. The architecture is characterized by strict, geometric shapes, clear lines and always the right angle. In 1927, a construction exhibition was held on the Killesberg in Stuttgart, the Weißenhofsiedlung was built.

The settlement "Onkel Toms Hütte" in Berlin.

colourfulness

Shortly after it was founded in 1919, a workshop for wall painting was set up at the Bauhaus. From this workshop, however, there are only a few suggestions for the colorful design of architecture, one deals more with wall painting. “Color at the Bauhaus” primarily refers to the interior. Here one initially adheres to the primary colors yellow, red and blue in addition to white, gray and black. The focus is on total reduction in the "formal" as in the "colored". The so-called non-colors white, gray and black dominate, the primary colors yellow, red and blue are used sparingly. Color is an important part of the harmony of the architectural whole. The director W. Gropius himself is reserved towards the colorful architecture. He rejects color suggestions for the “master houses” in Dessau. Him,Like most other architects, white is a symbol of the highest purity and clarity. In the interior, it allows more colors, which act as a guidance system here, especially when building the "Bauhaus School Dessau". The Stuttgart Weißenhofsiedlung shows the most comprehensive depiction of "new buildings". At the time it was criticized as "Arab village" or "Jerusalem suburb". These statements also suggest the color scheme. The focus is on white, an artificial and then unusual color. However, original investigations on the plaster of Le Corbusier's houses have shown the use of different colors on the exterior. The south, east and west facades have a very light pink tint, burned umber window frames, light blue on the ground floor for back wall surfaces, light blue on the roof terrace,alternating with burnt sienna, light ocher and dark gray. The basic concept for the color scheme of the Bauhaus architecture is: the non-colors white, gray and black are dominant. If colors are used, these are the primary colors, broken or strongly lightened.

The architect Richard Neutra used strong colors for this apartment building in Berlin.

Color building

In contrast to the Bauhaus theory, the architect Bruno Taut strongly advocated the "colored building" thesis at the same time. Its design concept is as factual and cool as that of the Bauhaus, in terms of color it occupies a special position. Industrialization had grown very rapidly due to industrialization. Cheap row houses had to be created to alleviate the housing shortage. Taut now uses color as a means of creating individual areas and optically expanding the street space between the houses. As an example, his color concept for the settlement "Onkel Toms Hütte" in Berlin: At the entrance to the settlement there are three tower-like white corner buildings, white has a signal effect. In the street area, the east facades are green-blue, which emphasizes the coolness of the morning light. The west facades are painted in a deep, Pompeian rust red, it captures the evening sun and invites you to linger. The Second World War interrupted the development of colored buildings.

Interior design by Le Corbusier. Photos: Matthias Grönen

Prof. Matthias Grönen, Esslingen University of Applied Sciences Source: Malerblatt 11/2010