The Bauhaus was a real laboratory and at the same time a school where new principles for the organization of life were born. Even after a hundred years, they are very relevant. We recall the main ones.
Furniture for people The first sentence of the Bauhaus manifesto, written by Walter Gropius, was: “The highest goal of all existing arts is the building.” He believed that all buildings on the planet should be created for the people, and not for the demonstration of power. Their scale should be understandable, not overwhelming. To achieve this, you need to look for architects, craftsmen and artists who are able to think independently. Someone who could design with a holistic approach in mind. The entire Bauhaus design vocabulary is based on this principle of integrity: it was so precise, pure and universal that it was understood all over the world. The meaning of the thing is to cheer up, give warmth, security and trust.
Beauty is Eternal The Bauhaus did not just protest against the decorative and excessive – it staged a real rebellion. It was a liberating movement that brought design back to its roots. The main thing is color, shape and scale. The Bauhaus brought back to the world a forgotten geometric aesthetic that had been used centuries earlier. Shaking off the dust from a precious heritage, a new generation of artists and creators has revealed timeless integrity. A clean, clear, classic style appeared. The Bauhaus elevated the archaic aesthetics, the “golden” proportions, to an ideal. However, he never aspired to be “fashionable.” It turned out to be a revision of true values.
Craft is the sophistication of design “We must all return to the craft,” insisted Walter Gropius in his manifesto. He called for the creation of a new guild ethic, when the artisan is equal to the artist. On the wave of “the purposeful effort of all artisans” to combine poetry and the secrets of craftsmanship, intuition and technology, the Bauhaus was born. Gropius emphasized “craft is the sophistication of design”, in fact, he united them. In the Bauhaus, they put an equal sign between what used to be at different stages of evolution. Construction equals imagination, perfection equals craftsmanship, attention to detail and passion for materials and technology. Balancing between all these components, the ideas of architects and designers became real masterpieces.
A thing is only good if it is improved “Making good things even better” was the motto of the Bauhaus. The members of the movement within its walls combined art and craft, and did it with the help of the latest technologies for that time. Their curiosity about the manufacturing process and industry was truly innovative. Only such a passionate approach made the transition to a new quality possible: almost every item that came out of the hands of students and masters overcame the stylistic and technical barriers with its appearance. Each thing was added some new, vital element.
Get rid of more – last longer (less means more) The Bauhaus phenomenon – in its relation to design. What this approach rests on: infinite reduction, getting rid of the superfluous. This school offered practically the distillate of the thing, its essence. Therefore, these items easily stand the test of time. There were a hundred ideas for one finished item in the Bauhaus, and only one of them was implemented in the material, the rest were discarded. Nobody rushed the students: their task was to create something that could outlive them.