Bauhaus Still Felt Today
Is Bauhaus's influence still felt today?
In 1919, architect Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany, a school of craft and fine arts. The aim of Gropius was to reimagine the material world and reflect the unity of all arts (Bergdoll, 2009). Only active for a mere 14 years, this essay will consider whether the Bauhaus's influence is still felt today by looking at the links between Ikea and Bauhaus. This essay will also look at the influence in teaching within art courses today with references from Ikea, The Guardian and Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity.
Around the time of Bauhaus opening, the Weimar Republic was established after Germany had lost the First World War. Between 1918 and 1919 Germany was in ruins. People …show more content…
were starving and the populous of Germany resented their government for signing the treaty of Versailies. Therefore in 1920, rebellion struck as the Kapp Putsch aimed to set up a new government.
The Bauhaus effectively attempted to recreate and rebuild the World after the First World War had resulted in such devastation.
In the first half of the 20th century, design reacted to the World War, poverty, inflation and class divisions. There was a huge economic crisis within Germany so Bauhaus wanted to design for mass production and to increase affordability for all, whilst combing arts and crafts (Davis, n.d.). The reigning principles were unity of form and function, the idea that design is in the service of the community and a belief in the perfection and efficiency of geometry (Hoffman, n.d.). The Bauhaus encouraged the study of functionality, cost and industrial production. They worked by the motto "form follows function", meaning they created furniture and other household items by the way they work, not by the way they look. This in a way made the items simple and stripped down to their essentials, resulting in a purity of form. (Rowe, …show more content…
2001).
The Bauhaus movement also emphasized truth to materials. This means that all of the materials used should be kept in their honest form. For example, if a chair was made from steel pipes, there would be nothing decorating or covering the steel pipes unless there was a use for it. This is quite a modernist way of thinking which shows the influences of Bauhaus. Bauhaus also still influences graphic design today within colleges and university, encouraging young designers to learn about the Bauhaus movement and also typographers and artists such as Herbert Bayer who have a close link with the Bauhaus, encouraging them to analyze the work of such artists.
Modernist, simplistic furniture is still available today, but does its influences come from the
Bauhaus? There are several retailers out there that provide more simplistic and modernist takes on original concepts, such as the technology giant Apple. They have always been in huge competition with Microsoft and they wanted something different to grab the custom of the public. Apple are most well known for their futuristic technology and creating these ideas before any one of their competitors (Samsung, Nokia, Microsoft). Apple also arguably design for the minimalist look with hardly any visible wiring or towers within their computers. Their mobile phones also are very simplistic. The iPhone has a total of four buttons, a fast automatic set up, and no fancy designs other than the colour of the model one is buying. The simplistic design even goes as far as the transparent plastic box it has been delivered in (Tanaka, n.d.).
Another modernist, simplistic retailer who are accused of being Bauhaus copy-cats is the Swedish company, Ikea. Ingvar Kamprad founded Ikea in 1943 when he was just 17, and saw an opportunity to enter the furniture business when Sweden's Social Democrat government launched the "million homes" project in the 1960's. Ikea designs with the same form follows function idea, but they take the declaration further by designing and building for today's generation. Peoples needs have changed and Ikea have to provide access to new technologies and innovations such as computer desks, television stands and CD racks.
In 1995, Ikea released a manifesto "Democratic Design" and they described that price was the third element missing from the Bauhaus form follows function motto.
They also described that there were two other elements; quality and sustainability. Ikea design with price being priority to make it affordable and cheap to produce for mass production. This is one of the big differences between Ikea and Bauhaus. This can cause some quality issues as they will be looking for cheaper materials, although the manifesto states that they design for quality (Ikea, n.d.). They make it easier to mass-produce by selling flat packed furniture that is to be built by the customer. Ingvar Kamprad came across the flat pack idea when an employee took the legs off tables to fit into a customer’s car. This saves Ikea money in transport and storage, as well as saves sales space. The furniture they design could be argued that it is highly influenced by Bauhaus, their aim to mass-produce efficient and affordable, modernist and simplistic furniture. Ikea's furniture could be classed as more efficient and comfortable as, unlike Bauhaus, they do not follow any type of "truth to materials"
rule.
Ikea are also targeting a certain audience, the working class. It is arguable they are only presenting styles and tastes of the middle class. (Endless Bauhaus (8): Christian Gärtner. 2012). The upper class would want sophisticated, classy, expensive looking furniture. They wouldn't want any type of cheap design/furniture within their homes. However, Bauhaus target audience isn't a certain class, they design for everyone with the idea in mind that they will rebuild the world after the World War. Ikea are a company that delivers something similar to Bauhaus, but not to the very detail. They do not obey the underlying Utopia of Bauhaus.
The quality and sustainability of Ikea’s furniture compared to Bauhaus is very different. Ikea furniture has been designed with the price in mind, to save money for themselves as a company, to make it affordable for everyone as well as making a large profit, making Ingvar Kamprad one of the richest people in the world in 2007 (The Richest, n.d.). This means using cheaper materials which gives a possibility of lower quality. Many Ikea customers have complained about the low quality of the furniture so Ikea have adapted a refund policy, you can return an item as long as you have the original packaging, irrelevant of whether it has stood in your living room for a week. However, Bauhaus' aim was to combine art with crafts, whilst providing affordable, simple, high quality furniture. Although the initial aim of Bauhaus was proven to be financially impossible.
Ikea have detached the Bauhaus concept of combining arts with crafts and instead, have attracted buyers with the cheap, minimalist style of the furniture they produce. There is normally always a local Ikea and if there isn’t, orders can be made online. Many people’s views of Ikea is that it is cheap and affordable, and people are buying the furniture because it is "in fashion" as the minimalist style and not because of the Bauhaus style. The manifesto stating that price is the third element missing from the form follows function motto is the only real link to the Bauhaus movement other than the same modernist approach to furniture design. There are many differences between the two. Ikea sells products that are built to be cost effective, they are built without the utopian ideas behind them to make and build a better world as well as not using the truth to materials rule. There are many people that protest that Ikea wouldn't be around without Bauhaus, including the newly-appointed director of the Bauhaus foundation, Philipp Oswalt. "Mass-market design like Ikea's would be inconceivable today without the Bauhaus," (Connely, 2009).
There is no doubt that the Bauhaus is still influencing people today, from modernist furniture to the compulsory study of Bauhaus and artists relating to Bauhaus within some Art and Graphic Design courses. However, there is no direct link from Bauhaus to minimalist furniture. There is also insufficient evidence to prove that Ikea and retailers such as Apple are still influenced by the movement, although there is some evidence to show that Ikea was possibly once influenced by the Bauhaus.
In 1919, architect Walter Gropius founded the Bauhaus in Weimar, Germany, a school of craft and fine arts. The aim of Gropius was to reimagine the material world and reflect the unity of all arts (Bergdoll, 2009). Only active for a mere 14 years, this essay will consider whether the Bauhaus's influence is still felt today by looking at the links between Ikea and Bauhaus. This essay will also look at the influence in teaching within art courses today with references from Ikea, The Guardian and Bauhaus 1919-1933: Workshops for Modernity.
Around the time of Bauhaus opening, the Weimar Republic was established after Germany had lost the First World War. Between 1918 and 1919 Germany was in ruins. People …show more content…
were starving and the populous of Germany resented their government for signing the treaty of Versailies. Therefore in 1920, rebellion struck as the Kapp Putsch aimed to set up a new government.
The Bauhaus effectively attempted to recreate and rebuild the World after the First World War had resulted in such devastation.
In the first half of the 20th century, design reacted to the World War, poverty, inflation and class divisions. There was a huge economic crisis within Germany so Bauhaus wanted to design for mass production and to increase affordability for all, whilst combing arts and crafts (Davis, n.d.). The reigning principles were unity of form and function, the idea that design is in the service of the community and a belief in the perfection and efficiency of geometry (Hoffman, n.d.). The Bauhaus encouraged the study of functionality, cost and industrial production. They worked by the motto "form follows function", meaning they created furniture and other household items by the way they work, not by the way they look. This in a way made the items simple and stripped down to their essentials, resulting in a purity of form. (Rowe, …show more content…
2001).
The Bauhaus movement also emphasized truth to materials. This means that all of the materials used should be kept in their honest form. For example, if a chair was made from steel pipes, there would be nothing decorating or covering the steel pipes unless there was a use for it. This is quite a modernist way of thinking which shows the influences of Bauhaus. Bauhaus also still influences graphic design today within colleges and university, encouraging young designers to learn about the Bauhaus movement and also typographers and artists such as Herbert Bayer who have a close link with the Bauhaus, encouraging them to analyze the work of such artists.
Modernist, simplistic furniture is still available today, but does its influences come from the
Bauhaus? There are several retailers out there that provide more simplistic and modernist takes on original concepts, such as the technology giant Apple. They have always been in huge competition with Microsoft and they wanted something different to grab the custom of the public. Apple are most well known for their futuristic technology and creating these ideas before any one of their competitors (Samsung, Nokia, Microsoft). Apple also arguably design for the minimalist look with hardly any visible wiring or towers within their computers. Their mobile phones also are very simplistic. The iPhone has a total of four buttons, a fast automatic set up, and no fancy designs other than the colour of the model one is buying. The simplistic design even goes as far as the transparent plastic box it has been delivered in (Tanaka, n.d.).
Another modernist, simplistic retailer who are accused of being Bauhaus copy-cats is the Swedish company, Ikea. Ingvar Kamprad founded Ikea in 1943 when he was just 17, and saw an opportunity to enter the furniture business when Sweden's Social Democrat government launched the "million homes" project in the 1960's. Ikea designs with the same form follows function idea, but they take the declaration further by designing and building for today's generation. Peoples needs have changed and Ikea have to provide access to new technologies and innovations such as computer desks, television stands and CD racks.
In 1995, Ikea released a manifesto "Democratic Design" and they described that price was the third element missing from the Bauhaus form follows function motto.
They also described that there were two other elements; quality and sustainability. Ikea design with price being priority to make it affordable and cheap to produce for mass production. This is one of the big differences between Ikea and Bauhaus. This can cause some quality issues as they will be looking for cheaper materials, although the manifesto states that they design for quality (Ikea, n.d.). They make it easier to mass-produce by selling flat packed furniture that is to be built by the customer. Ingvar Kamprad came across the flat pack idea when an employee took the legs off tables to fit into a customer’s car. This saves Ikea money in transport and storage, as well as saves sales space. The furniture they design could be argued that it is highly influenced by Bauhaus, their aim to mass-produce efficient and affordable, modernist and simplistic furniture. Ikea's furniture could be classed as more efficient and comfortable as, unlike Bauhaus, they do not follow any type of "truth to materials"
rule.
Ikea are also targeting a certain audience, the working class. It is arguable they are only presenting styles and tastes of the middle class. (Endless Bauhaus (8): Christian Gärtner. 2012). The upper class would want sophisticated, classy, expensive looking furniture. They wouldn't want any type of cheap design/furniture within their homes. However, Bauhaus target audience isn't a certain class, they design for everyone with the idea in mind that they will rebuild the world after the World War. Ikea are a company that delivers something similar to Bauhaus, but not to the very detail. They do not obey the underlying Utopia of Bauhaus.
The quality and sustainability of Ikea’s furniture compared to Bauhaus is very different. Ikea furniture has been designed with the price in mind, to save money for themselves as a company, to make it affordable for everyone as well as making a large profit, making Ingvar Kamprad one of the richest people in the world in 2007 (The Richest, n.d.). This means using cheaper materials which gives a possibility of lower quality. Many Ikea customers have complained about the low quality of the furniture so Ikea have adapted a refund policy, you can return an item as long as you have the original packaging, irrelevant of whether it has stood in your living room for a week. However, Bauhaus' aim was to combine art with crafts, whilst providing affordable, simple, high quality furniture. Although the initial aim of Bauhaus was proven to be financially impossible.
Ikea have detached the Bauhaus concept of combining arts with crafts and instead, have attracted buyers with the cheap, minimalist style of the furniture they produce. There is normally always a local Ikea and if there isn’t, orders can be made online. Many people’s views of Ikea is that it is cheap and affordable, and people are buying the furniture because it is "in fashion" as the minimalist style and not because of the Bauhaus style. The manifesto stating that price is the third element missing from the form follows function motto is the only real link to the Bauhaus movement other than the same modernist approach to furniture design. There are many differences between the two. Ikea sells products that are built to be cost effective, they are built without the utopian ideas behind them to make and build a better world as well as not using the truth to materials rule. There are many people that protest that Ikea wouldn't be around without Bauhaus, including the newly-appointed director of the Bauhaus foundation, Philipp Oswalt. "Mass-market design like Ikea's would be inconceivable today without the Bauhaus," (Connely, 2009).
There is no doubt that the Bauhaus is still influencing people today, from modernist furniture to the compulsory study of Bauhaus and artists relating to Bauhaus within some Art and Graphic Design courses. However, there is no direct link from Bauhaus to minimalist furniture. There is also insufficient evidence to prove that Ikea and retailers such as Apple are still influenced by the movement, although there is some evidence to show that Ikea was possibly once influenced by the Bauhaus.