Comparing Megg's Morality And Myth Of The Bauhaus

The Bauhaus, a German design school, is widely known for the approach to contemporary design that it cultivated, however, evaluations have been made to oppose the idealistic portrayal of the school. Phillip B. Meggs’ The Bauhaus and the New Typography, and Dietmar R. Winkler’s Morality and Myth: The Bauhaus Reassessed explore the Bauhaus, and its impact towards modern design. Winkler argues against the philosophies of the Bauhaus while Meggs’ arguments remain neutral, but very informative. Although both articles examine the Bauhaus thoroughly, Winkler’s powerful arguments help express the Bauhaus from a different perspective, allowing one to understand the flaws of the Bauhaus’ morals.
In Dietmar R. Winkler’s Morality and Myth: The Bauhaus
Reassessed, the author reviews the Bauhaus and its influence on modern graphic design. The Bauhaus is often seen as one of the most significant art school for design and architecture, but Winkler argues that this critical acclaim is deceptive since the Bauhaus never “succeeded at working for the public good”. The author explains how the teachings of the Bauhaus remained ignorant towards political studies, social sciences, and philosophical ideas by isolating their principles to only intellectual activities such as the “language of form, color and image, and object construction”.
Winkler uses a critical approach to examine and present arguments against the Bauhaus.
The author portrays the Bauhaus from a negative perspective, but use strong evidence to endorse their reasoning. Winkler’s article takes one side against the teachings of the Bauhaus which can appear highly opinionated as it does not elaborate on the successes of the school. The viewer only receives an angled perception on the Bauhaus, but doing so can also enhance Winker’s claims. By relying on a systematic analysis instead of a personal opinion, the author minimizes bias. This allows the article to illustrate powerful assertions while maintaining its factual
information.
In Philip B. Meggs’, The Bauhaus and the New Typography, the author displays the history of the Bauhaus. According to Meggs, the modern design aesthetic developed from the works of students and faculty from the Bauhaus. The author explains how the Bauhaus’ accomplishments and influences created a movement in modern design, while progressing visual education, and visual theory. Meggs also claims that the Bauhaus was a socially and culturally driven force which brought significance to graphic design as an area of study while diminishing the boundary separating applied art from fine arts.
Meggs’ article can be classified under historical text.
The article’s narrative structure demonstrates the Bauhaus’ history in a chronological and geographical manner; initially originating in Weimar (1919-24), moving to Dessau (1925-32), discontinuing in Berlin (1933), and re-establishing as the Institute of Design in Chicago (1937). The author also recognizes important individuals such as the certain faculty members and presents their influences towards the Bauhaus. Meggs’ article remains neutral as it simply states historical facts without questioning any ideas or aspects of the Bauhaus. Although this article is compiled with certifiable information, there are very few arguments being expressed in the article. By simply narrating the history of the Bauhaus, the author provides enough information for the reader to examine and criticize the influences of the
Bauhaus.
The two authors, Winker and Meggs, and their articles listed above use different approaches to portray the impact of the Bauhaus on modern design. Meggs uses historical facts to layout important information about the Bauhaus. By guiding the reader through different periods in time, this author displayed the various changes the Bauhaus went through in its principles and practices. Meggs also explained how some substantial faculty members influenced these changes, or developments. One of the noteworthy members was Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, who evolved Bauhaus’ philosophy. Meggs writes, “Moholy-Nagy’s passion for typography and photography inspired a Bauhaus interest in visual communication and led to important experiments in the unification of these two arts”. Moholy-Nagy explored various art forms such as painting, photography, film, etc. and developed these forms by experimenting with numerous techniques. Although Meggs applies these factual elements to point out certain events that evolved the Bauhaus, the historical style of the article does not allow the author to provide strong opinions towards the main argument. The article may seem as if it supports the idea of the Bauhaus and its impact towards modern design, but the author does not indicate their views on that matter. Having a neutral point-of-view leaves the interpretation of Bauhaus’ philosophy open to the reader, which hypothetically fails to clarify whether or not the Bauhaus succeeded in influencing modern design or not.
On the other hand, Winkler uses critical review to analyze the principles of the Bauhaus, and uses powerful arguments to oppose the practices and education of the school. Winkler examines the Bauhaus using historical information and displays how the portrayal of the highly praised design school has been skewed in their favor. This author explains how academic education was condemned since the teachers did not educate their students with social, political, and philosophical studies. By separating the students from public concerns, they became ignorant towards “cultural traditions of the various class systems”. The author explains how these naïve practices developed an anti-intellectualism. Winkler writes, “They nevertheless imposed an anti-intellectual bias on the studio education, thereby handicapping and restricting design education for the future”. Unlike Meggs’ historical style, Winkler’s critical approach utilizes factual information to justify the main arguments. By using systematic analysis, the author can expand on their claims against the practice and education developed by the Bauhaus.
Meggs’ article, The Bauhaus and the New Typography, uses a historical method to narrate the history of the Bauhaus and its influences, but it fails to portray the impact towards modern design since the author’s views remain neutral. However, Winkler’s article, Morality and Myth: The Bauhaus Reassessed, utilizes a critical method to analyze material and create opposing arguments that shed light on the imperfections of the philosophical values of the Bauhaus, which better informs one about the impacts of the Bauhaus on contemporary design. Despite the critical acclaim of the Bauhaus’ influential success, the design school has not made many positive impacts towards modern design.