THE BAUHAUS

The Bauhaus building in Dessau,
 1925-1933

The Bauhaus was was an art and design institution which founded in Weimar,  Germany in 1919. The founder of this new school of design was Walter Groupius. The Bauhaus ideology was aimed to embrace the modernist ideology and sought to embrace the 20th Century mechanised culture. The major influence came from previous movement which included the Dutch "De Stijl", Russian "constructivism" and the swiss movement "Dada". The name Bauhaus translates in 'building house' and the general rule for the new movement was that to achieve good  design for buildings, furniture and graphic design was to be complied in an utilitarian and affective manner, that is their main rule was that they should produce works were form follows function.

The Bauhaus institution saw fit to teach its students artistry and crafts across all fields of art and design in a syllabus which focused and connected these different elements with theory and practice.  

The school emphasized a strong understanding of basic design, especially the principles of composition colour theory, and craftsmanship, in a wide array of disciplines and workshops. Because of the Bauhaus belief in the oneness of the artist and the craftsman, this  taught students to eliminate the ideas of the individual and instead focus on the productivity of design. A major aspect of the Bauhaus was the tutors which included famous and renowned artists which included the Russian artist "Wassily Kandinky" and "Paul Klee", along with very talented designers' Lazlo Moholy Nagy', 'Josef Albers' and'Herbert Bayer' 

Walter Gropious Syllabus of the Weimar Bauhaus, 1923

"Black Relationship". Wassily Kandinsky 1924
Watercolor and ink on paper
New York, Museum of Modern Art

László Moholy-Nagy was the main tutor in regards of graphic design at the Bauhaus. He embraced the modernist ideologies which allowed him to focus on some of the more modern means of expression and creation, especially poster design and typography. He was also influenced by other designers from other artistic movements including 'El Lissitsky' (constructivism), Teo van Doesburg' (De Stijl), 'Hans Arp' and 'Kurt Switters' (Dada). Moholy-Nagy’s similar interest in the concepts of space and time led him to focus on photography. This brought about the theory of' typophoto', the incorporation of typography and photography, which has become a common use of all advertising today

‘Foto Qualität’ 1931
László Moholy-Nagy
Typophoto