The Eternal Optimism Of Bauhaus

The German design school at the beating heart of modernism celebrates its 100th anniversary and an undying spirit that points to the future…

- Garrick Webster

Austerity, trade wars, Brexit, that orange guy… with so much uncertainty around these days, there doesn’t seem much room for optimism. But hold that thought. 2019 is the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus, the German design school where a desire for change and free-thinking creativity led to a revolutionary new approach to architecture, art and design. Could it happen all over again?

The Bauhaus was formed at a tumultuous point in European history in Weimar, the capital of the new German republic in 1919. Just to the east, in Moscow, the Bolsheviks were following a Marxist road towards a new society. Across Europe there was rejection of the old ways of thinking that led to the cataclysm of World War I. A fragile democracy was emerging in Germany and with it came the freedom to innovate.

Grasping that opportunity, the architect Walter Gropius set up a new, state-funded school called Staatliches Bauhaus. His mission, which became clearer when the school began writing manifestoes about its purpose, was to use the visual arts to bring about a better society. He thought the way to do this was to break down the hierarchies of the creative world, which would mirror German society at the time. The Bauhaus would smash through the divisions between fine and applied arts, and develop a new aesthetic: made for the people. In real terms, this meant that crafts such as ceramics, print-making, textiles and metalworking would be afforded the same status as painting and sculpture. Later on, photography and graphics would be added to the mix, with a new focus placed on function and, ultimately, design.