#bauhous

The Bauhaus was a school whose approach to design and the combination of fine art and arts and crafts proved to be a major influence on the development of graphic design as well as much of 20th century modern art. Founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany in 1919, the school moved to Dessau in 1924 and then was forced to close its doors, under pressure from the Nazi political party, in 1933. The school favoured simplified forms, rationality, functionality and the idea that mass production could live in harmony with the artistic spirit of individuality. Along with Gropius, and many other artists and teachers, both Laszlo Moholy-Nagyand Herbert Bayer made significant contributions to the development of graphic design. Among its many contributions to the development of design, the Bauhaus taught typography as part of its curriculum and was instrumental in the development of sans-serif typography, which they favoured for its simplified geometric forms and as an alternative to the heavily ornate German standard of blackletter typography.

Until the present day, the Bauhaus has been a synonym for brave, rational and functional schemes in art, architecture and design. The "cool" aesthetics still seems tremendously modern and is considered to be beautiful. In contrast, to the people that were faced with modern architecture for the first time in the 1920's, the new houses and Bauhaus items, whose appearance was certainly unusual back then, were often shocking.

Many prototypes of furniture and consumer goods are produced in the practical training, which can go into industrial mass production, when the "Bauhaus GmbH" is founded in 1925. Ideal items are intended to be produced for the future society under the motto of "the needs of the people instead of the need for luxury". With their plain and simple form, the Bauhaus products are a design revolution. Functionality comes first, or in other words: form follows function. Many of the products developed by Bauhaus have become an integral part of modern households, both the original designs and their derivatives, such as the cantilever chair, the Wagenfeld lamp or the Bauhaus wallpaper.

Some people, however, do not like the radical ideas and applications of the Bauhaus artists. From the very beginning, opinions differ strongly with regard to the items and buildings, which are something completely new for the society of the 1920's. Conservative circles have always been annoyed by the leftist and internationalist members of Bauhaus. When the National Socialists seize power in 1933, the Bauhaus is closed immediately. Many of the renowned artists emigrate to France, Great Britain, Switzerland and the US.

Bibliography:

- The Art Story. 2017. Bauhaus Movement, Artists and Major Works | The Art Story. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/movement-bauhaus.htm. [Accessed 18 December 2016]. 

Typo London: Chat with Michael Beirut.

This evening I caught up with the keynote speaker to ask about Gary Hustwit's Helvetica film, the craft of typography, Massimo Vignelli and magazine design.

For some insanely infuriating reason my recording ends early; we continued to discuss his role in the Helvetica film. During the shoot (which was filmed over three sessions) a whole stack of Time magazines were provided for Michael to run through and there just just happened to be two iconic Coke ads in two of the magazines; one from the time before Helvetica was in full use and one from after that time, which made a fortuitous comparison. Michael told me that he was delighted that the "Coke. Period." quote was top of the film quotes listed on IMDB (the 'period' or 'full stop' appearing after a headline being a stylistic invention credited to Helmut Krone).

I asked about the role of Massimo Vignelli, who Michael worked with for 10 years; as I thought it seemed like quite an intimate scene: he told me that Massimo was a very warm and sensitive person, who could also be very direct when critiquing the work of his peers. I mentioned that he'd once described Emigre as garbage and Michael was quick to defend his old employer, reminding me that he'd later collaborated with the Emigre team.

The conversation weaved on to modernism in the US (he recommended From Bauhaus to Our House by Tom Wolfe) and we then talked about the craft of typography and how discussing these with an audience of expert peers needs to be handled with some delicacy. He said he'd once seen Tobias Frere-Jones give an enthralling talk that covered the most intricate details of type design, but in such "charming" way that it captivated all listeners regardless of their level of expertise.