A section from Modernism essay: The Bauhaus

The first example to demonstrate how Modernity is resposible to the modernist design is the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus was an art school started in Germany in 1919. Even though it only shortly operated and closed down in 1933 under pressure of the Nazi regime who, as Strasser (2009, p.132) explained saw it as "a hotbed of ommunist and Bolshevists ideologies"", the Bauhaus and its approach had a profound impact on the modernist design we see today.. The Bauhaus was considered a hotbed Founded by the architect, Walter Gropius, the Bauhaus school was designed to exhibit his response to the ever growing modernity in Europe. The Bauhaus building is an example of one of the key aspects of Modernism in design, Gropius responded to the forces of modernity by showing 'Truth to Material" where the concrete building has been left unpainted and uncovered to show the material used to construct the building, this allows the material traits to speak for itself. The structure of the building is also in simple geometric forms that are appropriate to the material being used. As Walter Gropius expresses in Willia Curtis's:


Architecture in the last few generations has become weakly sentimental, aesthetic and decorative.....this kind of architecture we disown. We ai to create clear, organic architecture whose inner logic will be radiant and naked, unencumbered by lying faces and trickery; we want an architecture adapted to our world of machines, radios and fast cars,....with the increasing strenghts of the new materials-steel,concrete,glass-and with the new audacity of engineering, the ponderousness of the old methods of buildings is giving way to a new lightness and airness(1996 p.194)


As the Bauhaus is an art school, the building consisted of large windows that accupy most of what woud usually be a wall to let a large amount of light in as it would be needed to suit the funtion of the building
This is an example of ' Form follows funtion' where the aesthetics comes out of how well something operates and is secondary to the function of the building. The design of the building has been largely dictated by what it is being used for Strasser(2009, p132)explained' it included a four story workshop wing with large area of glass, and an elevated administration area which connected the workshops with the building containing the arts and craftes college. Although the Bauhaus was very short loved as an art schoo, the approach that it has developped became one of the most influential movement in the history of Modern art and design. Architects applied the same rules to many structures that we see standing today. Apart from the impact this had on architecture, it also had a great influence on the emerging of new art movements such as futurism and cubism.