WALTER GROPIUS Walter Gropius’s career advanced in the postwar period.
In 1919, Gropius was involved in the Glass Chain utopian
Henry van de Velde, the master of the Grand-Ducal Saxon
expressionist correspondence under the pseudonym “Mass.”
School of Arts and Crafts in Weimar, was asked to step down
Usually more notable for his functionalist approach, the
in 1915 due to his Belgian nationality. His recommendation
“Monument to the March Dead,” designed in 1919 and executed
for Gropius to succeed him and take over eventually led to
in 1920, indicates that expressionism was an influence on him
Gropius’s appointment as master of the school in 1919. It
at that time.
was this academy which Gropius transformed into the world
In 1923, Gropius designed his famous door handles, now
famous Bauhaus, attracting a faculty that included Paul Klee,
considered an icon of 20th-century design and often listed
Johannes Itten, Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, László Moholy-
as one of the most influential designs to emerge from
Nagy, Otto Bartning and Wassily Kandinsky. One example was
Bauhaus. He also designed large-scale housing projects in
the armchair F 51, designed for the Bauhaus’s directors room
Berlin, Karlsruhe and Dessau in 1926-32 that were major
in 1920 - nowadays a re-edition in the market, manufactured
contributions to the New Objectivity movement, including a
by the German company TECTA/Lauenfoerde.
contribution to the Siemensstadt project in Berlin.
WALTER GROPIUS
BAUHAUS INVOLVMENT
FOUNDER
FACTS
OF BAUHAUS SCHOOL IN 1919
BIRTH DATE
18
WALTER ADOLPH GROPIUS MANON AUGUSTINE PAULINESCHARNWEBER
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TWO INTERESTING FACTS
LEADER OF
18 MAY 1883
HE WAS NOT PARTICULARLY GOOD AT DRAWING. IN SCHOOL, HE HIRED AN ASSISTANT TO DO HIS WORK FOR HIM. HE BUILT HIS OWN HOUSE WHEN HE MOVED TO LINCOLN, MASSACHUSETTS IN 1938.
DE STIJL UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE THROUGH GEOMETRIC ABSTRACTION
BIRTH PLACE
NOTABLE BUILDINGS
BERLIN GERMANY THE CAPITAL AND SECOND MOST POPULOUS CITY WITH 4.4 MILLION RESIDENTS
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SEVEN OUTSTANDING CONSTRUCTIONS
FAGUS FACTORY WERKBUND EXHIBITION BAUHAUS GROPIUS HOUSE UNIV. OF BAGHDAD JFK FEDERAL BUILDING PAN AM BUILDING
AREA OF CONCENTRATION
AGE OF DEATH
86 CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
DIED ON JULY 5, 1969 HE IS REMEMERED NOT ONLY BY HIS ARCHITECTURE BUT ALSO BY THE DISTRICT OF GROPIUSSTADT IN BERLIN
ARCHITECTURE
“TORTEN ESTATE” ISOMETRIC DRAWING. GROPIUS WAS KNOWN FOR ADDING COLOR TO HIS EXTERIOR DRAWINGS. THIS WAS RADICAL AT THE TIME AND IS STILL CONSIDERED RADICAL TODAY SINCE SO FEW ARCHITECTS USE IT.
COLOR PRIMARY COLORS WERE PROMINENT IN BAUHAUS DESIGN AND IN THIS DRAWING, CREATED A HIGH CONTRAST WITH THE BLACK PLANES OF COLOR.
WALTER GROPIUS HOUSE CONSISTED OF THREE PAIRS OF SEMI-DETACHED HOUSES WITH STUDIOS. THE GROUND-PLANS MET AT A 90 DEGREE ANGLE AND SERVED TO ILLUSTRATE GROPIUS’ CONCEPT OF THE “LARGE-SCALE BUILDING SET”. ALSO, THE HOUSES WERE ALL SYMMETRICAL AND MIRROR IMAGES OF ONE ANOTHER.
R
UNITY
U
EVERYWHERE ON THE ESTATE WAS A REPETITION OF THE SAME HORIZONTAL LINES IN THE FLAT ROOF, DOORS AND WINDOWS. THIS REPETITION NOT ONLY SHOWED UNITY BUT ALSO CREATED RHYTHM AND BALANCE IN THE PURPOSEFUL ARCHITECTURE.
RHYTHM PATTERN ON THE BACK OF THE CHAIR CREATES AN EYE CATCHING GEOMETRIC MOTIF.
BALANCE
B
MADE WITH BASE ASH, BLACK STAINED OR MAPLE AND POLYURETHANE UPHOLSTERY. THE ARM OF THE CHAIR IS A 90 DEGREE ANGLE, AS IS THE ARMS OF THE SOFA TO THE LEFT. THIS CREATES A SYMMETRICAL BALANCE WITH THE FURNITURE.
HOW TO USE THIS MAGAZINE 1. This area shows a piece of the artist’s work that will be deconstructed on the following page. The artist’s type of work will vary from spread to spread depending on what
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the Bauhaus artist’s concentration was. There is a variety of drawings, book covers, magazine covers, postcards, letterheads, paintings and posters. This one specifically is an isometric drawing of a building plan. 2. Each featured picture at the bottom on the page serves as graphic samples of the artist’s work. Here shows different pieces of furniture designed by the featured artist. These elements will be deconstructed on the opposite page as well. This layout creates a visual picture for the viewer without text to see first hand how the featured artists contributed to the Bauhaus.
2 PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN
E
EMPASIS Includes contrast, isolation, placement and absence of focal point. Used to focus the attention of the viewer and add interest.
B
BALANCE Visual equality in shape, form, value & color. Can be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Objects, values, colors, forms textures, shapes can all be used in creating a balance in a composition.
U
UNITY Includes repetition, continuation and closure. Grids create a sense of unity and structure. Grids and grouping creates a sense of unity and harmony.
3. This area shows the deconstruction of the artist’s work. The
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images on this page have a 50% opacity to shift the viewers focus to the actual deconstruction of the piece of work. 4. This element shows the deconstruction using a specific principle of design. Using the 7 principles (balance, emphasis, unity, rhythm, variety, scale and proportion), they are used as applied to the featured artist’s piece of work. One or more principles may be used in the deconstruction to give the viewer
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a better understanding of the Bauhaus style. 5. This element shows specific features that might need to be deconstructed and emphasized to build the viewers knowledge. The element may be outlined, as you see here, or represented and explained in other ways. This element will focus on a specific principle of design.
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R
RHYTHM Movement or variation characterized by the regular recurrence or alternation of different quantities or conditions, much like a pattern.
V
VARIETY Includes alternation. Quality or state of having different forms or types. The differences which give a design visual and conceptual interest: notable use of contrast, emphasis, difference in size and color.
S
SCALE Dimensional element’s defined by other elements of design-size relative to other art, its surroundings, or in relation to human size. Can be used to draw attention to the unexpected or exaggerated.
P
PROPORTION Measurement of the size and quantity of elements in relation with each other within a composition. Most often the proportion of forms will be enlarged to show importance.