The Bauhaus reimagined; To what extent does the Bauhaus influence popular design culture of today? by Colin Nietzer

Abstract This dissertation begins by discussing the origins of the Bauhaus and its key principles, allowing for a fundamental understanding of their roots. The succeeding chapters seek to analyse the translation of Bauhausian design philosophies into today’s culture, to examine whether these ideas continue to influence and inspire within the contemporary art world. This influence is subdivided into three ma chapters, each focusing on a specific concept which had been promoted by the Bauhaus art school. Whilst in some cases this influence manifests itself in physical projects, it is also sometimes expressed through changes in the way the creative realm functions. The mentioned present day projects are individually compared to Bauhaus or modernist works, in order to study the implementation of the art school’s principles within design today. The dissertation continues by exploring how these ideas have evolved and been subject to slight changes over the last 100 years. Through interviews with the respective artists it then becomes clear that this Bauhaus influence is not accidental, demonstrating that the Bauhaus still impacts the popular design culture of today.

Acknowledgements I would like to take this opportunity to thank my tutor, Howard Griffin, for his persistent efforts in encouraging me to explore beyond my comfort zone and providing constant support. A big thank you also to my parents for doing the utmost in order to understand and help with this dissertation. Additionally I’d like to mention and thank Virgil Abloh who’s life was unexpectedly lost to cancer during the writing of this dissertation. A hero of mine who not only showed me that architecture doesn’t end at CAD drawings, but also inspired the topic of this dissertation.

Contents 4 5

Introduction Literature Review

9 10 11 12

I. Bauhaus Origins of the Bauhaus School Structure and Philosophies Le Corbusier Closure of the Bauhaus

15 16 18 22 26 33 35

II. Breaking Discipline Divisions Virgil Abloh Development of the terms ‘Architect’ & ‘Architecture’ Yeezus Album Cover ‘‘The Ten” Interdisciplinary Design Studios 7 Screen Pavilion Yeezus Stage Design

III. Form follows function Saint Pablo Tour Stage Design

43 45

IV. Materiality Concrete Objects Contemporary Materials

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction Established over 100 years ago, the Bauhaus to this day remains one of the great shifts in the design sphere which for a long time, transformed the creative process. With the ultimate aim of unifying art, craft and technology, the German Staatliches Bauhaus school pushed to remove the existing hierarchical structure of art and train its students into ‘a new type of artist’ capable of producing work in all mediums.1 Teaching styles changed and a new approach was implemented which involved students learning through practice as opposed to in a classroom. Along with these avant-garde ideas of education came modern design principles, many of which, whilst not initiated by the Bauhaus, were built upon as well as popularised by the school and its directors.2 Many of these principles have since translated into other design philosophies, beginning with Brutalism which can be said to have further developed the ‘Form follows function’ ideology. This and other modernist attitudes of the Bauhaus seemingly carried over and manifested themselves within Brutalism in the form of honest design, with a commitment to functionality.3 Now in the 21st Century, we see the beginnings of what many have called a renaissance, with this architectural thinking being applied outside the domains of architecture, into disciplines ranging from music to fashion.4 Subsequently, it can be concluded that the gaps between individual crafts are closing and boundaries are being blurred, highlighting the unification of the arts previously instigated by the Bauhaus. Footprints like these of the Bauhaus are still visible all around, stretching as far as album covers and furniture design, even decades after its closure by the Nazis. Until his recent death in 2021, Virgil Abloh; Designer, DJ and artistic director of Louis Vuitton positioned himself at the forefront of this renaissance, enforcing the fluidity of the creative domain in the spirit of the manifesto proposed by Walter Gropius, founder and director of the Bauhaus School.5 In the words of Abloh, “Young architects can change the world by not building buildings” 6 and with this mentality he employed his Bauhausian approach within fashion, graphic design and more. This exploration navigates through a collection of contemporary projects and schemes, each demonstrating Bauhausian influence through the applied philosophies, with the ultimate aim of answering the question: To what extent does the Bauhaus influence design within popular culture today?

Éva Forgács, The Bauhaus Idea and Bauhaus Politics (Budapest London New York Ceu, Central European Univ. Press, 1995). Howard Dearstyne and David A Spaeth, Inside the Bauhaus (London: The Architectural Press, 1986). 3 Alexander Clement, BRUTALISM : Post-War British Architecture, Second Edition. (The Crowood Press, 2018). 4 Virgil Abloh, One of Us, interview by Alessio Ascari, December 22, 2018, https://www.kaleidoscope.media/article/virgil-abloh. 5 Michael Siebenbrodt and Lutz Schöbe, Bauhaus 1919-1933 : Weimar-Dessau-Berlin (New York: Parkstone Press International, 2009). 6 Columbia GSAPP, “Virgil Abloh,” www.youtube.com, February 10, 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKYp1t0-xYw. 2

Literature Review The topic of Bauhausian thinking and design philosophies within contemporary culture is one that has not received much coverage within books and academic writing. This particular impact of Bauhaus is one which is still relatively new and whilst sometimes discussed by the artists themselves within interviews, it is very rarely discussed as a generalised concept by an exterior source. The most common form of documentation on this subject is found within interviews and talks of artists, both in written and video form. These have proven to be an essential resource for this dissertation and have provided an insight into particular design decisions for relevant projects. Notably, Virgil Abloh’s interview with Kaleidoscope gives a thorough understanding of the roots from which his Bauhaus interest grew and his beliefs concerning the implementation of architectural thought processes within non-architectural projects. The same interview discusses topics on the level of this contemporary renaissance and how is not a reproduction of the Bauhaus, but rather that philosophies are taken and adapted, thus inviting development and pushing culture forwards. The use of interviews as key sources requires a level of scepticism when evaluating, solely due to the opinion-based nature of the provided information. Nevertheless, hearing thought processes is a powerful tool to recognise the importance that a design logic such as Bauhaus had on their work. Further useful interview based sources include Hero Magazine’s talk with Samuel Ross, British fashion designer. This interview, titled ‘Samuel Ross unpicks the references and motifs behind A-Cold-Wall’, explores the designer’s attraction to architecture, predominantly Bauhaus and Brutalism, and how these elements have fed into the his fashion creations. Interestingly, it also touches on the freedom in today’s creative field, thereupon allowing him to venture freely between fashion, sculpture and architecture. For this reason, the interview is an imperative resource to understanding the role Bauhaus takes on in setting the precedent of an art world with no divisions between disciplines.

Turning to books, there are several publications detailing the origins, ideologies, school structure, directors and significant works of the Bauhaus, namely Bauhaus 1919-1933 by Magdalena Droste, Bauhaus 1919-1933 by Michael Siebenbrodt and Lutz Schöbe and The Bauhaus Idea and Bauhaus Politics by Éva Forgács. These prove to be very effective at not only informing about how the Bauhaus functioned but also providing examples of work which embody the aforementioned philosophies. Accordingly, links between such work and contemporary projects can be drawn, spotlighting the Bauhausian influence. Another book worthy of mention is Figures of Speech, an in depth documentation of Abloh’s work, whether it be architectural, fashion based, furniture design or graphic design. Of particular interest however is the interview between Abloh, Bantal and Koolhaas which fuelled many of the ideas explored in this dissertation; the renaissance, Abloh’s interest in the Bauhaus, cross-disciplinary mentality and the breaking of divisions and hierarchies. An article published in 2019 on the popular culture focused site Highsnobiety highlights contemporary designers of today who have exhibited an influence from the Bauhaus. Named are; Virgil Abloh, Rei Kawakubo, Samuel Ross and Kanye West, although, whilst mentioning that ‘No designer nor artistic figure of the 21st century represents the dissonant Bauhausian influence on modern design quite like Kanye West’, the article takes on a very repressed and uncertain standpoint in regards to his relationship to the Bauhaus.7

Elliot Sang, “Kanye West, Virgil Abloh & More That Are Influenced by Bauhaus,” Highsnobiety, September 26, 2019, https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/how-bauhaus-influenced-designers/.

Fig. 01: Virgil Abloh amongst others pictured in front of Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion

Fig. 02: Bauhaus Dessau Building

Bauhaus Chapter I

Origins of the Bauhaus The eighteenth century birthed the industrial revolution, a great shift which, whilst bringing hope, also carried problems. The transition of manufacturing processes resulted in tensions and subsequently in the further separation of artist and craftsman.8 To address issues of inefficiency, machine production was introduced, replacing traditional craft methods. The concept of ‘Modernism’ was later established which sought to once again unify the arts, bringing together both artist and craftsman whilst eliminating the hierarchy which had built up. Also in pursuit of uniting artist, craftsman and commerce was Hermann Muthesius’ Deutscher Werkbund, founded in 1907. Lead by Peter Behrens, Walter Gropius and more, this organisation was intended as an association of artists, architects, and industrialists intended to establish connections between designers and manufacturer styles, prioritising functionality and the importance of appropriate material choices. As acknowledged by Gropius, the spirit of the association grew into what later became the Bauhaus.9 The 1910s bought many political changes, namely Russia’s 1917 October Revolution, Germany’s 1918 November Revolution and the eventual ending of World War I, leading to the Bauhaus’ launch in 1919, which was developed as a reaction to the countries political situation.10 After the catastrophic destruction of the war and the long lasting social and political impacts of the two Revolutions, the people of Germany were in need of change on many different levels; relevant here is the changes in art, architecture and education. The mass wrecking of Germany’s infrastructure presented them with the opportunity of rethinking its architecture, and a fresh start to cater towards society’s new desires. 10

Siebenbrodt, Schöbe, Bauhaus 1919-1933, 2009 9 Ibid 10 BBC, “Bauhaus 100,” www.youtube.com (BBC, July 21, 2019), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a45UBCIbJc&t=456s. 8

The Bauhaus answered this call for change and as stated by Gropius in his essay titled Idea and Construction of the Staatliches Bauhaus (1923), it was people such as Ruskin, Olbrich and Behrens amongst others who lead him to opening the Bauhaus School. The writer and philosopher John Ruskin firmly believed that through the use of industrial machinery, products became ‘surrogates’, dishonest and lead to the dehumanisation of the artist. Ruskin’s philosophy, grew into the foundation of the Arts and Crafts, yet it was William Morris who translated this philosophy into a unified theory of design, put it into practise and took on the leading role. Like Ruskin, Morris opposed the previous excessive ornamentation, particularly that of the Victorian era, hence his focus on producing simple yet refined products. His fond views of socialism further motivated his belief that an improvement in design quality would equally result in an improvement of character for the associated craftsman, thus improving society.11 These ideologies surrounding the disproval of machined products were shared with Modernism and would later unite to form important parts of the Bauhaus design principles. Another of Bauhaus’ fundamental concepts was that of ‘form follows function’ which was the contribution of Peter Behrens who was considered as one of the most significant founders of functionalism and modern industrial design.12

Fig. 03: The Red House, Kent. Designed for William Morris by Philip Webb in 1859

School Structure and Philosophies After the founding and opening in 1919 of ‘The Staatliches Bauhaus’ art school, its manifesto (Fig. 04) was published the same year, stating that the Bauhaus aimed to ‘create a new guild of craftsmen, free of the divisive class pretensions that endeavoured to raise a prideful barrier between craftsmen and artists! Let us strive for, conceive and create the new building of the future that will unite every discipline, architecture and sculpture and painting’ [Translated from German].13 Whilst the school’s syllabus at surface level seemed to mirror that of many other pre-war art schools, it was the philosophy: ‘the ultimate aim of all visual arts is the complete building’ [Translated from German]14 which differentiated it from other schools. The notion of traditional professors was dismissed, and students were instead taught by ‘Masters’ which included Kandinsky, Itten and Klee. Students entered as ‘apprentices’ and were able to work their way up to ‘journeymen’ and eventually the jungmeister (young master). In efforts to ‘raise an arrogant barrier between craftsman and artist’ 15, teaching was conducted by a ‘Master of Form’ and a ‘Master of Craft’.16

Siebenbrodt, Schöbe, Bauhaus 1919-1933, 2009 12 Ibid 13 Walter Gropius, “Manifesto of the Staatliches Bauhaus,” Bauhausmanifesto.com, 1919, https://bauhausmanifesto.com/. 14 Ibid 15 Ibid 16 Magdalena Droste et al., Bauhaus : 1919-1933 (Köln: Taschen, 2019). 11

Fig. 04: Bauhaus Manifesto. Front cover designed by Lyonel Feininger and text by Walter Gropius

Fig. 05: Mies van der Rohe with students at the Bauhaus (1933)

A significant change came when Mies van der Rohe assumed the role of director at the Bauhaus Dessau in 1930, bringing harsh revisions to the curriculum and shifting the school’s focus further towards architecture.17 As recounted in the book Bauhaus 1919-1933, Mies took a much less technical stance and abandoned the ‘integration of theory and practice’ aspect which before, was a stand out characteristic of the school. Hannes Meyer, who directed the Bauhaus before, conducted seminars which required students to fill their exercise sheets with an abundance of calculations and diagrams as a way of anchoring the design within the topic of architectural practice. The teaching style that followed, during Mies’ ruling, was adjusted to fit his own perception of architecture. This attitude rejected the consideration of social orientation as Mies himself had no interest in addressing social issues of the time. Instead, he saw architecture as an art, which revolved around space, material and proportion.18 These design elements as well as his own design philosophies had strong influence on the way his classes were taught and were quickly adopted by students, leading to most class members implementing open and flexible plans in the master’s fashion (Fig. 06). The German architect was equally known for his widespread use of glass façades, creating illusions of transparency and removing the distinction between exterior and interior therefore tying into the concept of fluid spaces.19 Le Corbusier

Fig. 06: Open floor plan of Mies’ Barcelona Pavilion

Le Corbusier, born in 1887, shared many similarities with the Bauhaus in regards to design philosophy. Despite never studying or teaching at the Bauhaus there was still a mutual appreciation between the two, and connections were established between the Swiss-French architect, Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius. With the common ground between the three architects being architectural modernism, Corbusier ‘became involved, together with Gropius, in the Congrés Internationaux d’architecture moderne (CIAM) between 1928 and 1959 to promote radical ideas among the international elite’ .20 Corbusier is considered by many to have pioneered Modernist architecture,21 but also to have laid the foundations for the Bauhaus and the International style.22 By the time the Bauhaus School of Architecture opened in 1927,23 Corbusier’s philosophies were well known and studied amongst the Bauhaus Masters and subsequently passed onto the students. Many principles advocated by the Bauhaus were therefore aligned with those of Corbusier’s modernism.

Droste, Williams, Michael, Bauhaus : 1919-1933, 2019 18 Ibid 19 Ibid 20 Jean-Louis Cohen, Le Corbusier 1887-1965: The Lyricism of Architecture in the Machine Age (2004; repr., Köln: Taschen, 2004). 21 Farhan Abdullah Ali, “The Influence of Le Corbusier on the Emergence of the Aesthetic Values in the Modern Architecture of Cyprus,” Contemporary Urban Affairs 2, no. 1 (July 22, 2017), https://doi.org/10.25034/ijcua.2017.3651. 22 Jackie Craven, “Biography of Le Corbusier, Leader of the International Style,” ThoughtCo, January 23, 2020, https://www.thoughtco.com/le-corbusier-leader-of-international-style-177858. 23 Bauhaus Dessau, “Bauhaus Building by Walter Gropius (1925-26),” Bauhaus-dessau.de, 2019, https://www.bauhaus-dessau.de/en/architecture/bauhaus-building.html. 17

Closure of the Bauhaus Come Spring 1933, the Dessau district attorney’s office ordered for the Bauhaus to be searched, leading to the detaining of several students and the application was put through for the Bauhaus to be shut down. The Nazis were opposed to the radical ideas proposed by the school and it was considered to be part of a disease spread by Jews, tarnishing the purity of Germany. Amongst other criticisms, the flat roof design, used routinely within Bauhaus and Modernism in general, was labelled as ‘un-German’ and ‘desert architecture’.24 The termination of the Bauhaus lead to the eventual emigration of its members, most of which dispersed worldwide. The same year as the Bauhaus closure, Josef Albers, the former jungmeister at the Bauhaus, left for the U.S. where he began teaching at Black Mountain College. Gropius made a temporary move to London in 1934, then became an architecture professor at the prestigious Harvard University. Breuer and Mies followed in the footsteps of their past colleagues and also made the move to the U.S. Others spread across Switzerland, Russia, Israel and other countries.25 Inevitably, the ideas of the Bauhaus spread, and elements of the teaching methods were integrated into education systems and can be found even today in schools around the world. Still in circulation today are the Bauhaus-popularised philosophies ‘honesty of materials’, ‘form follows function’ and ‘the unity of artist and craftsman’. These fundamental values can be further divided into subtopics to highlight principles such as minimalist design, rejection of ornamentation and belief in the gesamtkunstwerk.26

Siebenbrodt, Schöbe, Bauhaus 1919-1933, 2009 Ibid 26 BBC, “Bauhaus 100,” 2019 24 25

13 13

Fig. 07: Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, and Ernesto Rogers, 1950

Fig. 08: Abloh pictured standing in Mies’ Farnsworth House

Breaking Discipline Divisions

Chapter III

The art world we live in now is far less defined by divisions between disciplines, allowing creatives more flexibility to experiment across art forms, a concept developed by the Bauhaus and reinforced today by our generation’s creative visionaries.27 Many of today’s artists, ranging across the domains of fashion, painting, architecture, music and product design, are exploiting this transition and developing an open playing field for the arts.28 Architectural design philosophies are now being applied across to fields laying on the opposing side of the spectrum as part of common practice,29 where they are re-imagined and presented to the world in new forms. Virgil Abloh Before his recent passing, Virgil Abloh, former artistic director of Louis Vuitton, was plausibly at the pinnacle of today’s culture, distributing his influence worldwide and scattering it within every art form. Named, in 2018, as one of the ‘100 most influential people in the world’ by Time,30 Abloh and his fashion label Off-White are the prime example for the implementation of architectural thinking outside of architecture. This embrace of cross-disciplinary practice is a direct allusion to the Bauhaus31 and as mentioned in Abloh’s interview with the magazine, Kaleidoscope, his approach to design takes on the form of applying a vision and craft to every kind of medium. This ideology was popularised in the early 20th century and pushed by Gropius with the ultimate objective to develop a new form of artist who was able to excel in all aspects of art.32 After completing his Civil Engineering degree in 2002, Abloh went on to study architecture at masters level at the Illinois Institute of Technology.33 Here he acquired a very important skill-set and architectural outlook. It is this method of thinking which would later inform most, if not the entirety of his creative work and catapult him to the prime position which he now occupies.

Sezer Cihaner Keser, “20th Century Quest for New Art and Interdisciplinary Approach,” Global Journal of Arts Education 7, no. 2 (June 12, 2017), https://doi.org/10.18844/ gjae.v7i2.1835. 28 Patina Lee, “What Does the Term Interdisciplinary Artist Imply?,” www.widewalls.ch, August 13, 2016, https://www.widewalls.ch/magazine/interdisciplinary-artist. 29 Highsnobiety, “Highsnobiety Visits | Snarkitecture’s Brooklyn Headquarters,” www.youtube.com, October 29, 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA5bw6onZg&t=51s. 30 Time, “The 100 Most Influential People in the World,” Time, 2018, https://time.com/collection/most-influential-people-2018/. 31 Abloh, One of Us, 2018 32 Walter Gropius, “Manifesto of the Staatliches Bauhaus,” 1919 33 Steff Yotka, “Virgil Abloh Biography and Career Timeline,” Vogue (Vogue, March 28, 2018), https://www.vogue.com/article/virgil-abloh-biography-career-timeline.

As explained by Virgil, it was during this time as a student of architecture that he discovered the Italian Renaissance and its notion of the architect being an artist across all disciplines. The opposing idea that architects were stuck drawing CAD plans for buildings was not one that Abloh was fond of. 34 Instead, his vision entails the architectural skill-set and thought process being implemented across disciplines, and lifting constraints which prevented architects from designing anything but buildings. As stated by Virgil at his Columbia University lecture “Young Architects Can Change The World By Not Building Buildings”.35 Abloh himself is often described as the jack of all trades, having tried his hand at product design, fashion, music, furniture design, architecture, sculpture and album packaging however his applied design philosophies stay consistent throughout.36 The catalogue style book Figures of Speech by Virgil Abloh exhibits a collection of his works, and begins with a selection of essays followed by an Interview between Samir Bantal, Rem Koolhaas and Virgil Abloh. Both Samir Bantal and Rem Koolhaas form part of AMO; the research and publication branch of OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture), with Koolhaas as the co-founder and Bantal as the director. AMO is particularly relevant to the investigation due to its specialisation on the application of architectural thought processes beyond the traditional boundaries of architecture which, to name a few, include fashion, technology and graphic design. The Bauhaus influence here is blatant yet an obvious development and evolution is just as visible. AMO as a firm no longer seeks to achieve democracy amongst disciplines but rather to focus on architectural thinking as opposed to the architectural profession. Thus freed from the limitations and weight which is paired with the construction process AMO focuses on the theoretical concepts and thinking which can be applied outside the realm of architecture.37 Development of the terms ‘Architect’ & ‘Architecture’ Koolhaas’ and Bantal’s discussion with Abloh raises many interesting perspectives on the democratisation of architecture as a way of thinking. Alongside this discussion is a graphic produced by Abloh (Fig. 09) depicting the development in the terms ‘Architecture’ and ‘Architect’ over time, illustrating that post 2000, the label ‘Architect’ now also includes the disciplines of fashion, music and art.38

Abloh, One of Us, 2018 Columbia GSAPP, “Virgil Abloh,” 2017 36 Robin Torres, “Virgil Abloh’s Raw Creative Vision,” i-D, December 6, 2016, https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/j5mezb/virgil-ablohs-raw-creative-vision. 37 Belen Butragueno, Javier FCO. Raposo, and Mariasun Salgado, “Practical Theorization vs Architectural Practice in OMA /AMO,” Practice of Teaching | Teaching of Practice: The Teacher’s Hunch, 2019, https://doi.org/10.35483/acsa.teach.2019.47. 38 Michael Darling and Art Chicago, Virgil Abloh : “Figures of Speech” (Munich ; New York: Delmonico Books·Prestel, 2019). 34 35

Fig. 09: A graphic made by Abloh depicting the change in definition over time

A direct example of the term ‘Architect’ loosening over time can be found in an interview with Abloh and Designboom, an online magazine, where he declares ‘I get labelled a lot of things, but the only thing I feel like I really am is an architect’. Equally, Samir Bantal, director at AMO notes that ‘there’s still a very strong feeling of [Virgil Abloh] being an architect rather than only a fashion designer’.39 As someone who has only been involved with 7 conventional architecture projects since his Masters of Architecture graduation in 2006, yet has been the brain behind 48 major fashion projects since 2013,40 it quickly becomes apparent that the term ‘Architect’ is no longer solely used to describe ‘a person whose job is to design new buildings and make certain that they are built correctly’.41 By applying architectural principles elsewhere, Abloh seemingly feels like he remained in his role as an architect even whilst leading such non-architectural projects. Similarly, British fashion designer, Samuel Ross mentions ‘[wanting] to become the architect now… That’s where the large-scale sculpture and the furniture come into play’.42 Evident here, is the use of the term ‘architect’ whilst referring to ‘largescale sculpture’ and ‘furniture’, as opposed to buildings, thus highlighting the broadening of the term. Concluding with the words of OMA’s founder, Rem Koolhaas ‘architecture now is a category that is so wide that almost anything can be fitted into it’.43 Yeezus Album Cover One year after Virgil’s completion of his Master’s degree in Architecture, he was hired by Kanye West to help materialise his creative aspirations.44 This marked the start of their partnership which eventually lead to the duo collaborating on the album cover for West’s sixth studio album, Yeezus. The cover (Fig. 12) adheres to a very minimalist design approach, with a blank CD housed in a clear jewel case and a plain red sticker. Symbolising the death of the CD, the cover art acts as an ‘open casket’, reflecting on the past decades in which it was a medium that generations grew up with. As proclaimed by Virgil Abloh in his lecture at Columbia University, it is a tribute to the CD format which at this point in 2013 was the end of its era. This was for the most part due to the popularisation of iTunes and the transition to the digital format.45

Fig. 10: (Top) Armchair designed by Abloh from his ‘Framing’ furniture collection Fig. 11: (Bottom) Table from the ‘Framing’ collection

Darling and Art Chicago, Abloh : “Figures of Speech”, 2019 40 Virgil Abloh, “Comprehensive Archive,” canary---yellow.com, accessed January 3, 2022, https://canary---yellow.com/archive/. 41 Cambridge Dictionary, “ARCHITECT | Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary,” dictionary.cambridge.org, accessed January 11, 2022, https://dictionary.cambridge. org/dictionary/english/architect. 42 Samuel Ross, Samuel Ross unpicks the references and motifs behind A-Cold-Wall*, interview by James West and Fabien Kruszelnicki, Hero Magazine, May 29, 2019, https://hero-magazine.com/article/148926/samuel-ross-unpicks-the-references-and-motifs-behind-a-cold-wall. 43 Darling and Art Chicago, Abloh : “Figures of Speech”, 2019 44 Yotka, “Virgil Abloh Biography and Career Timeline,” 2018 45 Columbia GSAPP, “Virgil Abloh,” 2017 39

The Yeezus artwork doesn’t draw obvious parallels between itself and architecture, however the connection to the Bauhaus comes in the form of materiality, form over function and honesty. These design principles, once fostered by Gropius and often applied in the context of architecture, have here been applied in the graphic design sphere, demonstrating once again, their versatility and long lasting impact.

Fig. 12: Yeezus cover art designed by Abloh and West

As a student of the Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Abloh engaged with the architecture of former Bauhaus director, Ludwig Mies van Der Rohe from an early age, who not only designed the main campus of his university also many of its buildings. According to Virgil: “Studying architecture in Crown Hall had a lasting effect on my aesthetic, But not only my aesthetic. The sort of thought process that went into modernism”.46

Virgil Abloh, Mies van der Rohe had a lasting effect on my aesthetic, says Virgil Abloh, interview by Dan Howarth, June 23, 2017, https://www.dezeen.com/2017/06/23/ virgil-abloh-interview-mies-van-der-rohe-influence-off-white/.

Fig. 13: Farnsworth House, Illinois. Designed by Mies van der Rohe

The three previously mentioned design principles: Materiality, form over function and honesty manifest itself in the design of the Yeezus cover art, and Mies’ influence on Virgil Abloh starts to become apparent. In terms of materiality, the cover’s CD case is designed almost like the Farnsworth House (Fig. 13) with the purposeful exposing of the interior, and a focus on materiality. In response to the Farnsworth House, Mies remarks ‘If you view nature through the glass walls of the Farnsworth House, it gains a more profound significance than if viewed from outside’ 47 and a similar concept is applied to the bare CD within the transparent housing. Virgil’s intent was to frame the CD to give the generation one last look at the medium before it completely died out, thus the importance of transparency, honesty and not keeping any elements concealed. The case is stripped of its typical ornamentation which is non-essential to the structure however aids in its secondary intention which is to be of attractive nature and market itself. In the theme of Mies and Bauhaus, the cover brilliantly represents the ideologies ’Less is More’ and ‘Function over Form’ on account of its skin and bones approach, where only the necessary parts are kept which enable it to perform its function. In this instance, the function is to house and protect the CD. The design can be seen as the epitome of untouched purity, before designers are given a chance to add their touch and before retailers were able to add barcodes and pricing labels. This same undisturbed purity is often discussed in relation to Mies van der Rohe’s Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin where the transparent glass façades are uninterrupted by steel columns or other structural components and the palette of materials and colours is kept to an extreme minimum.48 Whilst the translation of Bauhaus’ design philosophies into today’s design culture are evident, accepting their susceptibility to organic developments is equally as important. In response to the question ‘Do you believe in Mies’ motto, “Less is more”?’, Abloh responded that he did not necessarily agree, but instead feels ‘the right amount is intriguing’.49 Virgil acknowledges his influence from this minimalistic philosophy yet builds on it, adapting it to our current climate. The orange sticker added to West’s Yeezus artwork can be considered a demonstration of this, where Virgil made the decision to not abide strictly to the concept of ‘Form follows Function’, but instead add to the colour palette, adding just enough to stimulate intrigue. Today, amongst the hip-hop community, the album’s colour palette and basic geometries are instantly recognisable and make for an iconic artwork.

Fritz Neumeyer and Mark Jarzombek, Artless Word : Mies van Der Rohe on the Building Art (M.I.T.P, 1994). Jan-Carlos Kucharek, “David Chipperfield ‘Preserves the Aura’ in Its Refurbishment of Neue Nationalgalerie, Berlin,” www.ribaj.com (Riba Journal, September 22, 2021), https://www.ribaj.com/buildings/neue-nationalgalerie-berlin-germany-david-chipperfield-refurbishment-mies-van-der-rohe. 49 Abloh, One of Us, 2018. 47

“The Ten” Shoe design lead by Abloh is equally as likely to show elements of architectural and Bauhausian influence, and the pure act of an architect engaging in shoe design reflects the very principles endorsed by Walter Gropius 100 years ago. The unity of arts with crafts; architecture with textiles. Late 2017 marked the release of Virgil Abloh’s “The Ten” ,50 a shoe collection comprising of ten redesigned classic Nike shoes, re-envisioned by Abloh. As exemplified by Rem Koolhaas’ AMO, architectural thinking is not limited to just buildings, but can instead be applied to any field, and “The Ten” is a perfect display of this. With a focus on transparency vs opacity, materiality and experimentation with the uncovering of structural elements, the shoe collection was labelled by many as ‘Collaboration of the decade” 51 and the Jordan 1 (Fig. 15) from the collection won Virgil the Footwear News Achievement Award for ‘Shoe of the Year’.52 In the architectural fashion, the shoes are composed of structural as well as decorative components. These were thereupon dismantled, rethought and reassembled, exposing certain structural elements, as is often done in the Bauhaus where it forms part of its ‘truth to materials’ ethos.53 A demonstration of this, is the Hanania and Kharraz Center in Ramallah, Israel which just like its original counterpart, the Bauhaus Dessau building, leaves structural elements exposed.54 The collection was split in two, one labelled as Revealing and one as Ghosting.55 The focus of the revealing collection was centred around the dissecting and reconstruction of the shoe. In a typical architectural fashion, its humble beginnings began from the use of an X-ACTO knife and a black marker (Fig. 14), where elements were disassembled, moved and other areas cut to have their insides exposed. Processes like this used by Abloh relate strongly to his architectural origins, from the chosen tools and work techniques to design mindsets, all akin to the task of architectural model building. Playing an important role in this collection is the Jordan 1 sneaker (Fig. 15); a prime example of the synthesis of these techniques. Stitching which is otherwise hidden for a ‘clean’ aesthetic is now exposed, the inner foam used for cushioning in no longer concealed, stitching holes are left uncovered and material edges, usually cut precisely and crisp, are now left rough. The re-imagination of the Jordan 1 radiates with the pride of having a handmade quality and a sense of embrace in this change, from machine cut accuracy to hand-crafted imprecision, is conveyed.

Danil Boparai, “Virgil Abloh Reconstructs 10 of Nike’s Most Iconic Sneakers,” Dezeen, September 15, 2017, https://www.dezeen.com/2017/09/15/the-ten-virgil-abloh-nikeoff-white-air-jordan-1-nike-air-vapormax/. 51 Adam Jane, “Material Matters: Deconstructing Virgil Abloh’s Off-White X Nike Colab,” Sneaker Freaker, August 30, 2017, https://www.sneakerfreaker.com/features/ material-matters/material-matters-deconstructing-virgil-ablohs-off-white-x-nike-colab. 52 Bigoa Machar, “Virgil Abloh Wins the 2017 Footwear News Achievement Award for ‘Shoe of the Year,’” HYPEBEAST, October 29, 2017, https://hypebeast.com/2017/10/ virgil-abloh-2017-fnaa-winner. 53 Adrian Welch, “Bauhaus Inspired Architecture and Furniture Design,” e-architect, December 22, 2019, https://www.e-architect.com/articles/bauhaus-inspired-architecture-and-furniture. 54 Jawabrah Muain Qasem, Amjad Jarada, and Usama Badawy, “The Influence of Bauhaus Architecture, Ramallah as Case Study, West Bank Palestine,” European Journal of Academic Essays, May 2020, https://doi.org/http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11889/6415. 55 Jane, “Material Matters, 2017 50

Fig. 14: (Top) Abloh deconstructing existing shoes during the making of “The Ten” Fig. 15: (Bottom) Jordan 1 sneaker from the ‘Revealing’ collection, redesigned by Abloh

Abloh’s architecture bound mind further shines through in the purposeful labelling of the shoe, resembling that of a technical drawing. Boldly written in Helvetica, the self-referential text identifies materials or technologies incorporated in the shoe. Demonstrated by the Jordan 1, Nike’s ‘Air’ technology is tagged on the sole, almost as if the annotation had been forgotten to be removed from the design sheet during the development stage. The second half of “The Ten” collection goes by the name “Ghosting’. Influenced by Virgil’s Bauhausian idol, Mies van der Rohe, this batch of shoes carries a very playful ‘transparency vs opacity’ attitude similar to Johannes Itten’s ‘contrast theory’ which formed part of his Bauhaus preparatory course.56 The use of transparency within architecture held a significant importance within Bauhaus and appears even in the frontispiece of its manifesto printed in 1919.57 Several of the Bauhaus Masters and directors also demonstrated the importance of transparency in their own work, namely Walter Gropius, László Moholy-Nagy and Mies van der Rohe. Gropius himself was commissioned by the city of Dessau to design the Bauhaus building,58 in which he implemented comparable concepts to that of Abloh in The Ten. The building’s workshop wing gloats a curtain glass wall which eloquently wraps around the corner, exposing the building’s structural elements and giving the impression of transparency (Fig. 16).59

Fig. 16: Bauhaus Dessau’s curtain glass wall designed by Gropius

Siebenbrodt, Schöbe, Bauhaus 1919-1933, 2009 57 Tom Steinert, “Transparency,” 2019, https://cloud-cuckoo.net/fileadmin/hefte_de/heft_39/artikel_steinert.pdf. 58 Droste, Williams, Michael, Bauhaus : 1919-1933, 2019 59 Bauhaus Dessau, “Bauhaus Building by Walter Gropius (1925-26)”, 2019 56

Mies was equally as invested in the implementation of transparency within his work, as he made evident in his renowned Farnsworth House, completed in 1950, consisting of a roof and floor slab supported by eight steel columns around which a glass skin extends.60 As written by the architectural theorist Beatriz Colomina in her recent book X-Ray Architecture, ‘Modern architecture exposes itself, but not by revealing everything. Rather, it stages the act of exposure, calling the eye in’.61 Such ideologies run in parallel between both the Bauhaus, and Virgil’s contemporary ventures outside of architecture especially in regards to the Ghosting collection of The Ten.

Fig. 17: Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star Vulcanized Hi; Part of the Ghosting collection, designed by Abloh

Concentrating on specifically the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Star Vulcanized Hi (Fig. 17) from the Ghosting line, the play of ‘transparency vs opacity’ leads here to the reveal of inner structural components. Stitchings and unpleasant panel junctions, often considered as something that designers aim to hide, are made visible through the introduction of clear vulcanised rubber for the soles. Materials for the remainder of the shoe are just as well considered, continuing the theme of layered transparency, with parts of shoe’s upper being completely transparent, and others only translucent.

Werner Blaser, Mies van Der Rohe (Basel: Birkhäuser, 2000). Beatriz Colomina, X-Ray Architecture (Zürich: Lars Müller Publishers, 2019). 60

Interdisciplinary Design Studios The belief of ‘uniting art’ promoted by Gropius and his Bauhaus school has come so far over the last 100 years as to make possible some of today’s design studios. By providing a precedent for the arts working together in harmony, interdisciplinary creative agencies can now work across the artistic spectrum, unconfined by divisions. Snarkitecture, a New York-based collaborative design practice is an exploration of this newly found creative freedom amongst disciplines. Founded by Daniel Arsham and Alex Mustonen in 2008, the practice relies on today’s fluidity of the creative realm, and is described as ‘established to investigate the boundaries between disciplines’ on its website.62 It operates at the intersection of art and architecture and exhibits an extensive list of significant past clients, for instance Calvin Klein, Beats by Dre and COS.63 Undeniably, as mentioned in an interview with Alex Mustonen, the exploration of ‘the territory between art and architecture [is] something that was certainly less common to see 10 years ago’.64 Part of today’s contemporary renaissance appears to be the embodiment of this philosophy after having been disregarded for many years, and the slow emergence of cross-disciplinary practices is a testimony to Bauhaus’ lasting effect. One of the many precedents of collaborative and interdisciplinary projects set by the Bauhaus was the theatre workshop, comparable in many ways to the Snarkitecture practice. Students from all workshops were able to come together and partake in theatre projects, each providing a different skill set. The students’ joint efforts of constructing the stage amongst other tasks was thus a physical manifestation of the gesamtkunstwerk.65 Snarkitecture, follows a similar approach and embraces this same interdisciplinarity within its work, mixing materials and formats,66 operating in-between the worlds of sculpture, performance and architecture,67 and working with Snarkitecture’s architects, bringing everyone’s individual skills together in pursuit of the gesamtkunstwerk.68

Snarkitecture, “Snarkitecture,” Snarkitecture, n.d., http://www.snarkitecture.com/. Alex Mustonen and Daniel Arsham, &A with Snarkitecture—The Design Studio You Need to Know (And Probably Already Do But Don’t Know It), July 6, 2018, https:// www.artspace.com/magazine/art_101/book_report/snarkitecture-55514. 64 Alex Mustonen, 10 Years of Snarkitecture, interview by Cereal, May 22, 2018, https://readcereal.com/10-years-of-snarkitecture/. 65 Siebenbrodt, Schöbe, Bauhaus 1919-1933, 2009 66 Gunner Park, “How Daniel Arsham Became One of Today’s Most Important Artists,” Highsnobiety, October 17, 2019, https://www.highsnobiety.com/p/daniel-arsham-biography/. 67 Ibid 68 Shaunacy Ferro, “Why Designer Daniel Arsham Won’t Work for Anyone but Himself,” Fast Company, March 20, 2015, https://www.fastcompany.com/3044031/whydesigner-daniel-arsham-wont-work-for-anyone-but-himself. 62 63

Fig. 18: ‘Drift’ , a pavilion designed and constructed by Snarkitecture, 2012

Fig. 19

Fig. 20

Fig. 23

Fig. 21

Fig. 22

Fig. 19: Cast models of iconic sneakers, Snarkitecture Studio Fig. 20: Arsham’s 1981 DeLorean and model making materials, Snarkitecture Studio Fig. 21: Co-Founder and architect Alex Mustonen, Snarkitecture Studio Fig. 22: Daniel Arsham (right) with one of his sculptures many sculptures (above), Snarkitecture Studio Fig. 23: Snarkitecture’s interdisciplinary work environment

This long term impact is highlighted also by Arsham’s involvement and interest in architecture which can be drawn back to the Bauhaus. Cooper Union, the school attended by Arsham to study painting, formed strong links to Gropius’ art school after many Bauhaus taught students fled Germany to then teach at Cooper Union in New York.69 This relationship manifested itself through the teaching philosophies being adopted from the Bauhaus, particularly evident in the school’s decision to not ‘place a big insistence on students choosing discipline’ as mentioned by Arsham himself.70 Notes from former Bauhaus masters were also still being used to give classes at Cooper Union and ultimately a certain spirit from the Bauhaus lived on in this school.71 That being the case, Arsham learnt to ‘think [of] the idea of medium, less so as a kind of dogmatic focus and more as a vehicle towards a unified idea’,72 a philosophy closely reminiscent of Gropius’ manifesto and his idea of the gesamtkunstwerk. Cooper Union’s faculty of Art shared a workshop with the Architecture school, generating an environment where students from either department shared the same facilities and worked in a very non-hierarchical manner, free from discrimination, again stemming from the Bauhaus.73 This method of working is mirrored in today’s Snarkitecture studio (Fig.19-23) where Arsham’s practice as a fine artist operates in the same space as Snarkitecture’s architecture office, illustrating the open playing field of the creative domain at present. The projects tackled by this practice have ranged from retail spaces to furniture and household objects,74 many of which symbolise the marriage between art and architecture.75 Whilst certain works remain in the architectural building category, the ones that delve into the world of art; installations, sculptures, furniture and fashion stay subject to architectural principles and thought processes. Mustonen states ‘we’re interested in architecture and that’s really one of the core focuses of the practice, so architectural principles inherently are getting applied to a fashion project or a retail project or a cultural project’,76 emphasising the modern day unity of arts made possible by the Bauhaus.

Daniel Libeskind, “Bauhaus at 100: What It Means to Me by Norman Foster, Margaret Howell and Others,” the Guardian, January 20, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/ artanddesign/2019/jan/20/bauhaus-at-100-what-it-means-to-me-by-norman-foster-margaret-howell-and-others. 70 Daniel Arsham, Design in Dialogue #45: Daniel Arsham, interview by Glenn Adamson, July 29, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04E3MFky6yo&t=1354s. 71 Libeskind, “Bauhaus at 100”, 2019 72 Arsham, “Design in Dialogue #45”, 2020, 73 Virginia Mcleod, Snarkitecture (London Phaidon Press Limited New Yprk Phaidon Press Inc, 2018). 74 Snarkitecture, “Snarkitecture” 75 Highsnobiety, “Highsnobiety Visits | Snarkitecture’s Brooklyn Headquarters” , 2015 76 Ibid

A further example of the Bauhaus’ influence can be found within the design agency DONDA, occasionally referred to as a contemporary re-imagination of the Bauhaus itself.77 Striving to gather a group of architects, graphic designers, directors, musicians, producers, AnRs, writers, and many more, the Kanye West lead collective accordingly took on a highly interdisciplinary form, yet upon announcement, was received with much scepticism.78 In a series of tweets from January 2012 (Fig. 24), West puts forwards his ambitions for DONDA which included a set of design principles, identical to those of the Bauhaus; no discrimination between disciplines, assembling creatives with different skills but ‘like minds’ to contribute towards the gesamtkunstwerk and also producing products with utilitarian purpose in the manner of ‘function over form’. Furthering this, West also sought to push for the democratisation of design, shown through his intent to ‘make products … that people want and can afford’, something which originated from the Bauhaus.79 The Bauhaus’ focus towards democratic design came in 1923 when Gropius’ initial objective, ‘unifying arts through craft’, later proved financially unsustainable.80 The objective was consequently shifted towards uniting art and technology.81 Bauhaus’ mass production began towards the end of that decade leading to the introduction of standardisation and modularisation,82 thus making design more affordable and democratic just as West aimed to do through DONDA. Collaboration, whether cross-disciplinary or not, also takes on an important role within both DONDA and the Bauhaus therefore further emphasising the close links between the two,83 and in an interview with the son of Rem Koolhaas, West specifically mentions this intent to collaborate as a key company value.84

Sang, “Kanye West, Virgil Abloh & More That Are Influenced by Bauhaus,”, 2019 Cedar Pasori, “How Kanye West’s Creative Company DONDA Is Making Its Own Brand of Cool,” Complex, November 3, 2014, https://www.complex.com/style/2014/11/ how-kanye-wests-creative-company-donda-is-making-its-own-brand-of-cool. 79 Ezgi İşbilen, “From Bauhaus to Ikea : Integration of Mass Production, Standardization, Modularization and Claim of Universality with Capitalist Mode of Production [,” Open.metu.edu.tr, 2012, https://hdl.handle.net/11511/22162. 80 Alexandra Griffith Winton, “The Bauhaus, 1919–1933,” Metmuseum.org, August 2007, https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/bauh/hd_bauh.htm. 81 Ezgi İşbilen, “From Bauhaus to Ikea : Integration of Mass Production, Standardization, Modularization and Claim of Universality with Capitalist Mode of Production [,” Open.metu.edu.tr, 2012, https://hdl.handle.net/11511/22162. 82 Ibid 83 Siebenbrodt, Schöbe, Bauhaus 1919-1933, 2009 84 Tomas Koolhaas, “KANYE WEST INTERVIEW SHORT VERSION,” Vimeo, December 1, 2013, https://vimeo.com/80747086. 77 78

Fig. 24: West’s Twitter ambitions with DONDA (05.01.2012)

Fig. 25: West’s 7 Screen Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival

Fig. 26: Pavilion axonometric

Fig. 27: Pavilion section

7 Screen Pavilion DONDA’s portfolio covers an array of projects, some architectural, others based on graphic design, film, music amongst others. Cannes’ 2012 Film Festival hosted the premiere of Cruel Summer, a short film by West,85 played within the 7 Screen Pavilion (Fig. 25), a canopy created by the DONDA team in collaboration Oana Stanescu, 2x4 and Shohei Shigemats from OMA.86 Designed like a floating pyramid, the structure seeks to surround the audience with its 7 screens, immersing the viewers in an 3D experience. The use of triangular or pyramid forms was nothing the new to the Bauhaus. In fact, the entirety of the school’s aesthetic relied on geometric forms87 namely, the yellow triangle, which when paired with the blue circle and red square forms an undeniable connection to the Bauhaus.88 DONDA’s pavilion, conceived as a pure and honest form, is strict with its minimalist style and is seen from the outside as just a floating pyramid. Comparisons can be drawn between this project and the houses of the Bauhaus Masters, designed by Gropius, such as the joint use of clean lines, absence of ornamentation, geometric shapes and exclusively white colour palette. Gropius used these buildings as an opportunity to put the school’s principles to use,89 and to see the same principles mirrored in projects close to 100 years later is a testament to Bauhaus’ influence. The so labelled ‘modern adaptation of the Bauhaus’: DONDA,90 exhibited its widespread versatility in the following years and was involved in the production of several films, music videos, book covers, fashion projects and album art.91 In the same way Gropius’ Sommerfeld house project encouraged collaboration and made use of the students’ individual skills,92 the wide range of creatives within DONDA allowed for their skills to come together, seeking to achieve the gesamtkunstwerk.

Henry Barnes, “Kanye West’s Cruel Summer Screens out for Attention at Cannes,” the Guardian, May 24, 2012, https://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/ may/24/kanye-west-cruel-summer-cannes. 86 OMA, “Https://Www.oma.com/News/Kanye-Wests-Seven-Screen-Pavilion-Unveiled,” OMA, May 24, 2012, https://www.oma.com/news/kanye-wests-seven-screen-pavilion-unveiled. 87 Nicholas Fox Weber, “The Bauhaus at 100: Science by Design,” Nature 572, no. 7768 (August 2019): 174–75, https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02355-4. 88 Verena Bornmann, “Primary Colors and Shapes at the Bauhaus - Narratives - Documenta Archiv,” www.documenta-bauhaus.de, accessed January 7, 2022, https://www. documenta-bauhaus.de/en/narrative/476/primary-colors-and-shapes-at-the-bauhaus. 89 Ana Lopes Ramos, “Walter Gropius in Dessau. Part II, the Masters’ Houses,” John Desmond Ltd., July 23, 2017, https://www.johndesmond.com/blog/design/walter-gropiusdessau-part-ii-the-masters-houses/. 90 Sang, “Kanye West, Virgil Abloh & More That Are Influenced by Bauhaus,”, 2019 91 The UNCOMMON Magazine, “DONDA: The Creative Agency of Kanye West,” www.youtube.com, June 1, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHDjKVjF-RY. 92 Siebenbrodt, Schöbe, Bauhaus 1919-1933, 2009 85

Yeezus Stage Design Most notably however, DONDA continued their architecture rooted explorations in the context of stage design and fashion runways. In partnership with the New York based design studio, Food New York, the team at West’s creative agency drafted up the stage design plans for the tour of West’s sixth studio album.93 Involved in the process was Bauhaus enthusiast Virgil Abloh, also DONDA’s creative director,94 ultimately resulting a design which made no attempt at concealing its modernist influence. Placed centrally, the constructed mountain appears to be composed of geometric, glass shard shaped elements (Fig. 28), akin to the triangular forms used in Bauhaus Master, Wassily Kandinsky’s, many paintings.95 The stage’s two dominating forms, the triangular mountain, and an elliptical projection above (Fig.30), generate a composition similar to that in Soft Hard, Kandinsky’s 1927 painting (Fig. 29), and also mirrors the renowned Bauhausian emphasis on geometric forms.96 In the style of Bauhaus architecture, the entirety of the set uses just monochrome tones, and background performers are covered head to toe in beige morph-suits, sticking to its very limited colour palette and embodying the ‘less is more’ ethos.

Fig. 28: Yeezus stage from behind, showing the geometric, glass shard like structure

Fig. 29: A segment of Wassily Kandinsky’s Soft Hard (1927)

The UNCOMMON Magazine, “DONDA: The Creative Agency of Kanye West”, 2020 INTERIORS Journal, “INTERIORS: The Yeezus Tour,” ArchDaily, December 23, 2013, https://www.archdaily.com/461103/interiors-the-yeezus-tour. 95 Kate Paul, “Kandinsky: The Path to Abstraction, Room Guide, Room 9,” Tate, October 9, 2013, https://www.tate.org.uk/whats-on/tate-modern/exhibition/kandinsky-path-abstraction/kandinsky-path-abstraction-room-guide-8. 96 Larissa Borteh, “Bauhaus - Concepts & Styles,” The Art Story, October 21, 2010, https://www.theartstory.org/movement/bauhaus/history-and-concepts/. 93 94

Fig. 30: The Yeezus stage from the crowd’s perspective

Fig. 31: Stage Elevation

Fig. 32: Stage Elevation

Fig. 33: The floating stage at Kanye West’s ‘Saint Pablo’ tour

Form Follows Function

Chapter IV

Saint Pablo Tour Stage Design Self proclaimed ‘minimalist in a rapper’s body’, Kanye West repeatedly cites Le Corbusier and his works as one of his influences; ‘this one Corbusier lamp was ... my greatest inspiration’.97 Corbusier’s aforementioned affinity for the Bauhaus as well as Bauhaus’ embrace of Corbusier’s philosophies put the two at a harmonious level where design strategies were congruent and shared, thereupon drawing West’s source of inspiration back to Gropius’ famed art school. The lamp mentioned by West as an inspiration was likely to have fuelled the theories of simplicity and ‘elimination of unnecessary detail’ 98 which echoes throughout his Yeezus album and is a major topic within most of the album reviews.99 Likewise, West’s numerous pilgrimages to Corbusier’s buildings appear to have left a notable impact, with his fascination for minimal design later translating into his own works.100 Concentrating however on the utilitarian, ‘form follows function’ aspect, Corbusier’s modernist attitude adopted by West is most pronounced in the stage design of his 2016 Saint Pablo tour (Fig.33). Abandoning the conventional idea of a stage, West stripped the set to its core, completely removing all superfluous elements. This begins to evoke sentiments of Corbusier’s well-known concept ‘The house is a machine for living in’,101 expressed here by West’s commitment to keeping only the components needed to make his machine, in this case the stage, run smoothly. Treating the stage like a machine, very much in the manner of Corbusier, translates not only into an appliance which lacks ornamentation, but it also exerts an influence on the aesthetic values of individual elements. As previously mentioned, the era of Corbusier and Bauhaus was preceded by the industrial revolution and the rise of new technologies such as washing machines, automobiles and aircraft.102 Aligning with their principles of functionality, Bauhaus and Corbusier drew inspiration from such industrial forms, evident in Bauhaus’ Glass table lamp by Karl J. Jucker and Wilhelm Wagenfeld,103 and Corbusier’s Villa Savoye.104

Jon Caramanica, “Behind Kanye’s Mask,” The New York Times, June 11, 2013, sec. Arts, https://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/arts/music/kanye-west-talks-about-hiscareer-and-album-yeezus.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0. 98 Nilson Thomas Carroll, “Kanye West and Modernism: In Defense of Yeezus,” the-artifice.com, February 18, 2014, https://the-artifice.com/kanye-west-yeezus-modernism/. 99 Patrick Bierut, “Yeezus: How Kanye West Shifted the Hip-Hop Paradigm | UDiscover,” uDiscover Music, June 18, 2019, https://www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/kanyewest-yeezus-album/. 100 Joanna Fu, “Kanye West Debuts Low Income Housing Project,” HYPEBEAST, June 4, 2018, https://hypebeast.com/2018/6/kanye-west-yeezy-home-social-housing-project. 101 Le Corbusier, Towards a New Architecture (1923; repr., New York: Brewer, Warren & Putnam, 2014). 102 Siebenbrodt, Schöbe, Bauhaus 1919-1933, 2009 103 Ibid 104 Jacques Sbriglio, Le Corbusier: La Villa Savoye (Paris: Fondation Le Corbusier ; Basel, 1999). 97

Fig. 34: The ‘Saint Pablo’ floating stage showing its minimal and concentrated lighting

Such admiration for industrial forms is arguably mirrored in West’s stage for his Saint Pablo tour which consisted of a ‘floating’ platform held up by an industrial pulley and track system, with its steel truss structure proudly exposed (Fig. 35). This purposeful revealing of structural elements can be traced back to buildings such as Dessau’s Bauhaus building105 and forms one of the school’s important design pillars; Truth to materials and using materials in their honest form. The set is evidently focused on functionality and aesthetics appear to take a backseat in many situations. A demonstration of this is the exposed cables hanging from the pulley system which undeniably could have easily been better concealed. It can therefore be assumed that these were purposefully left to in order to align with the previous idea of treating the stage like a machine, and adhering to an industrial warehouse aesthetic where functionality is key. These principles can be said to have stemmed from the International style, a design movement to which the Bauhaus belonged106 and shared many of its ideas with.107 It is often referred to as the ‘architecture of the machine age’ and is believed to have emerged from an interest in buildings such as warehouses and factories, in which such pulley stems or exposed truss frames would usually be seen.108 The concept of projections, previously seen in his Yeezus tour, were scrapped, backdrop screens removed and no promotional banners nor props were used. Aside from the stage, the only other component was lighting, which again was kept to a minimum, thus giving it a higher significance. When put side by side to other stage designs of today, it becomes apparent that the general shift in this industry is towards designing boundary pushing stages, boasting highly complex structures, extensive lighting systems, the latest pyrotechnics and laser technologies. Here, West’s reference to the past feels like a revolt. Latching onto Bauhaus & Modernist principles, the set was a great success, providing for an interactive and unprecedented show.

Bauhaus Dessau, “Bauhaus Building by Walter Gropius (1925-26)”, 2019 Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson, The International Style (1932; repr., New York: W.W. Norton, 1997). 107 Nahoum Cohen, Bauhaus Tel Aviv : An Architectural Guide (London: Batsford, 2003). 108 Peter Clericuzio, “International Style - Overview,” The Art Story, April 14, 2017, https://www.theartstory.org/movement/international-style/. 105 106

Fig. 35: Saint Pablo stage elevation (Variant 1)

Fig. 36: Saint Pablo stage elevation (Variant 2)

Fig. 37: Homeware items from the ‘Concrete Objects’ collection

Materiality Chapter V

Close friend and protégée of Abloh, Samuel Ross for many years interned for Virgil before taking on the prestigious role of design assistant for Kanye West’s design agency DONDA. This design environment is flooded with interdisciplinary projects, ranging from stage design to album covers, thus preparing Ross to then later assist Abloh with his still in demand fashion label ‘OFF-WHITE’.109 Concrete Objects With this experience under his belt, Ross kickstarted the second phase of his career by launching his own ‘luxury menswear label’ titled A-COLD-WALL*. It is with this brand that he explores his interest in architecture, particularly Brutalism and Bauhaus as well as current social issues.110 One of the most obvious manifestations of this interest is within Concrete Objects; a ‘collaborative conversation’ between Samuel Ross and Jobe Burn. These homeware and furniture pieces (Fig. 37), whilst described as Brutalist, display Bauhaus characteristics and abide by the ‘form follows function’ principle so famously associated with the Bauhaus. However the focus here lays on the chosen materiality for these homeware pieces. The first release presented us with a selection of cast concrete household objects, for instance concrete pots, trays and incense holders. This collection followed in the footsteps of the Bauhaus, and showed a shared appreciation for concrete which proved to be an indispensable feature of the Bauhaus. The Dessau campus is a physical indication of this admiration held for concrete by the students and teachers of the Bauhaus shown by its dominant role as a construction material all around its grounds. The main school building was a concrete skeleton divided into sections111 with steel and glass used for the window units, embracing modernist design. Both in Bauhaus furniture and in its architecture, the principle of ‘truth to materials’ and ‘honesty’ was of utmost importance; this included leaving exposed concrete as unpainted, shuttering marks untreated and steelwork left bare.112 Corresponding traits are to be seen within Concrete Objects, where the pair of designers, Ross and Burns employ similar techniques in the form of raw concrete which is untreated and unpainted, shutter and mould marks remain and steel piping emerges to the surface.

Samuel Ross, “Samuel Ross – Continuous Study of Fashion Design, Installation Art, Sculpture & Living Space.,” www.samuel-ross.com, accessed November 4, 2021, https:// www.samuel-ross.com/. 110 Ross, “Samuel Ross unpicks the references and motifs behind A-Cold-Wall*”, 2019 111 Margret Kentgens-Craig and Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau, The Dessau Bauhaus Building, 1926-1999 (Basel ; Boston: Birkhäuser, 1998). 112 Ivana Katsarova, “The Bauhaus Movement: Where Are the Women?,” European Parliament, March 2021, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ BRIE/2021/689355/EPRS_BRI(2021)689355_EN.pdf. 109

In a traditional Bauhaus style, the Concrete Objects collection which followed the first release celebrated transparency with a change of material from concrete to cast resin. Tinted clear materials were a common choice in the Bauhaus, namely for Josef Albers who enrolled into the Bauhaus as a student, later was appointed as the first Jungmeister (Junior master) and taught the Preliminary Course’s first semester.113 Between the years 1920-21, the private architectural office of Gropius received a commission to build the house of Adolf Sommerfeld. Here, the Bauhaus principle of the gesamtkunstwerk came to fruition and the house was the result of collaboration between Gropius, Meyer, Schmidt, Breuer, Forbát and lastly Josef Albers who was responsible for the stained glass windows.114 Other stained Glass works from the Bauhaus are Albers’ Rhine Legend (1921), Grate (1922) and Johannes Itten’s Tower of Fire (1920) (Fig. 38) which have seemingly informed the material and colour choices of Concrete Objects second capsule. Part of this release, the Orange Portland Cup (Fig. 39) uses elements of translucency to manipulate the passing light, with shades of light and dark oranges. Comparable to the Kubus Stacking Containers designed by Wilhelm Wagenfeld, a Bauhaus metalwork student, the Portland Cup is also available in clear epoxy resin, expressing the evolution of material use over the last 100 years. The aspiration to implement translucency within architecture is one that had been present for many decades. As explained by writer Paul Scheerbart in his book Glasarchitektur, ‘our culture is to a certain extent the product of our architecture’, and to help ‘our culture rise to a higher level’ we must move away from the closed spaces and introduce glass architecture, enabling light to enter the spaces through every possible wall.115 Manufacturing developments in 1905 allowed for glass of a high quality to be mass produced,116 a revolutionary change, making the use of glass highly fashionable. Thus, glass was at the time heavily encouraged by the teaching system to students, who in Albers’ Preliminary Course were no longer allowed to choose materials at random but instead had to systematically work through glass, paper then metal. The first month was spent working exclusively with glass, the next with paper, then metal.117 Inspired by the modernist principles, glass use along with steel and concrete was visibly on the rise during this period, replacing traditional materials such as stone, brick and wood.118 Bauhaus’ focus on using the modern materials of its time; glass, concrete and steel is reflected in the work of Samuel Ross, in this case in Concrete Objects where the transition from glass, to a more recent material (Epoxy Resin) has been made.

Fig. 38: Johannes Itten, Tower of Fire, 1920

Fig. 39: Portland Cup - Orange (left), Monograph Cup Vermillion (right) from Concrete Objects’ second collection

Forgács, The Bauhaus Idea and Bauhaus Politics, 1995 Ibid 115 Paul Scheerbart, Glasarchitektur (Berlin: Verlag der Sturm, 1914). 116 Thomas Herzog, Roland Krippner, and Werner Lang, Facade Construction Manual (München Detail - Institut Für Internationale Architektur-Dokumentation Gmbh & Co. Kg, 2004). 117 Droste, Williams, Michael, Bauhaus : 1919-1933, 2019 118 “V&A · Modernist Architecture: The Bauhaus and Beyond,” Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A, 2017), https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/modernist-architecture-the-bauhaus-and-beyond. 113 114

Contemporary Materials

Fig. 40: A-Cold-Wall* Black Bauhaus Scarf

Continuing on the theme of using materials of the time, this principle applies also in today’s fashion sphere where it further shines through in Ross’ fashion label ‘A-COLD-WALL’. In the words of Nicholas Tazza, previous Digital Design Director of Aimé Leon Dore, “Just like the Bauhaus used materials of their time, Ross is using materials of his time”. Often citing Bauhaus as an inspiration, Ross employs the use of water-resistant technical fabrics, PVC panelling and polyester to push a utilitarian purpose in the style of the Bauhausian ‘Form follows function’ notion. In the same manner to Bauhaus, there is a distinct focus on using industrial materials, ones which would usually be used in construction for their functionality as opposed to their aesthetic qualities. A recent interview of late 2020 between architect David Adjaye and Samuel Ross discusses the topic of material choices. Here Ross mentions his past experimentations with ‘technical and synthetic materials’ and acknowledges the ‘movement happening with big tech that needs to be integrated into fabrication’ in this case for fashion.119 Smart materials and antibacterial fabrics are also mentioned, thus expressing the shift towards newer material technologies and how these can aid in propelling forward, the world of fashion. In an online podcast episode of HYPEBEAST Radio Samuel Ross once again cites Bauhaus as an influence for the chosen materials: ‘the references, the asymmetry the material choices and the finishings all linked back to the architectural notions of, a lot of the time, public housing or like Bauhaus movements or failed Bauhaus movements’.120

On the topic of fashion, Ross’ most palpable example of Bauhaus influence can be found within his clothing label A-COLD-WALL*. Here, on many occasions, the iconic Bauhaus logo designed by Oskar Schlemmer in 1922,121 makes an appearance on various products; t-shirts, scarves (Fig. 40), socks and clothing pins. Further Bauhaus references are made in the 2016 collection labelled HOUSEHOLD which feature products with the text ‘Staatliches Bauhaus A-COLD-WALL’ and an image of Josef Albers’ colourful Nesting Tables (Fig. 41). This alone shows the unprecedented impact left by the Bauhaus, which continues to leave its mark all over popular culture. Fig. 41: A-Cold-Wall* Hoodie featuring an image of Albers’ Nesting Tables

David Adjaye and Samuel Ross, Dual Purpose: David Adjaye and A-Cold-Wall’s Samuel Ross on Architecture, Fashion., interview by Wallpaper*, December 27, 2020, https://www.therlty.com/post/dual-purpose-david-adjaye-and-a-cold-walls-samuel-ross-on-architecture-fashion. 120 HYPEBEAST Radio, “Samuel Ross of A-COLD-WALL*,” www.youtube.com, May 20, 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsHvOJTo3UY&t=444s. 121 Paul Richard, “In the Human Sphere of Oskar Schlemmer,” Washington Post, February 16, 1986, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/style/1986/02/16/ in-the-human-sphere-of-oskar-schlemmer/e5cef05b-a89e-4320-84ad-0bc9d1a959bc/. 119

Fig. 42: The Bauhaus Masters

Conclusion To this day, the Bauhaus, characterised by its radical thinking, holds its place as what is considered to be the most influential art school of the 20th century.122 Spurring an art movement which altered the way art and architecture would look around the globe for the next decades, it quickly becomes apparent that its impact would not be restricted exclusively to art and architecture. Whilst by 1938, the desire for a new Bauhaus-like institute had diminished and was deemed antiquated,123 the teaching methods and design principles were nevertheless still held in high esteem. Through the conducted research it is made evident that the Bauhaus still exerts substantial influence on contemporary designers on a variety of levels and within a diverse selection of mediums. As one would expect, the principles proposed over 100 years ago have undergone slight changes in an attempt to make them more applicable to the world we live in today however the core idea remains unchanged. Arguably, the most significant of Bauhaus’ developments was the uniting of arts and the removal of hierarchical divisions between disciplines. This new belief has survived to this day and is regularly exploited by artist who now assemble teams of creatives, each with their unique skill set and specialisation to form interdisciplinary agencies in the spirit of the Bauhaus. Likewise, the design ethos ‘form follows function’ has turned into a common characteristic to implement whether within stage design, album covers or homeware. Theories of materiality have been carried over, with the creatives of today following the Bauhausian use of industrial materials, proudly exposing their true nature as opposed to concealing it with external finishes. The development of principle is shown here by Samuel Ross, who mirrored Bauhaus’ use of present day materials, yet shifted towards using the new materials of the 21st century; smart materials and water resistant fabrics to name a few. Ultimately, these creators who have reached the summit within their respective disciplines are kickstarting what could be considered a renaissance and are playing by the cyclical nature of life, emphasising the pattern of reaching for past philosophies. The position in which they find themselves, grants them with the power to shape today’s culture and largely transform the lifestyle of their supporters. This act of promoting Bauhaus principles will undoubtedly seep down into the youth and keep the spirit of the Bauhaus alive.

122

Sam Thorne, “Eight Art Schools That Changed the World | Blog | Royal Academy of Arts,” Royalacademy.org.uk, March 28, 2019, https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/ article/eight-art-schools-that-changed-the-world-bauhaus-anniversary. 123 Siebenbrodt, Schöbe, Bauhaus 1919-1933, 2009

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