THE BAUHAUS!
GERMANY: 1919 to 1933 • • • •
* STUDENTS: PEÑA ANAYA SERGIO ARTURO IRIBE MARTINES EMILIO ZAZUETA MARTINEZ JOEL GARCIA HERNANDEZ DAVID Pag.1
GROUP: 6
SEMESTER: 4
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CONTENTS: HOME……………………………………………………….….Pag.1 TITLE…………………………………………………………...Pag.2 THE BAUHAUS……………………………………………..Pag.4 METHODOLOGY………………………………….………. Pag.5 HISTORY……………………………………………………… Pag.6 THE CONTEXT……………………………………………… Pag.7 BAUHAUS 1930………………….………………....... Pag.8,9 THE BASIC COURSE…………….……………………… Pag.10 BAUHAUS IN AMERICA……………………………... Pag.11 FOR THE TECHNOLOGY………………...………. Pag.12,13
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*THE BAUHAUS MOVEMENT, GERMANY: 1919 to 1933
Formanythe Bauhaus isconsideredan art-relatedmovement and school, howeverthe Bauhaus Movement relates notonly to thehistoricalroots of technologyeducation and designeducation, butthatthesemethods are increasingly more relevanttoday.The German word Bauhaus essentiallymeans “House of BuildingorBuildingSchool”. In light of allthedifferentunderstandings of whatthe Bauhaus is, thereissomething more important, the ideologies and methodsthatweretaughtthere, “aboveall, the Bauhaus was a place wherepowerful ideas and Pag.5
creativeactionwerevigorouslygeneratedbytalented and livelypeople” (Wasserman, 1969, p. 19).
*METHODOLOGY
the Bauhaus during its brief existence, from the 1920’s through 1930’s the Bauhaus developed a style that has impacted virtually every aspect of the applied arts, A man named Walter Gropius fueled the primary and founding vision of the Bauhaus. His vision for education was one that encompassed all fields. Under his leadership and direction the Bauhaus Movement and school should be considered an antecedent of technology education. This school embraced what would have been considered technology education combined with both art and creativity, From Pag.6
a historical point of view the separation of crafts, technology, design and art is a recent phenomenon. The Bauhaus provided a foundation of how one studies and evaluates design. Consequently, this is where a conscience effort was made to explore design as a human activity.
*HISTORY & TIMELINE OVERVIEW
The Bauhaus movement can be narrowly defined from the period of 1919 to 1933. The school existed in three German cities and functioned with three different directors. The first director and founder was a man named Walter Gropius, the second director was Hannes Meyer, and lastly, for a short period Ludwig Mies van der Rohe led the school. Theschool can be examinedthroughthreedistinctphases, ThefristperiodTheFoundingPhaselastedfromtheperiod of 1919 until 1923 and was led by Walter Gropius in thecity of Weimar.ThePeriod of Pag.7
Consolidation,thesecondphase, lastedfrom 1923 until 1928. In 1925, at a criticaljunctureforthe Bauhaus, afterloosingthesupport of the Weimar government, In 1928, Gropiusresigned and architectHannes Meyer tookhis place as second director, Thelastphase,ThisperiodisconsideredthePhase of Disintegration. In 1930, Architect Mies van der Rohebecomesthethird, and final director, of the Bauhaus. The Nazi Partyconsideredthe Bauhaus style un-German and by 1933 theBerlin Bauhaus closed.
*THE CONTEXT
The Bauhaus cameabout at a time in whichtechnologyeducation, as weknowit, was in itsinfancy. The Bauhaus Pag.8
wouldnothavebeenconsidered a schoolforthe “industrial arts� as thistermwasnotitexistence.At thesame time, onthehorizon, wereall of thepotentials of moderntechnology. Thesourcesforitshistorystem to the industrial revolution of the 19th century and thusfromromanticism. Theworkintothebauhausof Morris and Ruskin captures theopposingforcesthatthe Bauhaus wasfoundedon. Thegoal to educatestudentswhowill be able to creategoodsthat are personal to theuserthatthe role that use thetechnologicalstrengths of industry. The role essentiallygiven to the industrial designerisborn, and therefore, a uniquestyle of technicaleducationordesigneducation.Otherantecedentsofthe Bauhaus was Henry van de Velde. He createdtheArts and CraftsSchool, thepredecessor of the Bauhaus, and wastheguidingspirit of thatschoolfortheeightor more years of itsexistence in Weimar. Prior to Gropius, van de Velde, laidthefoundationforthe Bauhaus, in both a physical and a doctrinal sense. Van de Veldeerectedthebuilding at
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Weimar in whichthe Bauhaus came to be housed.
*BAUHAUS END-PRODUCT 1920’3 to 30’s
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Wick (2000) describedthetype of studentsthe Bauhaus wastrying to educate. Thiswaskey to understandingthe role of theschool in society. Wickstatesthat in, “1919 the Bauhaus wanted to educate, architects, painters and sculptures of alllevelsaccording to theircapabilities.� He goeson to describe thatthegoalwas to createcompetentcraftsmenorindependentcreativeartiststhatwereinteg rated in thecommunity. Thegoalwasanartist-craftsmenwhowasable to buildbuildingsharmoniously.In 1925 the Bauhaus focusedonthe training of artisticallytalentedindividuals to becomecreativedesigners in thecrafts, industry and architecture. Whenthe Bauhaus moved to Dessau, thestructure of theprogramremained true to whathadbeentaught at the Bauhaus in Weimar, butfurtherprogressedtowardsthetechnical. Its new location, in the industrial city of Dessau, undoubtedlyplayed a part in thisprogression.Studentswere to workwith original designs and were to Pag.11
justifythe material choice, economy and technique. Itwasemphasizedthattheexecution of theproject be individual. Groupcriticism of thefinishedproductwasmadebasedontheobjectsfunction, expressiveness and thepossibilities of improvements.The training of the Bauhaus architectbecame more regimented and distinguished. Under Mies Van der Rohethe Bauhaus idea underwent a final reinterpretation. This can be seen in thestatutes of 1930 and in theteaching plan of 1932. Gropius’ contributionsbegan to fade as theunified art school as didtheschoolitself.
*THE BASIC COURSE: CONTENT
The Basic Coursewas a wealth of information to thestudent. Itfirstintroducedthem to design and form and itspoke to themabout light. According to Itten, themostexpressivemeans to create drama in Pag.12
anythingisthe use and understanding of light. Engineeringorarchitecturaldesign uses thesepractices to createcomplexlightingdesign. Studentswould explore tonal valuescales and exploration of light-darkharmony. Ittenmadesurethatstudentsunderstoodpure color (hue) contrast, the light-darkcontrast, thecold-warmcontrast, thecomplementarycontrast, thesimultaneouscontrast, thecontrast of quality, and thecontrast of quantity. Color formseverythingwesee and isessential to understandingbothhowwefeel, and communicate, ideas in graphicdesign and advertising, Thiscoursecontentisfoundationalnotonly to technologyeducationbutessential to ourunderstanding of theworld.
*BAUHAUS IN AMERICA
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To be part of the history of Technology Education, it is necessary to trace the roots of the Bauhaus to America and to recognize that the educational systems at this time knew globally what each other was doing. Once the school was closed in 1933, by the Nazi’s, many of the leaders of the Bauhaus, including Gropius, fled in exile to America. It is important to realize that the Bauhaus was not recreated in its former glory. The founding members did not want to repeat the process of founding a school. In addition, America as a nation, and the world, had progressed past the need for what the Bauhaus represented at the time it existed,However, it should be realized that these individuals did leave an impact on our educational system that was not by the education of another but by direct impact as they Pag.14
immersed themselve individually into our universities. It was said that Gropius’ teaching paved the way for at least two trends in the history of North American architecture and design education. The first trend is, “that students should realize how inexhaustible the means of creation if they make use of the innumerable products of our age and to encourage young people to find their own solutions to these problems.
*FOR THE TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION TEACHER The pedagogy developed in the period of the Bauhaus remains relevant today and educators can learn a great deal from this movement. The Bauhaus provided a foundation of how to study and evaluate design, and this is where one first explores design as a human activity. The more one investigates and evaluates this movement they will find the roots of what every technology educator must be willing to integrate.Technology education in the future will look more like that of the Bauhaus and that of an industrial design education, based on the individual “instructor” who is a master of those fields. The education will be diverse. Education will incorporate computers, or the latest technology. In addition, the computer will be viewed as a tool much like the workshops were seen as the tools throughout history. The artists of the future will be forced to think and will not be able to rely on the computer or the creative processes to do the thinking. The Bauhaus was a multidisciplinary approach to education, where students learned by doing. They used architecture as a vehicle to educate students how to interact and create for humans. The Bauhaus approach has long been honored and accepted, but no further steps have been introduced to give the field a new impetus. Pag.15
It is still today the "proper" approach for the education of the designer.
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