For the
presentation, as a group of four, we decided to take the Bauhaus era. Bauhaus
is one of my favourite eras during the 20th century period. We all divided
the work equally and at first it wasn’t easy to start dividing the movement so
that we can talk a little bit on everything. I had the cultural and social
context during Bauhaus and its influences on Bauhaus.
1914 – 1919 World
War I Influences on Bauhaus
After First
World War I, supplies in Germany were extremely low and in fact there was a
huge impact not only in Germany but also in the majority of Europe. The Bauhaus
movement was a reaction to the social changes that Germany was facing at that
time. Their economy was collapsing in fact they were living in poverty and
starving from the lack of supplies. Never-the-less, for the designers of
Bauhaus, this was the beginning of a rewarding struggle. They said that is the
beginning of something good.
1920 Women’s
Suffrage
Before Bauhaus,
as we all know, women did not have the exact same rights like all other men. It
was during World War I when women finally started to show some effort to get
the equality between men and women. During my research, I noticed that there were
also women applicants. Bauhaus was a rare art school to accept women.
Gropius
quoted that there should not be any difference between the prettier and the
stronger gender. But in reality things were different as only men were allowed
to paint, mould and design classes while women were only allowed to weave and
ceramics workshop.
Bauhaus
started with around 40 students in 1919, in which one fourth of them were
women. By the time Bauhaus was closing, there were about 170 students which 51%
of them were women. This means that there were more than half of the students.
1929 Stock
Market Crash
As the
Bauhaus was coming closer to its end, the stock market crash known as the Great
Depression spread across the world, mostly in Europe. At this period of time,
the Nazis rose in Germany and at this stage Bauhaus became stronger expressing
new form of ideas and new forms of art. As a result of Germany being dictated
by Adolf Hitler, Bauhaus under the pressure of the Nazis was closed on the 11th
of April 1933.
Bauhaus
Today
Bauhaus had
a huge influence on the history of design and continues to do so today. Almost
anything that you see today and consider it as a modern look, whether it is
architecture, graphic design, fashion, digital media and more – almost certainly
had its roots from Bauhaus.
Bauhaus in
Fashion and Style
Even though
the Bauhaus school existed for only 14 years its influence is still felt today.
Not only do you see Bauhaus influences in interiors and furniture design but
also in fashion. Many designers are still inspired by the Bauhaus movement.
One of them
is Carolina Herrera which was inspired from Bauhaus. Her Spring/Summer 2012
collection was her collection from Bauhaus.
Another good
example is the work of Hussein Chalayan who applies the Bauhaus principle of
Form Follows function. Here is a 1-minute video were Hussein Chalayan clearly
shows how he applied this principle of Form Follows Function.
Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE07_aFF4no
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