This essay examines the Bauhaus school of architecture which originated in Germany in the 1920 and remains the most influential architectural movement.
Abstract This paper looks at the Bauhaus architectural movement and its relationship to the massive technological advances of the early twentieth century. It examines the philosophical beliefs of the Bauhaus founders and evaluates their finest achievement, the Dessau Bauhaus, which was completed in 1925. It explains how the Dessau Bauhaus achieved its celebrated status in the world of architecture.
From the Paper "In the late the 19th and early twentieth century technological advances swept across the world with an undreamed of speed. The pace at which technology reinvented culture seemed almost preternatural, and amounted to the greatest alteration in man's view of the universe since Isaac Newton (Hughes 15). The study of the modern age (1880-present) and how artistic developments viewed cultural change would not be complete without a look at architecture's role. The work of an architect will by its nature influence society more than a painting and sculpture; its size and usefulness to poeple make that a certainty. Buildings surround us, we move through them, and they are part of our everyday life."
Tags: architecture, art, Bauhuas, dessau, modern, technology, twentieth, century
Abstract This paper looks at the life and architectural career of Walter Gropius, as well as German architecture and Gropius's contribution to architecture during his lifetime. The paper looks at Gropius's contribution to functionalism and abstraction and Germany's rejection of these schools of art.
From the Paper "Germany's high culture of the late medieval period was followed by a slow decline. In the seventeenth century the Thirty Year's War wrecked her material and political potential for more than a century. In the late eighteenth century, during a period of political importance, classic German literature was produced in the small princely courts. In the early nineteenth century, a thin layer of highly cultivated individuals began to produce Romantic poetry and music, at a time when Germany as a whole was pervaded by a depressing political reaction, which expressed itself in bitter opposition to economic freedom in the development of commerce and industry."
Abstract In this article, the writer presents a brief biography of Walter Gropius's early life, including education and influences. The writer discusses the role played by the Bauhaus Movement in the Imperial Germany of the 19th and 20th centuries in addition to describing the contribution made by the Bauhaus style of Architecture in the United States. The writer concludes that Walter Gropius was without doubt one of the most important architects of the previous century. The writer maintains that his significance lies in having realized the necessity of combining the previously separate fields of art and craft early in his career and in bringing the art of designing closer to the realities of the industrial age.
Outline:
Walter Gropius's Life
Early Influences and Work
The First World War and Marriage
Weimer and Dessau Exile, Harvard and Death
The Role of the Bauhaus Movement in 19th and 20th Century Germany
Background
Influence of the Bauhaus Movement in Germany
Bauhaus Style Contribution in the United States
Conclusion
From the Paper "Even before of the end of World War I, Walter Gropius was invited to become the director of the School of Arts and Craft and the Academy of Fine Arts in Weimer. Walter accepted the position and took over as the director of the institutions in 1919 after the end of the War. It was a time of artistic confusion and architects and designers, as well as painters and sculptors who were mostly individual romantics seemed to be drifting directionless with their art. Amidst such confusion, Gropius knew exactly what to do: he was convinced that no distinction could be made between fine arts and practical crafts and immediately proceeded to unify the two schools, re-naming it the Staatliches Bauhaus Weimar. The move proved to be a pivotal moment in Gropius's life and modern architecture as it signaled the start of the Bauhaus movement. It was at Bauhaus, Weimer that Gropius introduced his new approach to design education that emphasized the principal of uniting art and technology that revolutionized modern design."
