Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus Question
How the conceptual idea of school was born
The Bauhaus was a school of architecture and design founded in Germany and active between 1919 and 1933.
It was born in the socio-cultural context of the Weimar Republic, the unofficial name given to the German Reich.
The school was located in Weimar itself from 1919 to 1925. It was first moved to Dessau from 1925 to 1932, and finally to Berlin between 1932 and 1933. It was closed because it was opposed to the Nazi ideal.
The conceptual idea of the school was the work of Walter Gropius, who created its identity and promoted its openness.
The building represented a reference point for all the innovative movements in design and architecture linked to rationalism and functionalism. These were encompassed within the broader umbrella of the Modern Movement.
But the school also emphasized the industrial nature of ideas and products. So much so that even today, the German company Tecta produces reproductions of furniture designed by the Bauhaus, drawing on documents and drawings from the period.
Walter Gropius had been waiting since 1915 to be able to direct the Weimar School of Applied Arts independently. It was closed when the mental (as well as social) chaos of the time justified the dismissal of its founder, Henry van de Velde, because he was a foreigner.
However, Van de Velde had the foresight to nominate Gropius for the Ministry, suggesting him as a possible successor alongside Hermann Obrist or August Endell.
In October of the same year, Gropius was appointed head of the school's architecture section.
The Bauhaus was initially subsidized by the city of Weimar itself, which was then governed by the Social Democrats. Following the change of government, however, several disagreements with the authorities, coupled with growing hostility from the city's public opinion, led to the institution's definitive closure in Weimar.
In 1925, the school was forced to reopen in Dessau. The famous building that would house it, designed by Walter Gropius himself, was built.
The building represents the manifesto of the new rationalist climate of which the Bauhaus became the main exponent.
In Dessau, enthusiasm for craftsmanship waned. Gropius was finally able to broaden the horizons of his teaching to include architecture.
