(continued)

The Weimar Lineage

The link between the Werkbund Conference and the Bauhaus School is one of lineage and philosophy. Van de Velde was the founder and director of the Grand-Ducal Saxon School of Arts and Crafts in Weimar which became the nucleus of the first Bauhaus School. When Van de Velde gave up his post as director in 1915 at the beginning of the First World War, he recommended Walter Gropius as his successor. Gropius united the Weimar School of Fine Art and the School of Arts and Crafts with a newly affiliated department of architecture.

Officially renamed the Staatliches Bauhaus in 1919, the school was housed in buildings designed by Van de Velde. The move to Dessau in 1925 offered Gropius the opportunity to design new buildings for the school.

The esthetics of the respective buildings also reflect the philosophical shift in the curriculum—from the importance of craft and the workshop tradition in Weimar to the focus in Dessau on the development of industrial prototypes and a design style only made possible by modern technology and material.

Both Van de Velde and Gropius embraced the use of technology and art; the distinction was one of emphasis. Van de Velde used technology to enhance the traditions of craft and individualism. The Weimar Bauhaus is a tectonic expression of load bearing walls interrupted by window screens. The glass screens are variations on a theme comprising industrial metal windows and crafted elements. The articulation and shape expressed architectural hierarchy and function to announce the distinction between floor levels or the act of climbing stairs.

The Dessau Philosophy

In the Dessau Bauhaus, Gropius used technology to develop architectural prototypes. Strip windows float in front of load bearing columns—a transparent wall that revealed the new structural technology as architectural expression. The window is a mask that unifies the elements and levels of the building. Windows are not used to reveal the stairs but to reflect the floor level of the landing. The stairs are hidden in the concrete tower.

However, Gropius believed that the architect, not type, should determine the development of architecture and the concepts of form. He had supported the Van de Velde thesis about individuality and invention at the 1914 conference.

At the same time, Faguswerk, the model factory complex that Gropius designed with Adolf Meyer for the Werkbund Exhibition in Cologne, embraced the spirit of the Muthesius position regarding modern technology and style. What Gropius envisioned was a collaboration in which art determined the standards of industry. This belief was the guiding principle of the Bauhaus Manifesto.

Eight Decades Later

As time has revealed, the opposing positions of Muthesius and Van de Velde have both come to fruition. As Muthesius predicted, the standards of industry have prevailed over objects designed for individual requirements. Contrary to the exceptions noted in the press, standardization in building parts and code issues have become major determining factors in the design of buildings.

However, the credo of universal forms made possible by standardization also enabled uniformity—and architecture that can be monotone and sterile. As Van de Velde foresaw, standardization did impose a canon. Mass production did not ensure quality. In a reversal of the role that Gropius envisioned for the architect, the standards of industry have determined art.

The Bauhaus attempted to balance the two potentially opposing forces of the machine vs. the individual. The issue was not whether but how technology should be harnessed. Although the school was closed in 1933 for political reasons, the "new" Bauhaus programs in Weimar and Dessau are continuing the effort.

Revisiting the Bauhaus reveals the merits and weaknesses in the roots of a debate that still has influence, especially as the "new" technology of computing adds another layer to the discussion. The tension between the logic of technology and the creative process is an ongoing issue that can benefit from hindsight.

Darlene Brady is a registered architect and contributing editor to ArchitectureWeek. She is author of the forthcoming book Architectonic Color: Its Virtual And Physical Reality.

The articulation and shape of the stair windows in the Weimar Bauhaus announce the distinction between floor levels and the act of climbing stairs. Photo: Darlene Brady and Mark English In the Dessau Bauhaus, the stairs are hidden in the concrete tower. Photo: Darlene Brady and Mark English   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.