From the last few decades of the 1800’s to the first few
decades of the 1900’s, there were many design movements and/or ideas that
affected the world of design to this day. Out of the nine that were discussed
in class, this blog will only cover the De Stijl movement and the Bauhaus with
references to the other movements/ideas.
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| De Stijl |
To begin, the De Stijl
movement was approximately from 1917-1931. In this movement, it was the artist’s
goal to produce metaphorical images that foreshadow the dissolution of art into
the “new harmony”. The word “harmony” appears many times to try to define just
what the artists are ultimately trying to reach. This would imply that they
believed art and architecture was at a disorganized state up until this time
and it was in this movement that it would all finally work together. This was
attempted by the principle of absolute abstraction, which meant the complete
elimination of any reference to object s in nature (I.E. straight lines, right
angles, etc.). In other words, the essential content was harmony that could
only be accomplished through compositions unhampered by objects of the external
world and abolishing ornament. Though abstraction of design was desired, one
might think that the meaning or content of the work would also become
abstracted or lost, however this did not happen. It was very critical for these
artists to not abandon their “big ideas” or lose track of what they were
originally intending to accomplish. Since this style is internally and
individually focused (subjective), compared to (for example) an image of a
landscape where everyone understands its meaning and what’s happening, De Stijl art/architecture seems to speak
differently to each individual. In other words, it is left to the viewer’s
interpretation.
Next, we look at the Bauhaus. The Bauhaus literally means “the
art of building”. These dates range between 1919-1923 which falls just between
the De Stijl movement. This being said, it would be correct to assume the De
Stijl movement having a large impact and inspiration in the design of the
Bauhaus. Designed by Walter Gropius, the building was designed in plan and divided
into five sections: the Studio, the Tech School, the Administration area,
Housing, and the Theatre. One of the key design ideas was to arrange the spaces
to create encounters and movement within the school to increase student,
faculty, and administration collaboration. In reference to his design, Gropius
said “what is usually hidden must be visible” which he did to an extreme with
the studio portion of the building. This was accomplished by using a giant
window screen that covered the entirety of the studio walls letting in an ample
supply of daylight. However, this idea of extreme visibility may have
overlooked a few systematic issues. With much glass comes much sunlight and if
a space is not ventilated properly, it will become an oven. Gropius did not
realize this and in turn, his studios became so hot that the students residing
the spaces were forced to hang up sheets to block out the sun which took away
from Gropius’ main concept.
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| Bauhaus |
From the outside, the
building itself is very simple in reference to its form; orthogonal shapes all
interconnecting yet every façade is different from the next. This is clearly an
example of a structure that was inspired and affected by the De Stijl movement
since there is an abstraction of form, no ornament, and grey tones with
occasional primary colors scattered strategically throughout the building. The
success of the Bauhaus might have been because of the interesting and unique
contrast between the simplicity of the outside to the complexity of the
programs on the inside.
