Bauhaus

by Magdalena Droste

Best of An in-depth study of the seminal movement in art and architecture The Bauhaus Archiv/Museum of Design in Berlin holds the most important collection on the Bauhaus today. Documents, workshop products from all areas of design, studies sketches in the classroom, and architectural plans and models are all part of its comprehensive inventory. The Bauhaus Archiv is dedicated to the study and presentation of the history of the Bauhaus, including the new Bauhaus in Chicago and the Hochschule für Gestaltung (Institute of Design) in Ulm.

This book, drawn from the Archiv’s extensive collection, traces this monumental movement in art and architecture via the work of its most important proponents, including Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Wassily Kandinsky , and Paul Klee .

Genres: Art, Design, Architecture, Nonfiction, Art History, Germany, History

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

A factual if a little dry acount of the Bauhaus school. I found the sections about art a little confusing and unclear, but the history was interesting.

[carpe librorum :)]

Andava por aqui a passear nas recomendações quando deparei com este livro que me trouxe memórias do tempo de estudante, quando fiz um trabalho (no qual tive um belo 17) sobre esta escola pioneira do design, que ainda hoje influencia o meu trabalho. Tenho duas paredes do escritório que foram inspiradas na obra de Mondrian:

[Slobodan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Monografija Bauhausa - škole i pokreta koji su utrli put potonjem modernizmu i internacionalnom stilu. Obavezno štivo za arhitekte :)

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having read this book alongside other histories of the Bauhaus, I felt that this book managed to be very complete in its historical oversight while still being concise. The pictures are also wonderful, and the price is great!

[PMB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource on an overlooked, but highly influential school. I've always thought of "bauhaus" as a traditional artistic movement, not an actual place; a school promoting an all encompassing philosophy of art and design in architecture, clothing, furniture, theater, and even advertising.

As any book about the Bauhaus should be, the writing is clear, without a wasted word, the page layouts are clean, and the binding is sturdy, complete with a bookmark ribbon sewn into the spine. Really a beautiful little book (it's surprisingly small). The brochures and posters featured are obviously in German, and most lack translation, but that's ok.

I read this casually over a month or two and thoroughly enjoyed it. One funny anecdote: The rationale for their rejection of capital letters? Why have two alphabets when one will do?

[fredi · Rating 4 out of 5]

kann man machen

[José Van Rosmalen · Rating 5 out of 5]

De periode dat Bauhaus als centrum voor ontwerpers, architecten en beeldend kunstenaars actief was, duurde slechts veertien jaar, de periode van de Weimarrepubliek, van 1919 tot 1933. Door de opkomst van het nazisme werd het Bauhaus om zeep geholpen. Magdalena Droste schreef met behulp van het Bauhausarchief, een fraai gedocumenteerde beschrijving van deze belangrijke periode. Het was een leerschool waar befaamde docenten aan verbonden waren, zoals Kandinsky en Paul Klee. Bekende directeuren waren Walter Gropius en Mies van der Rohe.de studenten kregen een gedegen opleiding. Al in 1931 nam de druk toe. Het gemeentebestuur van Dessau, de gemeente waar Bauhaus toen gevestigd was, kreeg een nationaal socialistisch bestuur. Bauhaus werd door hen als een communistisch bolwerk gezien. Van der Rohe probeerde nog opportunistisch mee te bewegen, maar de druk werd te groot. De invloed van Bauhaus op woningbouw en inrichting is nog altijd aanwijsbaar. Creativiteit is niet makkelijk kapot te krijgen. Een bijzonder aanbevelingswaardig boek.

[Kushev · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book helped me learn about the individual philosophies that shaped the school, it’s neatly illustrated, although I demanded more of the graphic design theme. Bauhaus sought to unite all art - painting, sculpture and architecture, as represented by the three spires of the cathedral, illustrating the original manifesto. Though it went through different approaches on how it should produce this total work of art, the foundation of looking for innovative solutions was always present.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me lo compré porque no me gustaba el movimiento Bauhaus y quería informarme bastante. La verdad es que en su mayoría, sigue sin gustarme. Pero bueno, entiendo porqué surgió y comprendo que fuera más o menos necesario. Aun así, es un no para mí y considero que va tan de la mano con lo que es el capitalismo y por culpa de todo esto ahora tenemos una arquitectura y un mundo minimalista horrible basado en que todo tiene que ser funcional. no soporté

[Zsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Three days in Weimar and you’ve seen enough squares for a lifetime” LMAO the girls were fighting

I need someone to write a dark academia, obsessed artist archetype, story with Bauhaus as the setting. Call it Bauhoes.

[Trevor O'Keefe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful overview of the Bauhaus school. Maybe doesn't dive incredibly deep on every bit; but there is much to learn and it touches on most important events in the school's short history. Would be my first book to recommend to someone about the topic.

[Jessie Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent history in so far as being comprehensive in relation to the school. Personally found the writing style too dry. It doesn't
contextualize or personalize. As with most Taschen books great production and imagery.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The design and stories of the artists from the Bauhaus era make my heart swell. This text was IT for me in college.

[Carlos · Rating 3 out of 5]

A photo book of one of the most creative school of design that start teaching in Germany and contributed to define some design basis to current companies like Apple.

[Goldenivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A striking coffee-table book full of crisp images of both the Bauhauslers and their art, accompanied a by informative, concise history of the infamous art school.

[Melanie Faith · Rating 5 out of 5]

What do architecture, photography, painting, advertising, theater, weaving, and interior design all have in common? They were all, at one point, part of the curriculum for diverse artists and artistry at the Bauhaus school in Germany in the period between WWI and WWII. Out of all of the artistic movements and schools I've read about, this particular group and the way this book details them stands out as utterly unique and ever-evolving in their focus and materials and inspirations.

If you have any curiosity at all about either the artistic or intellectual elements of the Bauhaus or want to know more about the dynamic heads of school and the various projects created by students or about some of the objects they made in 3-D, this book is a fantastic deep dive. It's detailed and has a little something on numerous subjects related to the Bauhaus.

I'd watched a documentary about the Bauhaus a few years ago, and when I wanted to learn more, I picked this book this spring; I made a good choice. Between the amazing color plates that include historical photos of student events and festivals, invitations, and students at work as well as Bauhaus interiors (including wallpaper designs that the school sold through various vendors to raise money for the school) and building projects, and the well-written and detailed text, I slowed down and spent several weeks with this book, absorbing a handful of pages at a time.

It's the kind of book that also invites perusal of photo captions and a rereading of chunks of text.

This book has solid information about philosophical, pedagogical, and political conflicts within the school as well as the many innovations and commercial and artistic breakthroughs at various points in the history of the movement. The failures of the Bauhaus are also plainly spelled out as well as their perpetual monetary problems that led to several moves of buildings as well as increased costs for students and changes to the curriculum, especially prevalent in later years.

The book finishes with details on how the Nazis shut down the school in 1933.

I loved the detailed bios and often photos of the professors/Masters and their students along with their later accomplishments in the art and architectural worlds post-Bauhaus. These last pages of bios alone include quite interesting biographical information that remind the reader not only how influential and widespread some Bauhaus designs and ideas still are but also that these artists were often young innovative thinkers and doers in their time.

I wouldn't recommend this book to people who aren't interested in a deep dive into the subject or for people who don't like reading biography and/or historical nonfiction.

This book is perfect for artists, educators of artistic subjects, people interested in the Weimar Republic, historians, and scholars.

[Topaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a very good overview of the Bauhaus with many photos and not too much text that is easy to read. What's most important is it is published in conjunction with the Bauhaus Archive which is perhaps the most thorough and accurate source. This book is not a critique or analysis but more of a fact-based account without too much editorializing.

Definitely buy the larger format version rather than the compact one.

It is more like a coffee table book but also has very useful information about the Bauhaus, even for those more interesting learning in-depth about this period. The layout is nice, but there are some typos and mis-numbered images, perhaps through translation. The book goes through the Bauhaus period chronologically and at the end is a section of biographies of the masters along with a bibliography. This is very useful for further reading as most of the Bauhaus masters have many more books written about them if you want to learn more. I highly recommend reading more on Gropius, Mies, Breuer, Itten, Kandisnky, and Albers.

Overall a great book, especially for the price, but if you are really interested in the subject there are many more Bauhaus books to read that provide more detailed critique and analysis.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Publikácia poskytuje len povrchný pohľad na udalosti spojené so vznikom, fungovaním a zánikom Bauhausu, najmä v porovnaní s knihou Fenomén Bauhaus. Hoci ponúka pomerne detailný rozbor myšlienkového základu školy a ideológií jej riaditeľov, opis ostatných historických okolností je spracovaný len v obmedzenej miere.

Silnou stránkou publikácie je však kvalitný obrazový materiál, ktorý vhodne dopĺňa textovú časť a prispieva k lepšiemu vizuálnemu pochopeniu problematiky. Vzhľadom na rozsah publikácie (približne 100 strán), ktorá má ambíciu pokryť štrnásť rokov existencie Bauhausu v dynamickom a neustále sa meniacom medzivojnovom období, nemožno očakávať vyčerpávajúcu analýzu všetkých aspektov tejto inštitúcie.

Pre hlbšie oboznámenie sa s celkovým fungovaním školy by preto bolo vhodnejšie siahnuť po publikácii Fenomén Bauhaus, ktorá ponúka komplexnejší pohľad na túto významnú kapitolu dejín umenia a dizajnu.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was an art history undergraduate, I learned about the Bauhaus movement and read From Bauhaus to Our House by Tom Wolfe. Now I’m reading about the history of Germany in preparation for a trip to Germany and became more curious about how the Bauhaus movement fit within the history of Germany especially in the period from the Weimer Republic to the rise of the Nazis. This book provided a comprehensive history with a deep dive into the principles of the Bauhaus movement and its emphasis on the intersection of art, design, and architecture principles. The main proponents of the movement went on to careers in the United States- Gropius, Alberta, Mies, Breuer- until I read this book I had not realized how deeply involved in the Bauhaus movement they were. So much of German history is dark and hard to read, but i found this history of the Bauhaus movement to be interesting and uplifting.

[Ddiegoosf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pos bien.

No sé como hacer una reseña de un libro histórico como tal. En Arte Contemporaneo tengo una idea de cómo manejar los contenidos, pero aquí, mi llano conocimiento no me deja saber como se abarca el temario.

Yo lo veo bien. Una biografía de la Bauhaus con una serie de divisiones lógicas: directores y edificios. Me gusta que cada entrada sea una clase y un aspecto distinto, así como la abundancia de imágenes. Está bien ponerle cara a Walter Gropius.

Creo que es un libro autosuficiente, después de haber leído este no creo que complemente con nada más en relación a la Bauhaus.

[Neil Troost · Rating 5 out of 5]

good thorough history. interesting to see how it changed evolved. how internal communists ruined it then external nazis ruined it further. how the students were taken advantage of:) but within that some amazing design. the style of housing plans started off interesting and ended up super depressing. “workers paradise” :) but important period none the less.

[Fran Lavoz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me demoré mucho en leerlo porque lo estudiaba! Jajajaj Siempre he amado la bauhaus y lo que representa, y siento que este libro es ideal para conocer el contexto y hasta donde llegó el movimiento. Un libro muuuuy útil y bueno, sobre todo si te gusta el arte, diseño y arquitectura ❤️

[Nick Del Orfano · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an avid lover of Bauhaus design (enough so I designed my own tattoo based on it), this book was a really great insight into the history of the school and the people behind it, although it did become rather dry at times and felt this book could have been a lot shorter.

[Afonso Lucas]

Comprehensive history of the Bauhaus. The writing like in all Taschen books gets to be a little too technical, therefore sometimes uninteresting. This however, was a good read and good instruction on a school I’ve had an interest in for a long while

[Bruna De Moura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been reading this since I remember... s/o to ma daaad

[Doris Raines · Rating 2 out of 5]

NICE BOOK.

[Marckian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it, exciting story about this amazing school and how it changed design forever. Great pictures to entertain.

[Brani Rozkosch · Rating 4 out of 5]

a nice history review, missing a bit of actual story, its more about workshops, but pictures are amazing

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 1/2 stars

[Bernie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gives an informative account of the bauhaus teaching structure and how it evolved throughout the years under the various masters and directors