Bauhaus design was revolutionary for its day. It turned the way the world looked at design completely on its head.
Bauhaus sought to combine the fine arts with crafts by closing the schism between art and industry. Before this school of design and design philosophy came into being, things we term “fine arts,” such as design and architecture, were routinely held in higher regard than craftsmanship. Craftsmanship includes disciplines like painting or woodworking. As a result, a broad variety of visual arts came under the Bauhaus design banner and were merged with workmanship to create a utopian design philosophy based on celebrating the aesthetic with the practical.
Today, almost 100 years after its inception, the Bauhaus movement still remains a highly influential force in design and beyond. It shares the tenets of the German school of design with the entire world and demonstrates what’s possible when designers combine minimalism and mass production. Its legacy is seen in everything from glorious typefaces and web designs to buildings and essential design principles.
The History of the Bauhaus Movement
Although it started off as a school, the Bauhaus movement eventually morphed into its own modern art movement characterized by a unique approach to architecture, furniture, fine art, and industrial design. Keep reading to learn more about the fascinating history of the Bauhaus movement.
The Origins: The German Architect Walter Gropius
As mentioned, the origins of the Bauhaus movement can be traced back to a school – the German art school of the same name – Staatliches Bauhaus. The Bauhaus school was actually a result of the integration of two other German schools – the Grand-Ducal Saxon Academy of Fine Art and the Grand Ducal Saxon School of Arts and Crafts.
Though it was only in operation from 1919 to 1933, the Bauhaus school’s short existence belies the far-reaching impact this design philosophy has had on the rest of the world in the several decades since.
Founded by the German architect Walter Gropius, who was widely seen as one of the trailblazing members of modernist architecture, the Bauhaus school literally translates to construction house. This can be confusing since the actual school didn’t even have an architecture department in its early years, but would go on to profoundly influence modern design, modernist architecture, art, and architectural and design instruction, nonetheless.
Over the course of its short life, the Bauhaus school and its design philosophy existed in the following cities and periods:
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Weimar (1919 to 1925)
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Dessau (1925 to 1932)
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Berlin (1932 to 1933)
The school was forced to close under intimidation from the Nazi regime, with its directors and staff being forced to leave Germany and emigrate to various countries all over the world. This dispersion of its faculty was actually a significant factor in helping to spread the Bauhaus design aesthetic worldwide.
The First Period: Weimar (1919 to 1925)
In 1919, the Bauhaus school opened its doors with Walter Gropius as its first director. His stated objective was to spearhead a modern design movement free of the class barriers that put up walls between artists and craftsmen. In its early years of operation, its faculty was a veritable who’s who of pioneering European artists:
- Johannes Itten — Swiss designer and expressionist painter
- Lyonel Feininger — German-American painter and Expressionism advocate
- Gerhard Marcks — German sculptor and artist
- Oskar Schlemmer — German designer, painter, sculptor and choreographer
- Paul Klee — Swiss painter and artist known for Cubism, Surrealism, and Expressionism
- Wassily Kandinsky — Russian art theorist and painter, the pioneer of abstract art
Each of these Bauhaus contemporaries brought something unique to the school. For instance, Oskar Schlemmer, the school’s director of theater activities, was known for focusing all his artwork on the human body. His most famous work, The Triadic Ballet, which saw dancers transformed into kinetic sculptures through geometric shapes, was one of the reasons he earned such an esteemed position in the school.
Paul Klee, on the other hand, brought his fascination with the art and artistic process of non-Western cultures and a peculiar scientific approach to abstract painting to the Bauhaus students. Similarly, Wassily Kandinsky focused on abstract shapes and lines, forgetting all about representational art forms.
In the first three years of the existence of the Bauhaus school, Johannes Itten steered the course for much of the Bauhaus curriculum, which was shaped by his admiration of expressionism. His preliminary course was a student’s first contact with the Bauhaus philosophy. 
After Itten, Hungarian designer and painter Laszlo Moholy-Nagy took over, and he shifted the Bauhaus introductory course to favor New Objectivity (read: modern architecture) that was also near and dear to Walter Gropius. This change was important because it crystallized Gropius’s view at the school, which was to adapt architecture to fit the early 20th century’s rise of cars, radios, and machines.
At this time, the school also issued its own magazine called, appropriately, Bauhaus, and book series called Bauhausbücher. As 1925 approached, the Weimar school was being pressured by the local government to the point that its funding was eventually cut by 50%. As a result, Bauhaus moved to Dessau.
The Second Period: Dessau (1925 to 1932)
At Dessau, the design of the new Bauhaus building shared many similarities to the International Style of architecture, which was characterized by:
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Focusing on volume over mass
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Using mass-produced and lightweight materials
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Consistent modular forms
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A rejection of all color and ornaments
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Using flat surfaces that alternate with glass
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Featuring simple geometric forms, such as circles, squares, and triangles
At this location, Walter Gropius founded its new Bauhaus architecture program and resigned as director to make way for the Swiss architect Hannes Meyer.
Under Hannes Meyer, the school experienced a few milestones, namely the construction of the ADGB Trade Union School according to Bauhaus design and five apartment buildings in Dessau. For the first time in its history, the school also turned a profit. Unfortunately, the Nazis gained control of the Dessau city council by 1931, which forced the school to move to yet another location.
The Third Period: Berlin (1932 to 1933)
This was the shortest iteration of the Bauhaus school during its already short existence, but it also paved the way for Bauhaus design’s expansion well beyond the German borders. This marked an important shift for the Bauhaus movement and Bauhaus artists as a whole.
Shortly before the move, the German-American architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe became the school’s new director. In Berlin in late 1932, he opened the third iteration of Bauhaus in an abandoned factory, whose rent he paid with his own money.
At this point, the Bauhaus architecture became the key focus of the curriculum. In addition, new departments were launched, including interior design, weaving, fine arts, photography, and building.
The Berlin school lasted only for 10 months before it was closed under pressure from the Nazi regime that was gaining power.
To the Nazis, Bauhaus design was “un-German” due to its modernist style, as well as “degenerate art” because of its perceived Jewish or Communist associations.
After Bauhaus
In April 1933, the Bauhaus school shut down for good due to this persecution. However, this prompted many of the Bauhaus artists, such as Walter Gropius, Hannes Meyer, and Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe, to emigrate to countries like Switzerland, Britain, Mexico and the U.S. Thanks to their flight from the Nazis, Bauhaus design traditions lived on and proliferated in various continents.
The immediate effects of this Bauhaus movement could be primarily seen in the U.S.
Walter Gropius relocated there and started teaching at the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University. He was a key figure in introducing the International Style architecture to the U.S. and the Anglophone world in general. Mies van der Rohe also moved to the U.S., becoming Director of the College of Architecture, Planning, and Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology. As for Josef Albers, who had taught at Bauhaus Berlin, he was appointed the head of the painting program at the legendary Black Mountain College in North Carolina.
Characteristics of the Bauhaus Style
The answer to the question, “What is the Bauhaus design movement?” can be best seen in its philosophy. The design philosophy of Bauhaus is form follows function. This is a clue as to how products designed in the Bauhaus aesthetic will look. In other words, Bauhaus is based on a no-frills, no-gimmicks approach that favors utility over show.
This philosophy can be very prominently seen in areas where Bauhaus has had a major impact: modern furniture design and architecture. When you look at a chair or a building made in the mold of Bauhaus, you immediately notice a stark bluntness to it, with sharp corners and edges and strong lines. Because of this bare-bones approach, Bauhaus design was indeed somewhat shocking to people in the early 20th century, given the then-radical design departures from the norm.
Qualities of Bauhaus design usually include:
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Plainness
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Being conducive to mass production
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Retaining the integrity of craft materials (as in materials should be used in their honest and natural form and not altered)
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Streamlined aesthetics
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Modernity
Bauhaus, therefore, favors pragmatism and practicality in design over beauty for the mere sake of beauty. That’s not to say, though, that Bauhaus can’t be visually attractive. When you read on, you’ll further see the visual appeal in some of its starkly minimalist designs.
Noteworthy Examples of Bauhaus Design
Bauhaus has heavily influenced various industries, from graphic design and architecture to typography and furniture. Take a look at some of the world’s best examples of this school of design.
Art
Most of the original Bauhaus artists started off as painters. Here are some of their most notable works.
Red Balloon
The 1922 painting by Paul Klee is composed solely of translucent geometric shapes – squares, rectangles, and domes – in primary colors. The titular red balloon is seen floating in the upper center, adding a whimsical touch to the abstract cityscape below.
Yellow-Red-Blue
Another masterpiece in the Bauhaus art history is Yellow-Red-Blue by Wassily Kandinsky, created in 1925. This painting is an intricate blend of geometric forms and vibrant colors, with overlapping shapes and lines creating a dynamic, harmonious composition.
Wall Hanging
A unique entry on this list, Wall Hanging by Anni Albers, a textile artist, is a notable work from 1926. The piece features a blend of geometric patterns and rich textures, highlighting her mastery of weaving techniques and her ability to merge art with functional design.
Homage to the Square: Dissolving/Vanishing
Josef Albers’s Homage to the Square: Dissolving/Vanishing. painted in 1951, is a striking example of his exploration of color interaction. The work features nested squares in varying shades, meticulously arranged to create the illusion of depth and movement. Albers’s precise use of color gradients demonstrates his profound understanding of visual perception and his commitment to the Bauhaus principles of simplicity and clarity.
Graphic Design – The Bauhaus Design Typography
In addition to paintings, the Bauhaus artists often produced avant-garde collages and posters, as proven by the famous Bauhaus Exhibition Poster by Joost Schmidt. Given how impactful the Bauhaus poster design was, it shouldn’t be surprising that the Bauhaus movement heavily influenced the field of graphic design. Today, the Bauhaus emphasis on functionality can be best seen in typography. The following fonts should give you some graphic design inspiration straight from the Bauhaus movement.
Bauhaus
The namesake font of the Bauhaus design movement, Bauhaus font takes its inspiration from the experimental Universal font of Herbert Bayer from 1925. Herbert Bayer was widely regarded as the last living member of the Bauhaus art movement until his death in 1985.
Created in 1969, the Bauhaus font almost resembles a stencil effect in some characters, but it embodies simplicity and straightforwardness above all else. This appropriately sans-serif typeface features very legible and readable letters with fairly even and thick stroke widths. Check out our selection of Bauhaus-inspired typefaces:
Futura
The Futura typeface is another well-known representation of Bauhaus in typography. This geometric and sans-serif font takes its design cues from the geometric shapes that became emblematic of the distinct, visual shapes seen in Bauhaus. Commissioned by the Bauer Type Foundry, a storied German type foundry, Futura has characteristics that espouse modernity. Its qualities include:
- Efficiency
- Forwardness
- Even-weighted strokes
- Tall ascenders
One of the most interesting tidbits about this typeface is its usage, which confirms its pragmatic design. Recall that Bauhaus design is meant to espouse function over form, for the ultimate goal is usability.
Futura, thanks to its legibility and readability, has been used in:
- IKEA ads and logos
- Volkswagen ads and logos
- Royal Dutch Shell ads and logos
- typography in the movie V for Vendetta
- Mercedes-Benz instrument panels graphics
For additional inspiration and design ideas on how to use Futura in your own projects, see our great selection of Futura fonts in our marketplace, and check out some of our Futura fonts:
Architecture
Bauhaus architecture has left a lasting mark on building construction throughout the world.
Bauhaus Dessau
One of the earliest contributions to the Bauhaus architecture was the Bauhaus school’s actual building in Dessau, which was built by Walter Gropius in 1926. This ultra-modernist (for its time) structure is immediately noticeable by its blocky, glass-and-concrete design.
Using elements of the International Style, the design school featured many unique design stylings, such as:
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Window glazing
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Stained glass
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A reinforced concrete and brickwork skeleton
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Asphalt tile-covered roofs intended for walking on
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Mushroom-like ceilings
Even the vertical Bauhaus logo on the building was iconic in its own right, perfectly encapsulating the spirit of Bauhaus architecture.
The Bauhaus Archive
The Bauhaus Archive is located in Berlin and houses the biggest collection of Bauhaus-related works in the world. Opened in 1979, the Archive is the epitome of the Bauhaus architecture, which only makes sense.
Its design embodies minimalism and convenience, a “form follows function” motive that makes it stand out among all other buildings in Berlin. Its roof is unique to the extreme: It was built to resemble an ocean liner’s smokestacks!
The Stillman House
The Stillman House in Connecticut is a fine American take on a Bauhaus building. Constructed back in 1951, the structure takes inspiration from Bauhaus giant Marcel Breuer’s Gregory Ain example “House in the Garden.”
A study in all the design elements of the Bauhaus architecture, the home boasts the classic, bold colors so famous of the design style, in addition to its blocky, straight and clean lines. The presence of many windows on the house’s façade is another telltale sign of Bauhaus influence.
Modern Furniture
Bauhaus design has produced many notable contributions to furniture design. Here are some of the most famous ones.
The Cantilever Chair
Not all products that were designed in the Bauhaus style in its early days were actually associated with the school of the same name. A perfect example is the cantilever chair.
Designed by Marcel Breuer, a Hungarian designer and architect, the chair isn’t propped up by the traditional arrangement of four legs. Instead, it’s supported by one continuous leg that’s fitted to one end of the seat of the chair and then molded into an L shape. As a result, the single leg also doubles as the base of the chair. This extremely common chair design is nearly ubiquitous today.
Nesting Tables
Nesting tables are Bauhaus’ answer to the Russian matryoshka doll, where dolls of decreasing size are placed inside each other. With Josef Albers’ nesting tables, you have the same concept…except with tables of decreasing size neatly stacking under each other.
Josef Albers was the Bauhaus school’s furniture workshop’s artistic director for 1926 to 1927. While there, he designed these stacking tables as the epitome of space-saving minimalism. Their stark, Russian matryoshka doll also epitomize the foundational color scheme that would’ve been taught in the school’s preliminary course. Thanks to the “form follows function” philosophy of the school, nesting tables work together or independently. Talk about modern technology in its simplest form!
The Wassily Chair
Marcel Breuer also designed the Wassily Chair (named for Wassily Kandinsky), another impressive feat of Bauhaus design.
A striking piece of furniture, it features a tubular steel construction that gives it an unmistakable, evocative look. Chosen because of its lightness, the tubular steel frame means the chair only has two legs instead of the traditional four.
Contributing to the chair’s simplicity is the choice of upholstery. Black leather straps, replacing the original fabric version, create the seating surface. One of the most popular chairs of the 20th century, the Wassily Chair is still mass-produced today by different manufacturers, sometimes under different names. This is just one of the many examples of how the Bauhaus ethos can be integrated into everyday life.
Web Design
Bauhaus has even infiltrated the far reaches of the web with its indelible mark on web design in general.
The MET Website
The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Bauhaus Timeline of Art History webpage features a slew of Bauhaus designs in its photography and colors. The horizontally scrolling slider at the top of the page gives site visitors a generous look at various products and designs created by this technique.
Visitors also get a quick crash course in the short history of the Bauhaus art movement.
923a Website
This design agency from France is unabashedly proud of its Bauhaus-inspired projects and portfolio, so much so that it splashes colorful snapshots and images all over its site. This is very reminiscent of the vibrant colors one can see in Bauhaus-inspired paintings and certain pieces of furniture.
It’s almost like the company’s portfolio serves as a big love letter to Bauhaus. At the very least, the agency wears its Bauhaus colors on its sleeve.
Locations
In particularly special spots on the globe, entire sections of cities have been built in the Bauhaus style as an homage to this school of design.
The White City of Tel Aviv
One of the biggest cities in Israel can boast of being home to an entire stretch of real estate that’s exclusively built in the Bauhaus style.
Tel Aviv is home to the White City, which is a grouping of more than 4,000 structures that was constructed in the 1930s by Jewish architects exiled by the Nazis.
Tel Aviv can legitimately brag about having the most buildings constructed in this style of any location in the world. As a result of this concentration of Bauhaus buildings, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) recognized the White City as a World Cultural Heritage site back in 2003. It proclaimed the stretch of land as a shining iteration of early 20th-century new-town planning and architecture.
An Indelible Design Style
In its almost 100 years of existence, the Bauhaus movement has survived a lot of adversity and still thrived. It survived the political chaos of pre-World War II Germany, Nazism, the exile of its pioneers, and other design trends that have come and gone. It’s still here in the 21st century, inspiring new generations of creatives and designers. Its strength and beauty lie in its strict dedication to functionality and minimalism. In design, these two concepts are timeless, which explains its longevity.
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Marc is a copywriter and marketer who runs The Glorious Company, a marketing agency. An expert in business and marketing, he helps businesses and companies of all sizes get the most bang for their ad bucks.
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