Bauhaus 1919-1933
The Bauhaus occupies a place of its own in the history of 20th century culture, architecture, design, art and new media. One of the first colleges of design, it brought together a number of the most outstanding contemporary architects and artists and was not only an innovative training centre but also a place of production and a focus of international debate. At a time when industrial society was in the grip of a crisis, the Bauhaus stood almost alone in asking how the modernization process could be mastered by means of design.
Founded in Weimar in 1919, the Bauhaus rallied masters and students who sought to reverse the split between art and production by returning to the crafts as the foundation of all artistic activity and developing exemplary designs for objects and spaces that were to form part of a more humane future society. Following intense internal debate, in 1923 the Bauhaus turned its attention to industry under its founder and first director Walter Gropius (1883-1969). The major exhibition which opened in 1923, reflecting the revised principle of art and technology a new unity, spanned the full spectrum of Bauhaus work.
