Anyone who has ever had the pleasure of strolling with us through Potsdam will know our feelings on recreating exact replicas of long since lost buildings. Yet much as we get annoyed, dismayed, confused, upset, angry, depressed and downright cross by the unjustifiable, untenable decisions taken in Brandenburg, we do appreciate that often such decisions have to be made. Such as in Dessau in context of Walter Gropius and László Moholy-Nagy's Masters' Houses. One and a half of four near
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Herewith we inform the directors of the Hochschule für bildende Kunst that the Provisional Republican Government has approved the request to rename the unified Hochschule für bildende Kunst and Kunstgewerbeschule as "Staatliches Bauhaus in Weimar"1 With this succinct letter from the Office of the Hofmarschallamt in Weimar on 12th April 1919, Bauhaus formally existed. A succinct letter that ended four long years of negotiation and planning, and which - arguably, and depending on your position -
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If we were to be completely honest we would have to admit that although we were aware of the name "Ferdinand Kramer", it wasn't until Frankfurt based manufacturer e15 launched a series of Kramer re-editions at Milan 2012 that we actually paid any serious attention to the man and his work. Something we are very thankful for. Born in Frankfurt in 1898 Ferdinand Kramer undertook a foundation architecture course in Munich before joining Bauhaus Weimar in 1919. Disillusioned by the lack of a
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As the prevailing design ideology in post-War Germany die gute Form almost single handedly established the modern German design tradition, and so by extrapolation was responsible for defining the popular understanding of "German Design" Loosely translatable as "good form", gute Form can be considered as reducing an object, building or anything really down to its very essentials, of creating "a natural product, developed from its function and technical requirements, that in its form represents
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Until June 10th the Bauhaus Archiv Berlin is presenting "New Architecture! Modern Architecture in Images and Books", an exhibition devoted to architecture photography and architecture publishing of the 1920s and 30s. And an exhibition that illustrates just how little the genres have evolved over the intervening decades. The central focus of New Architecture! is the life, work and archive of the architecture critic and art historian Walter Müller-Wulckow. In addition to his journalistic and
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"It is simple to prove that despite all distractions to the contrary from the cultural community in western Germany that also in the area of industrial design no real, definitive, new impetus can be expected; the foundation for such is missing and the wheel of development is being turned back, advancement stopped and that regardless if Germany - and the future in general - is thereby endangered..... We, the artists of the German Democratic Republic, are the opinion that owing to our
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The much discussed experiment Bauhaus reaches its first conclusion with the opening of its own institute in Dessau on December 4th 1926. The impact, if any, which this group of architects, to which Gropius belongs, will have on our building culture is something we can leave to history to decide. This new style, a style which a large percentage of our population is not accustomed to, and to which the majority wont take, doesn't offer any room for traditional architecture, but plenty of space for
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On the 10th February 1932 "Modern Architecture: International Exhibition" opened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Much more than simply being the very first architecture exhibition staged in and by the MoMA, Modern Architecture represented the first exhibition ever specifically devoted to the new architecture of the day and perhaps most importantly bequeathed said architecture a name: The International Style. If you will, with Modern Architecture, modern architecture had officially
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By way of an addendum to our addendum to our "5 New Design Exhibitions for February 2014" post...... Until June 8th 2014 the Villa Esche in Chemnitz is presenting a special exhibition devoted to the artist and industrial designer Marianne Brandt. Built in 1903 by Henry van de Velde for the Chemnitz textile magnate Herbert Eugen Esche, the Villa Esche is not only a wonderful example of Henry van de Velde's approach to architecture and his understanding of his responsibilities in context of the
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What with mince pies to be eaten, Glühwein to get drunk and travel plans to misco-ordinate, December is generally a very quiet month. However despite all other distractions, in December 2013 we still managed to visit the opening the exhibition "Mensch Raum Maschine Stage Experiments at the Bauhaus" at Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau and the far to brief Rethinking The Product – Design “Made in Italy” showcase in Berlin. In addition December 2013 saw the launch of the Vitra Design Museum's book "The
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March 2013 was a month of travelling: Stuttgart, Chemnitz, Weimar, Dessau..... its amazing we found time to actually write anything.......
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While we can't be certain that the artist, designer and choreographer Oskar Schlemmer would have completely agreed with the claim that "Life is a cabaret", we do know where he placed cabaret in the great scheme of cultural happenings: a little lower than theatre, but slightly higher than varieté. ""Stage" in general", Schlemmer wrote in 1925, "encompasses all that lies between religious cult and naive public amusement, both are not that what the stage is; the calculated impact on man of
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Until Monday February 24th 2014 the Bauhaus Archive Berlin is presenting the exhibition "Mein Reklame-Fegefeuer. Herbert Bayer. Werbegrafik 1928 – 1938." Born in Haag, Upper Austria on April 5th 1900 Herbert Bayer joined Bauhaus Weimar in 1921 and moved with the institution to Dessau in 1925 where Walter Gropius appointed him head of the newly established Print and Advertising Workshop. In 1928 Herbert Bayer departed Bauhaus and established his own commercial graphic design studio in Berlin
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There are only very few furniture manufacturers who can claim to have been major players in two fundamental furniture design revolutions. Thonet is one of them. And if we're honest, the only one we can currently name. Although the Thonet story begins in 1819, the story only really begins to "pick up steam" in 1859 when Michael Thonet perfected his warm wood bending process. The result of over twenty years development, heartbreak, experimentation, bankruptcy, fleeting success and brutal
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In 2019 the Staatlichen Bauhaus Weimar celebrates the 100th anniversary of its founding. And so, in effect, we can all celebrate 100 years of European Modernism as an important, tangible, unignorable and ever challenging movement. As part of the build-up to the anniversary the three Bauhaus locations - Berlin, Dessau, Weimar - have combined forces to instigate the Triennale der Moderne A Triennale with a triangular concept: Every three years each of the three locations will host three days
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We're not going to pretend everyone is enamoured with our constant pops at Chemnitz. Truth is for the majority our behaviour lies somewhere between adolescent immaturity and the senseless ravings of an embittered pensioner. And indeed all did in fact begin when we were immature teenagers. And we've long since reach the enviable status of rancorous elder citizens. But despite being unenamoured with our demur, most have accepted and understood that it is nothing personal, that it is just an
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Having already been to Chemnitz once this year we really are loathed to go a second time. It somehow feels unfair. Unjust. Twice. In one year. Why us! However on Saturday September 7th the winners of the International Marianne Brandt Contest 2013 contest will be announced and the awards exhibition formally opened. In the Industriemuseum Chemnitz. And we will be there. In the middle of June the nomination shortlist was unveiled, and even though it contains just the names of the nominated
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Following on from the 2011 exhibition "Kibbutz and Bauhaus", the Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau is currently presenting a further exhibition devoted to the global reach of Bauhaus. Or perhaps better put, a further exhibition devoted to exploring the extent of the global network to which Bauhaus and its students belonged. This time the journey goes to India. And whereas "Kibbutz and Bauhaus" was largely concerned with architecture and urban planning, "Bauhaus in Calcutta" is pure art. In 1922 the
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Until June 23rd 2013 the Klassik Stiftung Weimar are presenting the exhibition "Henry van de Velde. Leidenschaft, Funktion und Schönheit" Conceived to celebrate Henry van de Velde's 150th anniversary "Leidenschaft, Funktion und Schönheit" is, according to the Klassik Stiftung Weimar, the first exhibition to fully explore van de Velde's complete creativity from his earliest artistic endeavours over his applied arts and furniture design work and onto his architecture, interior design and
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With over 100 members of the public getting in touch and 59 fake Wilhelm Wagenfeld WG 24 lamps being exchanged for licensed originals, Bremen based manufacturer Tecnolumen have declared themselves very satisfied with their recent "No Fake" promotion. Not least because they sense an increased and increasing awareness amongst consumers as to the problems associated with unlicensed copies; especially in association with Bauhaus era products Among the more interesting points made by the company
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Older readers will be well aware of the high esteem in which we hold the Bauhaus educated designer Marianne Brandt. And of the fact that every time we write about her we invariably end up offending half of Saxony. So. Deep breath. Fingers crossed. Here goes..... In 2013 the Chemnitz Art Society Villa Arte will be hosting the 5th International Marianne Brandt Contest. A triannual celebration of international contemporary design the 5th edition of the competition not only continues the search
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There are a thousand good reasons to avoid travelling through Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport. And a couple of very good reasons. The public transport connections, for example, between Israel's only relevant international airport and Israel's only relevant metropolises are so arduous and poorly co-ordinated it makes one long for the days of The Crusades, when reaching Jaffa or Jerusalem from Europe involved little more taxing than travelling for eight weeks by horse and sailing ship. And then
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Ever since DMY Berlin inaugurated their "Three from Ten" Awards in 2009 the Bauhaus Archiv Berlin has honoured the nominees and prize winners with an autumn exhibition. 2012 is no different and the exhibition "DMY Awards and Jury Selection 2012" can be viewed in Berlin until mid-October. It is of course only logical that the Bauhaus Archiv should take an interest in largely experimental and conceptual design projects. For although today heavily stained with cliché and tainted by the passing
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Irritating as they are, forgers are rarely daft. You only very occasionally find one purveying, for example, fake Billy Ray Cyrus albums. Or fake Greek State Bonds. They prefer to stick to things they are certain they can sell with ease. Which is why Bauhaus furniture is so highly regarded by professional forging gangs. Not only is everyone familiar with the important pieces, but it all looks so simple. Who can tell the difference? However, aside from the potential safety issues, a copy
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