Once again, we celebrate the magical fusion of industries with the series When Interior Design Meets Fashion: Bauhaus.
Bauhaus’s 100 anniversary since founded in 1919 was celebrated in several industries along 2019 and still influences us in 2020.
German architect, Walter Gropius, started this school in Weimar (Germany), as a 360° art education center. It was possible to study graphic design, furniture, textiles, and industrial design, as well as architecture, although there wasn’t an official program.
A century might have gone by, but its use of geometric shapes, sharp lines, and pops of color – remains very contemporary and actual. This might be the reason why still so many designers, across disciplines, even today, take inspiration from this particular experimentation with color and geometry.
What makes this style so particular is its interdisciplinary approach, a forerunner view that brought overlapping in disciplines and blurring of boundaries between art, architecture, and design.
No surprises if still today, 100 years later, after the founding of influential design school, influences the world of design and fashion as the Bauhaus style seems not to feel its age.
//Textile Design
Anni Albers was first a student at the Bauhaus school, the same school where later on she became an influential teacher. She brought together the ancient craft of weaving with the language of modern art.
Paul Smith wasn’t always been fascinated by the Bauhaus, until an art student introduced him to the movement from that moment he became a fan and this is his tribute. He dedicated a capsule collection to Anni Albert, celebrating the unique patterns and color combinations, typical of the artist.
Photography: Courtesy by Anni Alberts Foundation and Paul Smith.
//Graphic Design
Joost Schmidt, a visionary graphic designer, taught at the Bauhaus school. Later on, he became a professor at the College of Visual Art in Berlin. He was as well as a very skilled typographer. One of his most famous pieces is the poster for the 1923 Bauhaus Exhibition in Weimar, Germany.
Mary Katrantzou, a Greek fashion designer base,d in London, dedicated a collection to the inspiring Bauhaus school. Using visual references, such as the letting of the poster, or other specific effects used by the artist of that era.
Photography: Courtesy by MoMa and Mary Katrantzou.
//Furniture
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe was a German architect, later on, naturalized American. He was one of the pioneers of modernist architecture; however, his body of work is broad and includes iconic furniture such as the Barcelona chair. Mies van der Rohe designed this chair for his German Pavilion at the Barcelona Exposition of 1929.
The chair has the lines and the proportions of architecture design, simple but embellished by the leather upholstery and the buttons.
Mary Katrantzou found inspiration in the particular effect of this chair, reproducing it beautifully in this jacket.
Photography: Courtesy by Vintage. and Mary Katrantzou.
//Architecture
Hungarian architect Marcel Breuer designed two iconic pieces while at the Bauhaus, the Wassily Chair and the Cesca Chair, however, he became worldwide famous as an architect. His works are in museums, libraries, college buildings and residences, where some also include brutalist style. The picture above is, unfortunately, nowadays abandoned. It is located in the La Serena neighborhood of Mar de Plata (Argentina), the building is used for housing social reunions, dances as well as cocktail parties.
COS dedicated an exclusive capsule collection to Bauhaus. The central idea was that form follows function always. This cape is an example of a modest construction, sculptural, and simple at the same time in its design.
Photography: Courtesy by Archdaily and COS.
//Color Theory
Wassily Kandinsky was a professor from 10 years at the Bauhaus. He taught form theory, which includes color theory. His thinking was focus on the relationship of color to form. The Bauhaus’s characteristic assignment of the three primary colors red, yellow, and blue to the square, triangle, and circle is the result of a survey carried out that eh Bauhaus. The majority of respondents agreed with this reasoning, and these colors quickly became Bauhaus’ trademark.
Catalina D’Anglade is a jeweler. She dedicated a line inspired by the Bauhaus and called it “D’Aushaus”, a wordplay with her last name; these bracelets are the material representation of Kandinsky’s color theory that fascinates us still today.
Photography: Courtesy by Bauhaus100 and Catalina D’Anglade.
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