The Bauhaus: a design for life
-
Thursday 4 July 2019
(11am-4.30pm) - The Forum, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8EP
- Lecturer: Thomas Abbott
The Bauhaus, was founded in Weimar in 1919 as a centre of education in crafts; in 1925 it moved to Dessau, then to Berlin in 1932. In 1933 it was closed by the third Director, Mies van der Rohe, in response to interference from the Nazi government.
The Bauhaus is far more than the familiar image of the Bauhaus school building; it was a broad movement of experimentation in disciplines including architecture, ceramics, metalwork, textiles, sculpture, stained glass, photography, print and typography. This study day will follow both the geographical and artistic trajectories of this extraordinary movement and epicentre of ideas that attempted, via art, architecture and design, not only to renew Germany after World War I but also to create a new design for living. We will examine exactly how objects designed by the Bauhaus masters and students reflect their ideas and ideals. The day will cover the origins and purpose of the Bauhaus, the reflection and furthering of the Bauhaus aesthetic principle through designed objects in various media and the legacy of the Bauhaus.
Programme for the day
The Bauhaus: Who, What, Where, When and Why?
Objects of Fascination: Designing a new world.
The Bauhaus in Context: Art and Architecture of the 1920’s Germany.
The End is only the Beginning.
Lecturer
Thomas Abbott is an independent art and architectural historian, who has lived in Berlin for over thirty years. Born in the United States, he graduated in Psychology and Art History from Minnesota and continued his studies at the Louvre School of Art History in Paris. He has devised and led many cultural tours to Germany including several for the London Art History Society.