Lineage of German Design

Gropius's Dream of "Total Art"—The Bauhaus's Pursuit of Comprehensive Design

What did Walter Gropius, the founder of the Bauhaus, dream of? He championed the idea of "Gesamtkunstwerk" (total work of art) – an ideal of integrally designing every aspect of a living space, fro...

What Was the Bauhaus—An Experiment Born of the Weimar Republic

In the spring of 1919, a school that would change the history of design worldwide was founded in Weimar, a small city in central Germany. Its name was Bauhaus (Staatliches Bauhaus). Founded by arch...

What happened when the Arts and Crafts movement crossed over into Germany?

In late 19th-century London, one man fundamentally challenged industrialization: William Morris. A poet, designer, and socialist, he argued that mass production was stripping "beauty" from people's...

19th Century German Industrialization and the "Inferior Goods" Label: The Reversal of "Made in Germany"

When people hear the phrase “Made in Germany,” many associate it with quality and reliability. However, this phrase was originally coined by Britain to warn against German products. The roughly 30-...

Deutscher Werkbund (German Association of Craftsmen) | The breeding ground for Bauhaus

When asked, "What is design?" many people likely think of colors and shapes. However, tracing the history of German design reveals a clear answer to that question: Design is born from the trinity o...