Teaching Bauhaus principles: on the importance of questioning why some things work too well

Abstract

ABSTRACTJean Baudrillard warns that the Bauhaus was ‘the genesis of the universal extension of design’ responsible for developing the simulacrum of the Real (Holt, 55), and the past three decades have seen a steadily growing scholarly resistance to the ubiquitous– taught everywhere–Bauhaus design approach. For a design teacher, however, it can be hard to argue with mainstream success. Bauhaus art techniques contained in art books from Gyorgy Kepes’ (1945) Language of Vision to Molly Bang's Picture This (2000) are quick and easy for student designers to grasp and have a remarkable impact in accelerating their abilities in composition and visual analysis. Recent ‘brain science’ appears to confirm some Bauhaus principles with reference to perception.This article examines the disconnect between narrow mainstream understandings of Bauhaus design principles, the broad scope of its impact in design and arts education practice, and the expanding body of work critiquing the Bauhaus. I examine the ideological positioning of the Bauhaus, its dominant traits, its tradition of Total Theatre, and its colonial spread. To address Baudrillard's concern, I seek ways to encourage student awareness of the forces that shape their environment while acknowledging that marketplace design has expectations and demands. Tracing the connection between the Bauhaus and semiotics theorists, I argue that design processes should feed on the social hierarchies, patterns and rituals embedded in the cultural practice of making relational spaces. If contextual awareness frames the work, Bauhaus principles can serve anti-colonial projects.