Quick questions on Bauhaus and Modernism: O-Level Design Studies

The Bauhaus was a design school founded in Germany in the early twentieth century. Its central aim was to unite fine art, craft and industrial production, which had drifted apart. Rather than treating art as separate from useful manufactured objects, it taught artists and craftspeople to design well-made, attractive things that machines could mass-produce. In doing so it helped invent the modern idea of the designer: someone who shapes everyday objects for industrial manufacture, combining beauty with function.

The defining principle of Modernism is that form follows function: the shape and appearance of an object should be determined mainly by its purpose, not by added decoration. Designers asked what an object needed to do, then let that requirement drive its form. The result was an emphasis on usefulness and a deep suspicion of ornament for its own sake. This was a sharp break from earlier styles that prized elaborate decoration.

The influence of the Bauhaus and Modernism is enormous and ongoing. Their clean lines, sans serif type, functional thinking and minimalism shaped twentieth-century architecture, furniture, graphic design and product design, and still dominate much of how everyday objects, interfaces and brands look today. The minimalist style of many modern gadgets, apps and buildings is a direct descendant of Modernist principles, making this one of the most important movements to understand.