Style & movement
Bauhaus
A modernist design tradition uniting art, craft and industry, with an emphasis on function, simple forms and suitability for production.
- Category
- Style & movement
- Index letter
- B
Understanding the term
Bauhaus was a German school active from 1919 to 1933, but the term also describes its lasting design legacy. Its workshops explored typography, textiles, metal, furniture and building. The result was not one uniform style but several related approaches.
When Bauhaus is used as a style label, it points to a family of formal qualities and ideas rather than a fixed recipe. Periods and movements overlap, and a single work may draw on several styles.
The label becomes more precise when considered alongside date, composition, colour, materials and historical context. A style can inspire work long after its original period, so appearance alone does not date an object.
Related entries
Continue through the glossary with terms from the same field.