Bauhaus Museum in Weimar

After the memory of WWII madness seen in Buchenwald we went to Weimar, where Khadeeja, Varonica and yours truly were kindly walked by Wulf to the Bauhaus museum.  Bauhaus is one the most recognized and influential schools of design.  Apple products, renowned for their simplicity and ease of use, take a lot of inspiration from this arts and crafts school.  Although small the museum represented a very different experience, where human ability to create a better world is expressed vividly.

Founded in Weimar by Walter Gropious in 1919, the school moved to Dessau for the period between 1925 and 1932, where its famous Dessau was built.  Finally the school operated in Berlin from 1932 to 1933 when it was closed by its directors due to Nazi pressures.

One of the most impressive items on display was this cradle (Wiege) designed by Peter Keller in 1922.  It has many important Bauhaus concepts integrated into it: the use of the three basic shapes: circle, square and triangle; the use of the tree basic colors: blue, red and yellow; it meets the Creativity, Functionality and Cooperation [between different crafts].  Besides, it boasts an impeccable sense of proportion where the diameter of the outer rings is the same as the length of the cradle.  And don’t worry, the cradle will not tip over, for its center of balance is extremely low.

There were many women in Bauhaus, but probably Alma Siedhoff-Buscher is the most interesting character of all –including men.  At an era where children were schooled in a rigid environment she had the idea that children should have a room where everything belonged to them, where they could create freely without constraints… in a word, liberty.

She designed dolls and wooden toys that could constantly challenge and encourage children to be creatively daring, without restrictions.

(Weimar, december 1, 2012)

Learn more about the fascinating Bauhaus.