Ulm School of Design

Building Ulm HfG designed by Max Bill and completed in 1955.

Model for the continuous study of the workshop of Tomas Maldonado.

in the study of semiotics.

The history of HfG evolved through innovation and
change, in line with their own self-image of the school
as an experimental institution. This resulted in numerous
changes in the content, organization of classes and continuing internal conicts that inuenced the nal decision
of closing the HfG in 1968.[1] Although the school ceased
operation after fteen years, the Ulm Model continues
to have a major inuence on international design education.

Building Ulm HfG, photography by Hans G. Conrad.

The Ulm School of Design (Hochschule fr Gestaltung

Ulm) was a college of design based in Ulm, Germany.

Founded in 1953 by Inge Aicher-Scholl, Otl Aicher and

Max Bill, the latter being rst Rector of the school and a
former student at the Bauhaus. The HfG quickly gained
international recognition and is now viewed as being second only to the Bauhaus as the most inuential school of
design. During its operation from 19531968, new ap1 History
proaches to the design process were implemented within
the departments of Product Design, Visual Communication, Industrialized Building, Information and Filmmak- 1.1 Background and early political history
ing.
The HfG building was designed by Max Bill and remains The postwar years, between 1945 and 1952 in West Gerintact today as a historically important and functional many were characterized by heavy restructuring and building under the auspices of Foundation Ulm. The HfG nancing plans, such as the Marshall Plan.

was one of the most progressive educational institutions The origins of HfG go back to an initiative by the brotherof design in the decades of the 50s and 60s and a pioneer and-sister Scholl Foundation. The Scholl Foundation was
1

HISTORY

Poster designed by Margarete Kgler in the class of Otl Aicher.

Clock designed by Max Bill for Junghans during his time at the
HfG.

created in 1950 by Inge Scholl in memory of their siblings

Sophie and Hans Scholl, members of the resistance group
"White Rose", executed in 1943 by the National Socialists (Nazis).

van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Charles and Ray Eames,

Herbert Bayer, Josef Mller-Brockmann, Reyner Banham, Buckminister Fuller, Hugo Hring, Konrad Wachsmann, Norbert Wiener and Mia Seeger.

In 1946 Inge Scholl along with Otl Aicher and a group of

young intellectuals considered creating a teaching and research institution to foster the humanistic education ideal
and link creative activity to everyday life. They would
seek this goal in context of the cultural reconstruction of
German society morally destroyed by Nazism and World
War II. The project was funded through the inux of a
million marks by John McCloy of the American High
Command for Germany in the post-war governing structure.

The teaching was based on a curriculum covering four

years. The rst academic year was devoted to the basic
course and then students chose a specialty from Product
Design, Visual Communication, Industrialized Building,
Information (which lasted until 1962) and Filmmaking,
which until 1961 belonged to the Visual Communications
department since 1962 and became independent.

Through contacts with Max Bill and Walter Gropius, the

Foundation also received nancial support from the German Federal Financial Directorship and from the European Aid to Europe as well as private contributions and
industry funding.[2]
HfG began operating the new college in 1953 with Max
Bill, a former student at the Bauhaus, as Rector. On 3 August of that year, operations were begun in rooms at the
Ulm Volkshochschule (institution for adult education)
with a faculty consisting of Josef Albers, Johannes Itten
and Walter Peterhans (former Bauhaus instructors) and
Helene Nonn-Schmidt (Bauhaus graduate). Later HfG
faculty would include Hans Gugelot, Otl Aicher, Toms
Maldonado, Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart and Walter Zeischegg.[2] Distinguished visiting lecturers were invited from a variety of disciplines and included: Mies

In 1953 the new building was started, designed by Max

Bill, and the inauguration took place on October 2, 1955.
The HfG building complex was one of the rst in Germany built as reinforced concrete structures with spacious
workshops, dormitories and a cafeteria. The interiors and
furnishings were designed for exible use and outdoor terraces were often used for lectures.

1.2 Internal conicts

In 1956 Max Bill resigned as Rector, due to changes in the
body of academic development and dierences in the approach to design school teaching. Toms Maldonado took
his place as Rector. Bill continued to teach but nally left
the school in 1957. Max Bill favored a teaching approach
that followed the continuation of the heroic Bauhaus
tradition, based on the Arts and Crafts model, in which the
artist-designer saw their primary role in product develop-

1.2

Internal conicts

Corporate Identity Design for Lufthansa.

Bench designed by Max Bill. This versatile functional design furniture was used for multiple purposes in the workshops of the
HFG Ulm.

ment as form-giving. A key objective of the Bauhaus was

also to ensure the form-giving artist-designer considered
the technology of materials and mass production methods. However, many teachers at HfG, especially those of
theoretical courses, sought to emphasize analytic methods encompassing sociological, economic, psychological
and physiological considerations.
Among them was Toms Maldonado, who saw the design process as a system embodying both scientic-based
and intuitive-based thinking. Aesthetic considerations
were no longer the primary conceptual basis of design.
The professional designer would be an integrator with
responsibility for integrating a large number of specialties in addition to aesthetics, mostly the diverse requirements of materials, manufacturing and context of product use, as well as considerations of usability, identity
and marketing.[3] Under the leadership of Maldonado, the
school dropped the artist focus of Max Bill and proposed a new philosophy of education as an operational
science, a systems-thinking approach which embodied
both art and science.

ve years after its opening. The HfG was presented to the

general public for the rst time, showing both the results
of work from student workshops and the work of teachers. That same year also came the rst issue of the HfG
magazine ulm, which was published in German and English, and lasted until the school closed in 1968.
The formal education process continued to evolve during the 1960s. Teachers such as the mathematician Horst
Rittel, sociologist Hanno Kesting, and industrial designer
Bruce Archer were in favor of a design methodology
based primarily on analytical studies, including business
analysis. This approach caused internal conicts as Otl
Aicher, Hans Gugelot, Walter Zeischegg, and Toms
Maldonado resisted such an overly analytical emphasis
and claimed instead that the design process had to be
more than strictly a 'method of analysis. It must be a
balancing of both art and science, such as with the study
of semiotics.

Max Bills departure also heralded a new phase: the creation of development groups that were created specifically to create links with industry. Many of the resulting designs went into production immediately. Among
the most successful was audio equipment for the company Braun, corporate identity for the German airline
Lufthansa and elevated trains for Railroad Hamburg. Cup as part of stackable tableware for hotels designed by Hans
These industrial commissions brought a wealth of experi- Nick Roericht for thesis work during 1958 and 1959.
ence in teaching and decisive inuence to the school and
enhanced its reputation.
The consequence of this debate was a great exhibition
In the fall of 1958 a major exhibition was held in the HfG of work that had been created in the classes of HfG and

showcased the successful balancing of art and science.

The show was initially in Ulm and Stuttgart in 1963, later
in the Neue Sammlung, Munich, and in the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. In addition to the fundamental debate
over curriculum, changes were made in the constitution
and the reintroduction of a single Rector to replace the
Board of Governors.

1.3

Closure of HfG

'Family' squabbles over the direction of the curriculum,

led to a press attack in 1963 against HfG. The Parliament
of Baden-Wuerttemberg repeatedly discussed whether
the school deserved subsidies. The problems were becoming more frequent. After the unsuccessful Parliament demand that HfG join the Ulm School of Engineering, Federal subsidies were abolished and the nancial situation became untenable.

CURRICULUM

to new approaches to design and which were then implemented in each department of the specialties.[2]

2.1 Basic Course

Students of all programs shared the same basic design
course, which lasted a year. This course was mandatory
before proceeding to one of the ve specialization programs oered by the institution. The course content was:
Visual experiments: two- and three-dimensional
studies based on the perceptions and teachings of
symmetry and topology.
Workshops: wood, metal, plastics, photography,
etc..
Presentation: constructive drawing, writing, language, freehand, etc.

With the cessation of grants, the School Foundation was

Methodology: introduction to logic, mathematics,
in debt. In 1968 some teachers were dismissed because of
combinatorics and topology.
the dicult nancial situation and the number of classes
was reduced. In November, the Regional Parliament
voted to withdraw all funding, therefore, the school was
2.2 Department of Product Design
closed amid protests later that same year.

Curriculum

Project Scooter-Van of the second year of Product Design.

Vehicle designed by Klaus Krippendor for the nal graduation

project of Product Design.

The curriculum lasted 4 years. The rst year was devoted

to the basic design course (Vorkurs) that was intended to
oset the decit in primary and secondary education in
terms of creative project activity.
The second and third years were for elective specialization: Product Design, Industrialized Building, Visual
Communication and Information, with Filmmaking being added later.
The last year of study was intended for thesis. The plan
was subject to investigations that were made in regard Design by Michael Conrad, Pio Manz and Fritz Busch.

5
The product design department was the one who had
more achievements and that radically changed the vision
of industrial design. The development of new methods
of mass production during the Second World War implored the designer to stop focusing primarily on the artistic point of view of the profession. Therefore, HfG teaching put increased emphasis on science and technology
considerations, more in keeping with the times, and on
industrial production processes that determine the nal
product quality and aect the product aesthetic form.
Instruction in manufacturing: product design, operational organization, processes, procedures, calculations.
Technologies: Ferrous metals, nonferrous metals,
wood, plastics and forming technologies.
Schematic teaching of HFG Ulm. The school design was characterized by formulating a scheme based education in art and
Construction techniques.
science.

Mathematical analysis of operations: Group theory,

statistics, standardization.
Scientic theories.
Ergonomics: Human-machine systems.
Theories of Perception, especially social
Mechanics: Kinematic, dynamic and static.
Copyright and miscellaneous.

2.3

Department of Visual Communication

At rst the department was called Visual Design, but it

quickly became clear their goal was to solve design problems in the area of mass media, so that in the 1956/56
academic year the name changed to Visual Communication Department.

the principles of the Bauhaus, where the designer had a

prole of being much more artistic than analytic. Based
on the discrepancies between Bills approach and that of
other teachers, including the systems principles of Toms
Maldonado, the school shifted its ideology to a more
methodological and structured eld of study, but one that
also strongly embraced aesthetics as a primary factor.
This resulted in an academic program with a common basic course and an introduction to consolidated theoretical
disciplines. The new design teaching approach became
known as the Ulm Model which signicantly inuenced
worldwide design education, especially industrial design,
as the HfG reputation spread and many HfG graduates established Ulm-inuenced education programs around the
globe.

The curriculum included the development and implementation of visual reports, news systems and transmission
media. Emphasis included the eld of planning and analysis of modern means of communication, with a clear fo- 4 Collaboration with Braun
cus on the illustrative arts. Maldonado also introduced the
study of semiotics. This department worked closely with
the Department of Information. Although HfG distanced Midway through the decade of the 50s, the HfG and
itself from an aliation with the mass media advertising Braun, began a phase of cooperation. Braun needed to
stand out from the competition and asked Otl Aicher,
industry.
Hans Gugelot, and students to work on new designs for the
The HfG worked primarily in the area of persuasive comcompany. Dieter Rams, who was a newly hired Braun demunication in areas such as vehicular and pedestrian trafsigner, collaborated with HfG on developing the forwardc sign systems, plans for technical equipment, visual
looking Braun product design approach. With this parttranslation of scientic content to be readily understood
nership the Braun style was developed, and according to
and unity of company communications materials.
Toms Maldonado, the style diered from Olivetti who
sought unity in variety, while the style of Braun sought
unity in the product and its coherence with other prod3 Teaching Approach
ucts. Because of this, the Braun-HfG collaboration was a
formidable test bench for the design of honest form and
In the early years of operation, and with the direction coherent identity as an alternative to the random styling
of Max Bill, the teaching of the school was guided by of individual objects.[4]

Legacy

Until the founding of the Ulm HfG in 1953, there was no

systematic approach of design education. HfG pioneered
the integration of science and art, thereby creating a
teaching of design based on a structured problem-solving
approach: reections on the problems of use by people,
knowledge of materials and production processes, methods of analysis and synthesis, choice and founded projective alternatives, the emphasis on scientic and technical
disciplines, the consideration of ergonomics, the integration of aesthetics, the understanding of semiotics and a
close academic relationship with industry. In concept,
the Ulm Model represented early foundation principles
of the design management discipline.
The Ulm School of Design buildings designed by Max
Bill and the surrounding green spaces are well maintained, used by various organizations and considered important heritage.

Exhibits

Between September 2011 and April 2012 the Disseny

Hub Barcelona held an exhibition about the Ulm School
of Design. It was named systems design. the ulm school[5]

See also
Braun
Industrial design
Bauhaus

7.1

Notable HfG instructors

Josef Albers (195355) -- Guest

Otl Aicher (195466) -- Sta
Bruce Archer (196062) -- Guest
Max Bense (195458, 1966) -- Sta
Max Bill (195357) -- Rector; Sta
Gui Bonsiepe (195559) -- Sta
Dr. Kte Hamburger (195658) -- Guest
Johannes Itten (195455) -- Guest
Alexander Kluge (196268) -- Sta
Toms Maldonado (195467) -- Rector; Sta
Beate Mainka-Jellinghaus (196768) -- Guest
Abraham Moles (196166) -- Sta

REFERENCES

Frei Otto (195860) -- Guest

Walter Peterhans (195359) -- Guest
Edgar Reitz (196368) -- Sta
Horst Rittel (195863) -- Sta
Friedrich Vordemberge-Gildewart (195462) -Sta
Konrad Wachsmann (19??) -- Sta

8 References
[1] Introduction to the History of the HFG Ulm
[2] Gay, Achilles and Samar, Lidia (2004),The History of Industrial Design , Crdoba: Ediciones TEC. ISBN 98721597-0-X. Page 137.
[3] Maldonado, Toms. New developments in the training
industry in product design, in: ulm, 2 October 1958, p.
31
[4] Styling, Maldonado, Thomas. Industrial design review.
Barcelona, Ediciones Gustavo Gili. 1977, page 77.
[5]

8.1 Bibliography
Gui Bonsiepe, Bernhard Brdek, Silvia Fernndez:Ulmer Modelle, Modelle nach Ulm. Stuttgart
2003. Broschiert, 208 Seiten, ISBN 3-7757-91426.
Gerhard Curdes:Die Abteilung an der hfg
Bauen (Hochschule fr Gestaltung) Ulm.
Eine Reexion zur Entwicklung, und Lehre
Programmatiko ulm Schriftenreihe
Club
eV Ulm 2000.
60 S. (Bezug: ) e-book:
http://club-off-ulm.de/Curdes_Die_Abteilung_
Bauen_an_der_HFG-Ulm_2001_e-book.pdf
Herbert Lindinger: Hochschule fr Gestaltung
Ulm.Berlin 1987. 228 Seiten, ISBN 3-433-022720.
Martin Krampen, Gnter Hrmann:Die Hochschule
fr Gestaltung Ulm - Anfnger eines unnachgiebigen Projekte der Moderne. Berlin 2003. 300 Seiten,
ISBN 3-433-01647-X.
Marcela Quijano:HfG Ulm, Bau Programm wird.
Stuttgart 2002. ISBN 3-7995-8018-2.
Ren Spitz:hfg ulm. der blick hinter den Vordergrund. die politische Geschichte der Hochschule fr
Gestaltung (19531968). Stuttgart / London 2002.
464 Seiten, ISBN 3-932565-16-9.

7
Markus Stegmann und Ren Zey: Das Designlexikon Directmedia Publishing, Berlin 2004

Ulm Club

Kapitzki,professor at the HFG Ulm

Gerhard Curdes (Hrsg.):HFG Ulm: 21 Rckblick.
Hans Gugelot
Bauen - Gemeinschaft - Doktrinen. Schriftenreihe
ulm club o e.V., Ulm 2006. S. 145, e-book:
Coordinates: 482250N 95710E / 48.38056N
http://club-off-ulm.de/Curdes_HFG_Ulm-21_
9.95278E
Rueckblicke_2006_%20e-book.pdf
Dagmar Rinker (2003): Essay The product design
is not art ulm models - models post-ulm ulm 19531968 Hochschule fr Gestaltung.
Klaus Krippendor:The Semantic Turn; A New
Foundation for Design. Chapter 9, Roots in the
Ulm School of Design?" Boca Raton, FL: CRC
Press Taylor&Fancis. 2006.
Karl-Achim Czemper (Hrsg.): hfg ulm, Die
Abteilung Produktgestaltung, 39 Rckblicke.
Schriftenreihe ulm club o e.v. 2008.220 S.
Dortmund: Dorothea Rohn Verlag, 2008. ISBN
3-939486-32-9.
Barbara Stempel, Susanne Eppinger Curdes - rckblicke: die abteilung visuelle kommunikation an der
hfg ulm, 2010 ISBN 978-3-939486-14-5
Gerda Mller-Krauspe hfg-ulm, 2011:
die
grundlehre von 1953 bis 1960. 16 rckblicke und 6
kurzportrts ISBN 978-3-939486-15-2
Da Silva Paiva, Rodrigo Otvio (2010): 421 Plakate
der Hochschule fr Gestaltung Ulm. Klemm u.
Oelschlger Verlag, Ulm und Mnster. ISBN 9783862810116
Rodrigo Otvio Da Silva Paiva: Max Bill no Brasil,
2011, ISBN 978-3-943347-13-5.
Peter Schubert, Monika Maus - die abteilung lm
institut fr lmgestaltung an der hfg ulm, 1960
1968 Rckblick 2012 ISBN 978-3-939486-16-9
Ren Spitz: HfG IUP IFG. Ulm 1968-2008. Published by the International Design Forum IFG Ulm,
Bilingual English/German, Ulm 2012, ISBN 978-39802864-2-8.
David Oswald, Christiane Wachsmann, Petra Kellner (Hg.): Rckblicke. Die Abteilung Information an
der hfg ulm, 2015. ISBN 978-3-93948-695-4.

External links
HfG Ulm
HfG Women in Ulm
digital version of the journal 'ulm'
IFG Ulm

10

10
10.1

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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Ulm School of Design Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulm_School_of_Design?oldid=694945354 Contributors: Docu, JorgeGG,

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