M O DERN I SM

M O D ER N I S M
 Birth of Modernism
Industrial development began in the
second half of the eighteenth century and
continued until the early twentieth
century. However, the innovations of the
second half of the nineteenth century
(1870) were much more complex, and the
phase ranging from 1870 to 1914 is called
the Second Industrialization or Second
Industrial Revolution.
The implications of the Second Industrial
Revolution, of course, were manifold:
mechanization of production systems
growth of the proletariat
process of rationalization and reduction of
the prices of goods.

The need for renewal affects the whole of

society and does not spare the category of
designers. A new architectural language is
designed, free from the conditioning of the
classical style, which better represents the
values of the society of the early
twentieth century. The new tasks of
architects range from attempts to use the
methods of mass industrial production for
Adolf Loos, architect social purposes, to the study of the
and first theorist of articulation of the interior spaces of
bourgeois residences and new collective
the Modern buildings, to the proposal of new forms for
Movement, defines the city.
classic buildings as Just as socialism questions the rigid
"houses with wigs division into social classes, so the
and culottes" and architects of the renovation are no longer
willing to accept richly decorated buildings
goes so far as to and classical styles. Adolf Loos, architect
affirm "ornament is a and first theorist of the Modern
Movement, defines classic buildings as
crime" "houses with wigs and culottes" and goes
so far as to affirm "ornament is a crime".
With these premises, the Modern
Movement was born.
Modernism in Germany
The Bauhaus undoubtedly represents one of
the most important stages in the history of
Modernism in architecture and design. With
this newly conceived school, founded in
1919, Walter Gropius aims to bring art and
technique back to a single unit. It is at the
new school, moved to Dessau in 1926, that
Marcel Breuer, Mart Stam and other
exponents of the Bauhaus begin to
experiment with the use of innovative
materials, such as tubular steel.
The Bauhaus style of furniture stems from
the idea that animated the movement: to
overturn a concept widely spread until the
nineteenth century that separated art and
technique. For the Bauhaus, the union of
the teaching of all the arts could give rise
to something profoundly innovative that
could then also be reproduced in series,
thus becoming standardized.
These experiments are part of the context
of the emerging Modern Movement (Neues
Bauen) which intends to offer the modern
man completely new architectural and
furnishing solutions.
The Bauhaus furniture products were the
seed of modern design: functional objects,
with simple and geometric shapes, destined
to enter the homes of ordinary people,
inserting themselves into their daily life.
 Modernism in Germany

Bauhaus furniture is recognizable for

some famous creations that have now
become part of our daily life. The chair
made with chromed steel tubes without
the rear legs, the modular kitchen by
Breuer, the table lamp made by Juker and
Wagenfeld are just some of the
distinctive features of the Bauhaus
furniture style.
Marianne Brandt's teapots inspired by
simple shapes such as the sphere and
desk lamps are other famous elements of
Bauhaus furniture.
This type of furniture was designed to be
light, harmonious and resistant to time.
Which also means economical, in the long
run.

Cantilever chairs
The tubular steel was one of the major
innovations introduced by the Bauhaus in
furniture. An innovation that was
accompanied by another great novelty:
the cantilever chair, a model, made with a
single bent tube that is supported without
the rear uprights. On the other hand, if
the Bauhaus promotes the reduction of
the superfluous, "why four legs when only
two are enough?" (quoted by the artist
Kurt Schwitters, 1927).
Modernism in Germany

Bauhaus cradle, design Peter Keler (1922),

produced by Tecta, is another icon of the
movement presented by the German
architect in 1923, on the occasion of the
first Bauhaus exhibition in Weimar.
To characterize the cradle are not only the
primary colours but also the use of three
essential geometric shapes: triangles,
squares and circles.

Tea infuser, design Marianne Brandt (1924)

In this tea infuser, any concession to
decoration is abandoned in the name of
rigorous geometries. The body of the
teapot consists of a silver hemisphere
resting on a simple cross structure. The D-
shaped ebony handle extends upwards to
make it easier to grip—a perfect synthesis
of aesthetics and functionality.

Wagenfeld lamp, (1923), produced by

Tecnolumen
Designed by the German Wilhelm
Wagenfeld and the Swiss Carl Jakob
Jucker, the Wagenfeld table lamp is the
symbolic lamp of the Bauhaus. Also, in this
case, the design is brought back to pure
geometric shapes: a circular glass base, a
cylindrical stem and a spherical lampshade.
 Frankfurt kitchen

The revolution in the kitchen space has a

very precise date: it is 1926, and
Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (one of the
first female architects in Europe) is called
by the urban planner Ernest May to
design a kitchen prototype for 10,000
social housing in Frankfurt and the first
modular kitchen model.
The Austrian architect approaches the
project thinking above all of what
happens outside the kitchen: a world in
which women are beginning to assert
their role. The Frankfurt Kitchen,
functional and efficient, make women
recover time, precious time for herself
and for her emancipation.
Frankfurt kitchen

The Frankfurt kitchen starts from the

assumption that it was used by one,
maximum two people, (although it could
also adapt to large families) and that it
was practical, in order to facilitate and
speed up the work of women.
The starting concept is the same as for
train kitchens, although several never-
before-seen improvements are introduced.
First of all, for the first time, a succession
of elements combined is created, with the
sequence of a sink, cutting board area,
stove/oven.
Secondly, it introduces the detachable
compartment for the dustbin and a part
dedicated to organization and storage, with
the possibility of differentiating and
labelling.
It was also sold already assembled, a
completely new fact at the time.
To sum up, Frankfurt cuisine is
characterized by four fundamental points:
the rationalization of spaces according to
the principles of the domestic economy.
The distribution of the elements according
to a “U” pattern that allows the user the
maximum freedom of movement.
The confined space, only enough for one
person, to shorten the journeys needed
during work.
Materials and details carefully studied to
perform precise functions.

"The issue of rationalizing women's work at home is equally

important for all social classes. Both middle-class women,
who often have no help at home, and working-class women,
who also have to work outside the home, are stressed to the
point that there will be serious consequences for public health
in general. "
- Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky in Das neue Frankfurt, 5 / 1926-
1927
 References

Today, as we approach the centenary of its

conception, the modular and colourful
structures of the Frankfurt Kitchen are
still here, in the catalogues and on the
websites we consult as soon as we start
thinking about the new home. It is an idea
that works and which, on balance,
continues to be accessible, not at all elitist,
exactly as Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky had
imagined it. The beauty of revolutionary
products is not so much who uses them,
but what they are used for.

Minoli L, Margarete Schütte Lihotzky. Dalla cucina alla città, Milano, F. Angeli 1 999
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(n.d.). Hinnerk Scheper, colour design for apartment F of the Narkomfin building. Available at:
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[Accessed Aug. 2020].
References

(n.d.). The Frankfurt Kitchen stove. Available at:

https://spaziomateriae.com/designjournal/cucina-di-francoforte-margarete-schtte-lihotzky
[Accessed Aug. 2020].
(n.d.). Pattern-book for Bauhaus wallpapers from the Rasch company in Bramsche. Available at:
https://www.bauhaus.de/en/sammlung/highlights/21 0_wandmalerei/462 [Accessed Aug. 2020].
(n.d.). Wagenfeld table lamp. Available at: https://shop.ges-bo.de/wagenfeld-tischleuchte-wg-
24.html [Accessed Aug. 2020].

prof. federica caldi. (2020). Movimento Moderno: Bauhaus e Le Corbusier. [online] Available at:
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