FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE AND PLANNING,

AKTU, LUCKNOW

SESSION: 2020-21

RAR- 607
HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

ASSIGNMENT-3
BAUHAUS

BY: Shubham saraswat

1805181041
B.Arch. 3rd Year,
6 th Semester
Section: B
 Bauhaus school building , Dessau ,Germany

ARCHITECTURAL STYLE: Modern architecture

ARCHITECT: Walter Gropius

LOCATION: Dessau Germany

CONSTRUCTION PERIOD: 12 April 1919 ;

Modernism in Architecture:
Modernism is a global architecture and design movement that emerged in the 1920s as a
response to accelerated industrialization and social changes. Pursuing order and universals in
architecture, modernism utilized new materials and advanced technology and rejected old,
traditional, historical ideas and styles, and ornamentation. Modernism emphasized function,
simplicity, and rationality, and created new forms of expression with a new aesthetic.
This new aesthetic resulted in modern buildings characterized by clean lines, simple geometric
shapes, pure cubic forms, ribbon windows, flat roofs, and functional, flexible open interior spaces
with plain exposed structures that were considered appropriate for all nations and cultures
(Modernism in Architecture: Definition & History, 2020).

Prellerhaus studio

Vertical window

Workshop block

Technical college

Sectional isometric of Bauhaus school building

The term Bauhaus literally means “construction house” and was originally referring to the school
of design which merged the former Grand Ducal School of Arts and Crafts and the Weimar
 Academy of Fine Art. The Staatliche’s Bauhaus emerged in 1919 and was led by the architect
Walter Gropius.
It is important to note that Bauhaus from the beginning was not only an architectural style, but a
school that combined crafts and the fine arts, influences from modernism, the English Arts and
Crafts movement, and Constructivism (10 Bauhaus principles that still apply today, 2019).

18 Technical school
19 17
1. Laboratory 15. Veneer work
23 2. Classroom 16. Washroom
R 22 3. Physics room
O 4. Hall Single storey block
5. Porch an studio wing
A 24
6. Lockers
D 7. Wcs 17. Kitchen
1 25 8. Darkroom 18. Pantry
3
1 8 19. Washing
Workshop building 20. Serving
5
R 9. Display room
counter
6 21. Student room
O 14 10. Materials 22. Canteen
2 10
2 A 11. Master
9 23. Terrace
12 13 15 16 12. Foreman 24. Stage
D 13. Workshop 25. Auditorium
2 2 14. machine shop 26. Playground

Ground floor plan

PLAN
The plans were drafted in Gropius’s private office – the Bauhaus did not have its own department
of architecture until 1927. The interior fittings were made in the Bauhaus workshops. The city of
Dessau financed the project and also provided the building plot. The shape of the plan is consist of
the arrangement of rectangles and follow the principles of modernism.

Second floor plan 26 26 26 26

Technical school 26 26 26
1. Vestibule
14. Soldering
2. Hall
15. Metalwork
3. Materials
16. Master
4. Classroom
17. Wardrobe
Bridge
18. Washroom
5. Stack room
19. Master
6. Architecture 4 5 6 7
20. Wardrobe 4 9
department 8
21. Washroom
7. Teacher
22. Workshop 3 1
8. Office 10
23. Wall painting
9. Lecture room 2 22
24. Varnishing 23
Workshop building 11 14
Studio wing 4 22
10. Vestibule
25. Wcs
11. Studio 15 17 18
26. Studio 19
12. Slip room
4
13. Galvanizing
 Architecture behind glass
The design is a further development of an idea that Gropius had previously realised (pre-WWI)
with the construction of the Fagus factory in Ahlfeld an der Leine. In both buildings a glass facade
on the load-bearing framework allows a view of the interior workings. In the workshop wing in
Dessau this provides clear view of the constructive elements. The design does not visually amplify
the corners of the building, which creates an impression of transparency. Gropius designed the
various sections of the building differently, separating them consistently according to function. He
positioned the wings asymmetrically; the form of the complex can thus be grasped only by moving
around the building. There is no central view (Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, n.d.).

Prellerhaus studios Cuboid form

Technical college
Balconies Ribbon windows

Elevation of Bauhaus

Prellerhaus studios
Technical college
Balconies

Sectional elevation Of Bauhaus showing the massing of built form

 Aim of The Bauhaus
One of the overarching principles of Bauhaus was that ‘form follows function’, meaning
that design should derive directly from purpose. Another was that building form should have a
simplicity and clarity, with the elimination of unnecessary detail (Modernist architecture, 2021).

 Components positioned at 90-degrees to each other and an emphasis on horizontal and vertical
lines.
 The use of reinforced concrete and steel.
 Visual expression of the structure rather than hiding structural elements.
 Following the ‘machine aesthetic’ in the use of materials produced by industrial processes.
 Rectangular, cylindrical and cubic shapes
 Asymmetrical compositions.
 A lack of ornament or mouldings.
 Large windows set in horizontal bands.
 Open plan floors.
 White or cream facades.

Materials :
The modern materials (steel,
concrete, glass) were used
over the traditional materials
(brick, stone and wood).
 Tubular steel
 Concrete
Perspective View of Bauhaus
 Wicker
 Glass 1

Legends

1. Workshop
2. Auditorium and canteen
3. Prellerhaus studio 2
4
4. Administration bridge 3
5
5. Technical college

Sketches of Bauhaus school building

Bird eye View of Bauhaus
Conclusion
The Bauhaus is a building designed by Ar. Walter Gropius who was one of the pioneer of modern
architecture. Mies van der rohe, frank Lloyd wright and Walter Gropius were the pioneer of the
modernism. The school was open to started the new movement known as the modernism. In this
era some changes was come like, detachment from ornamentation , clean lines, simple geometric
shapes, pure cubic forms, ribbon windows, flat roofs, and functional, flexible open interior spaces
with plain exposed structure.
Mechanization of art and architecture is the key feature of this movement because of industrial
revolution and technology, inventions of modern materials and use them in significantly in the
buildings. According to this movement building is a machine, as a machine has all the parts are
important and no one part of the machine is useless so the building will not have any extra part
(ornamentation).

References
Modernism in Architecture: Definition & History. (2020, July 9). Retrieved from
https://study.com/academy/lesson/modernism-in-architecture-definition-history.html.

10 Bauhaus principles that still apply today. (2019, MAY 13). Retrieved from .ART: https://art.art/blog/10-
bauhaus-principles-that-still-apply-today

Bauhaus Dessau Foundation. (n.d.). Bauhaus Building . Retrieved from Bauhaus Dessau:
https://www.bauhaus-dessau.de/en/architecture/bauhaus-building.html

Modernist architecture. (2021, march 26). Retrieved from Designing Buildings Wiki:
https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Modernist_architecture

Study.com. (2020). Retrieved june 12, 2021, from https://study.com/academy/lesson/modernism-in-

architecture-definition-history.html