Bauhaus Exhibition at the Barbican

The Bauhaus: "Art as Life" exhibition at the Barbican in London explores the evolution of an experimental arts and craft school in 1920s Weimar into the most influential design school of the 20th Century. Visiting the exhibition was a deeply personal experience for me, having studied architecture at the Bauhaus University in Weimar in the 1990s. I had a few questions in my head before entering the exhibition: How did this revolution happen and will there be anything more modern or radical than the Bauhaus again?

The first question is easier to answer. In 1919 in Weimar Gropius announced in his manifesto of the Bauhaus that the "ultimate aim of all creative activity is building". However, the Bauhaus was about much more than buildings. Designers, architects and craftspeople worked together to create a "Gesamtkunstwerk"; a total work of art. The Bauhaus students trained in crafts such as glass, timber, metal, fabric, ceramics, carpentry and stone sculpture to fully understand every nuance of these mediums. International artists such as Kandinsky, Klee, Feininger, Schlemmer and Itten came to the Bauhaus and guided the students as masters of their crafts rather than as traditional professors. Geometric patterns in bold yet playful colours dominate the arts and crafts exhibits from these years. Students explored shapes and volumes by reducing them to simple lines; a reduction to the minimal design element, a line.

The Bauhaus was one of the the first movements that tried to break free of historic precedents. Theo Van Doesburg arrived in Weimar in 1921 and shook up the art community with his De Stijl principles. The move to Dessau in 1925 lead to a re-structuring of the course: architecture, photography, advertising and " free art" were added and some craft workshops were abandoned. The art community strived to design every aspect of life, from the space which surrounds us, the elements within it, the performing arts, eating, sleeping even partying and music. Everything is documented through photography. The school moved away from art and craft based production towards machine manufacturing. With the appointment of Socialist Hannes Meyer the school focused on designing standard products which could be manufactured in great numbers and therefore be affordable to everyone.

With regards to the second question; we seem to go round in circles when it comes to design taste and fashion, and many of the exhibits are still incredibly stylish. Will there ever be such a fundamental change in design principles to the same extent as the Bauhaus, which still profoundly influences our lives in many areas? There is more of an emphasis on materiality in modern architecture, but the basic forms are still Bauhaus inspired.

Personally, I was fascinated by the advertising posters with their strong geometric lines and bold typefaces. Advertising and photography were in their infancy as mass mediums, yet the graphic design techniques used at the Bauhaus still look modern nearly ninety years later. The various pictures of the masters and their students with their stylish looks also makes the movement real, something I did not experience in Weimar. I was touched to see how young the staff and students were; it must have been such a vitalising and inspiring place!

The only thing missing from the exhibition are models and plans of some of the iconic Bauhaus buildings. All in all it is a superb exhibition, delving deeply into the history of the most remarkable design school of all times.

Bauhaus: Art as Life is at the Barbican until the 12th August.