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GROPIUS, THE BAUHAUS AND THE FUTURE

Author(s): JACK PRITCHARD


Source: Journal of the Royal Society of Arts, Vol. 117, No. 5150 (JANUARY 1969), pp. 75-94
Published by: Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce
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GROPIUS, THE BAUHAUS AND

THE FUTURE

A paperby
JACK PRITCHARD , O.B.E. , M.A.y
read to the Societyon Wednesday13thNovember
1968, with Mrs. Mary Adams, O.B.E. , M.Sc.y
in theChair

the chairman:It is a pleasureto welcomemyold friendJackPritchard, and his


wifeDr. MollyPritchard, who is herein theaudiencetonight.I firstmetthemin
1930 whenJackwas talkingto everyonehe met,withthe persuasivevivacityfor
whichheis noted,abouttheModernMovement, aboutnewtechniques, newmaterials
and the Bauhaus.He was particularly interested,too, in plywood,a new material
withexciting manufacturing in thefurniture
possibilities trade.He helpedto make
knownand popularizephraseslikeindustrial design,machinesforliving,functional
environmental
architecture, unity.These new ideaswerecelebrated in a significant
seriesof radioprogrammes on the themeof Designof EverydayThings.Jackalso
introduced me to Bauhausdisciples,to Moholy-Nagy, MarcelBreuer,to Max Fry,
Wells Coates,Lubetkin,Chermayeff, and to WalterGropiuswhenhe arrivedin
London.I remember goingwithGropiusto St. Anne'sHill, Windsor,whichwas
to be thesiteofa beautifulbuildingresting likea silverbirdon thetop ofthehill.
Neverbuilt,alas. It is worthwhileremembering, however,thatChermayeff was
amongthosechosento designstudiosat thenew Broadcasting House in Portland
Place.
Tonightwe shallenjoy,I am sure,a personalas wellas an historical accountofa
movement and in addition,a viewofwhatbenefits
ofgreatsocialsignificance, drawn
fromit thefuturecouldhavein store.
withlantern
paperywhichwasillustrated
Thefollowing , was thenread.
slides

THE PAPER

ENGLAND, EUROPE ANDTHEUNITEDSTATES IN THENINETEENTH CENTURY


It was in Englandthatthe firstindustrialrevolution started.The greatnames
thatare especiallyassociatedwithit wereessentially ofgreatimagination
engineers
and practicalenterprise.The namesthatimmediately spring mindare Brunei,
to
Stevensonand Paxton.Their workhad alreadytakenplace by the middleof the
nineteenth century. Theirenterprise and theenterpriseof otherinnovators of the
to
period helped provide the basis for the greateconomic in
expansion Great
Britain.But fromthenon, whilethe growthratecontinued,therewas a relative
decline in Britisheconomicascendancy.Paxton's greatbuildingfor the 1851
Exhibitionin Hyde Parkmightalmost,withsome exaggeration, be regardedas a
memorialto Britishimaginative enterprise.
AlthoughthePrinceConsort,who did so muchto inspirethe 1851 Exhibition,
didhisbestto encouragea progressive totheartsandto technicaleducation
attitude

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OF THEROYALSOCIETYOF ARTS
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JANUARY
and training,Oxfordand Cambridgeand Arnold's public schools based on
classicismand amateurism had thegreaterinfluence.*
Smug, self-satisfied
respectability was on the way. The ForsyteSaga gives a
good picture of what was happeningin upper-classEnglandat thattime.Instead
offorging aheadand investing in highereducationforthemassesand thebuilding
of newuniversities, she let othercountriescatchup and overtakeher.It has been
estimated thatin 1870theBritishstandardof livingwas thehighestin theworld,
and takingthestandardof livingin the UnitedKingdomas 100,theestimatefor
theUnitedStatesof Americain 1870wouldbe only84, Canada 74 and Germany
6i.f By 1900Americawas alreadyin thelead and by 1922 Canada had overtaken
Britain,Francewas almostleveland Germanynotfarbehind.

TakingtheU.K. standardof livingas 100 (realproductperhead):

1871-5 1900-14 1909-13 1922

UnitedKingdom 100 100 100 100


U.S.A. 84 116 126 153
Canada 74 89 101 104
Germany 61 68 73 72
France ... .... 91 94

National
Institute
Economic
Review(MissDeboraPage)1961

The industrialrevolutionbroughtwith it miseryand ugliness.When the


inevitablereactioncametherewereplentyof evilsto reactagainst.The reactions
thatconcernus hereare thoseexemplified by WilliamMorrisand the Artsand
CraftsMovement.Their reactionwas to call fora return .to the past,whenart,
morality, and
politics religion all formedone livingwhole and whereartists
joined
together in the rleof craftsmen.
AlthoughWilliamMorrisin his NewsfromNowhereenvisaged'force -barges'
as he calledthem(a new and silentmeansof drivingbargeson the Thames),he
shrankfromapplyinghisideasto industrial production,and thenextdevelopment
in themovement thathe himselfhad sparkedoffin Englandwas to be takenup
elsewhere.
It was in Europeand in the U.S.A. thattheArtsand CraftsMovementwas to
takea positiveattitudeto technology and industry.Beforetheturnofthecentury,
forexample,theBelgianarchitect Henryvan der Velde,whowas laterto be head
Aslateas 1913,accordingtoE. J.Hobsbawm,FellowofKing'sCollege,
Cambridge,there
werein GreatBritain students
9,000university compared with60,000in Germany. There
theywereproducing 3,000graduate a year,
engineers whileEngland andWalesat thattime
producedonly350inallbranches ofscience,
technologyandmathematics.
fNottilltheActof.1870wastherein England a systemofpubliceducation
andcompul-
saryelementary schooling.In the19thcentury,besideOxford and Cambridge theonly
in England
universities wereDurham, whichwasstartedin 1832,London,Newcastle and
Manchester.
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JANUARY
1969 GROPIUS, ANDTHEFUTURE
THEBAUHAUS
of the WeimarAcademyof Art,proclaimedthe engineeras the architectof the
future.The DeutscheWerkbundwhichwas formedin 1907had theaim 'to raise
the standardof manufactured of art,industryand
productsby thejoint efforts
It
craftsmanship'. was not until in
1915 England that Lethabyand his friends
formedtheDesignand IndustryAssociationwithsimilaraims.
GROPIUS
ANDTHEREACTION
AGAINST
THEEVILSOF THENINETEENTH
CENTURY
The move to harnessthe efforts of,artists,craftsmen and engineersto the
manufacture ofindustrial productsgradually crystallizedaround a manin Germany
who was deeplyinvolvedin a constructive reactionagainstthe eventsof the
industrial
revolution. This manwas WalterGropius.
Gropius 's father was an architect and hisgreatuncle,Martin
and a stateofficial,
Gropius, was at one time Principal of the Arts and Crafts School in Berlinand
had been the Directorof Art Educationin Prussia.Anothergreat-uncle,Paul
Gropiuswas a manufacturer and had exhibitedat the 1851 Exhibitionin Hyde
Park,and had received a prizemedal.
WalterGropiuswas bornon 18thMay 1883. He studiedarchitecture at the
TechnicalHigh Schoolsin Berlin-Charlottenberg and in Munich.In 1906 when
he was 23 he designeda groupof agricultural workers'cottages;a yearlaterhe
was apprenticed to PeterBehrensin Berlinand he setup his ownpracticein 1910
whenhe was 27. By thistimehis attitudeto theproblemsof theindividualin an
industrialsocietywas well developed,and in 1909 he wrotethat'foreconomic
production it was onlyby standardization of component partsas distinctfromthe
standardization of completehouses that the architectcould avoid monotony,
providevarietyand use factory production to thefullestextent'.This foreshadows
the housingin Dessau in 1926,and laterthe moresophisticated systemforthe
PanelCorporation in theUnitedStatesofAmerica,whichhe devisedwithConrad
Wachsmannin 1943. As we shall see, this principlewas applied to the school
buildingprogramme in theUnitedKingdomafterthewar.
While the CrystalPalace was essentiallya buildingof glass, Gropiuswas
probablythefirstto graspand to putintopracticethsignificance oftransparency
in contemporary architecture. This is exemplified in the Fagus factoryof 1911.
Mies van der Rohe,speakingat a partyto celebrateGropius's 70thbirthday, said
oftheFagus factory:'This buildingwas so excellentthathe becameat one stroke
one of the leadingarchitects in Europe'. Gropiuswas then28. Thus by 1914,
when he was directorof the industrialsection of the Deutsche Werkbund
exhibitionin Cologne and designedthe Hall of Machines, he was already
recognized as a powerful personality,firmlybased on practicalachievement.
GROPIUS
TAKESTHECENTRE
OF THESTAGE:HIS IDEASFORTHEBAUHAUS
However,it was in 1918, when the Grand Duke of Saxe-Weimar,on ,the
suggestionof Henryvan der Velde, appointedWalterGropius as Directorof
both the WeimarArt Academyand the WeimarArtsand CraftsSchool, that
Gropiusreallybegan to take the centreof the stage. He immediately
made a
decision.In April1919 he amalgamated
significant thetwobodiesunderthename

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To setfreethestudentsownoriginality: (above) under


of JohannesItten; (below) underthatof
the influence
JosephAIbersy and (facingpage) thatof Moholy-Nagy

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JANUARY
1969 GROPIUS, ANDTHEFUTURE
THEBAUHAUS

State Bauhaus,his aim beingto createa Consultingartscentreforindustry and


trade*.It is perhapsinteresting thathisappointment bytheGrandDuke was made
withthe formalagreement of the ProvisionalRepublicanGovernment of Saxe-
Weimar - it will be remembered thattherewas thenthe blossomingof a highly
civilizedsocialdemocracy in Germany, whichwas so soonto collapse.
Mies van der Rohe,speakingon the same occasion,referred to a fewmoments
ago, said: 'The Bauhaus was not an institutionwith a clearprogramme, it was an
idea, and Gropiusformulated the idea withgreatprecision*. Mies van der Rohe
wenton: 'The factthat it was an idea, I think,is the cause of its enormous
influence. . . . You cannotdo thatwithan organization, you cannotdo thatwith
propaganda. Only an idea speaks so far . .
Whatwas Gropius'sidea? It was nothingless thansettingout to findspecific
waysto breakdownpreconceived ideas and set freeoriginalitybased on a deep
understanding of materialsand howto use them.
Up to 1914 artstudentshad in the mainbeen taughtsimplyto studyexisting
artformsand no specialstepsweretakeneitherto encourageor setfreeoriginality.
Artwas spelt witha capitalA and had littleor nothingto do withcraft.The
teachingof craftwas similarand had littleor nothingto do withtechnology,
scienceor industry.Gropius's aim was to bringtogetherthe teachingof these
subjects.In his mind the fatalfallacyat thattimewas the view that art is a
profession whichcan be masteredby study,whereashe would say thatart is a
qualitywhichcannotbe taught;but he wenton to explainthat 'on the other
hand, manual dexterityand the thoroughknowledgewhich is a necessary
foundation forall creativeeffort, whetherthe workman'sart or the artist's,can
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JANUARY
be taughtand learned'. In sayingthis,Gropiuswas to someextentpickingup the
thoughts of WilliamMorrisfifty yearsbefore,exceptthatforGropiustherewas
no shyingawayfromindustrialproduction.In his opinion,the aloofnessof the
architectfromindustrywas one of the cuses forthe declinein the designof
everydaythings.Industrywas able to design productsthat were reasonably
efficient
butthenhad to call in the'artist'to stylethemup.
It became clear,therefore, thattherewas a need to establisha trainingfor
giftedindividualsthatwould provide'a thoroughpractical,manualtrainingin
workshopactivityengaged in production,coupled with a sound theoretical
instructionin the laws of design*.The firstpartof this requirement was com-
parativelyeasy and students were givencourses in variouscraftsand had to pass
examinations controlledby an outsidebody somewhatsimilarto the City and
Guildsof LondonInstitute.It was Gropius's solutiontothesecondpartthathad
themarkof genius:'Sound theoretical instruction in thelawsof design'.

THEIMPORTANCE IN CLOSEASSOCIATION
OF ARTANDSCIENCE
This meantin Gropius's mindthebasictheoriesofcolour,formand proportion,
and had nothingto do witha studyof acceptedartforms.He assertedthat'true
creativeworkcan be done onlyby themanwhoseknowledgeand masteryof the
physicallaws of statics,dynamics,optics,acoustics,equip him to give lifeand
shape to his innervision.In a workof art the laws of the physicalworld,the
intellectualworld and the world of the spirit functionand are expressed
simultaneously . .
Gropiusbelievedthattheinfluence of imaginativeartistscombinedwitha very
thoroughtrainingin the craftswould help firstto get rid of preconceived
ideas,
and thento setfreethestudents'ownoriginality.
Whenthe Bauhausstartedin 1919 it was arrangedtherefore thatthefirst
-year
studentsshouldattendcoursesby such important and imaginative modernartists
as Klee, Kandinsky,Feiningerand Oskar Schlemmer,as well as coursesin the
variouscrafts.

ITTENANDTHEBASICCOURSE
JOHANNES
Gropius's ideaswerefirstputintopracticewhenhe appointedJohannes Ittenin
1919 to be in chargeofthebasic course.Ittenhad been a schoolteacher,and had
seen thatif youngchildrenwereleftalone theycould be amazinglycreativeand
inventive. This lessonhe appliedin the Bauhaus.In thisrespecthis methodwas
not unlikethatof A. S. Niell at Summerhill, Curryat Dartington,and Bertrand
and Dora Russellat Beacon Hill School. It is interestingthattheseexperimental
ideasare nowbeingappliedin thestateprimary schoolsin England.
In hisbookon the basic course,Ittenwrites : 'As an introduction,
longlistsf
differentmaterials, likewood,glass,textiles,barks,furs,metalsand stones,were
written down.'Then, he wenton: T had thestudentsadd theopticaland tactile
qualitiesof thesematerials.But it was not enoughto knowthe wordsforthese
qualities,the charactersof the materialshad to be experiencedand represented.
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JANUARY
1969 GROPIUS, ANDTHE FUTURE
THEBAUHAUS
Contrastslikesmooth-rough, hard-soft, and light-heavyhad not onlyto be seen
but felt.'
ltten encouragedthe studentsto make three-dimensional abstractobjects
combining these materials,
contrasting avoiding studies
of existingartforms.
When discussingproblemsof space,Johanneslttenwas fondof quotingfrom
Lao-Tse, whoin thesixthcentury b.c. wrote:
Thirtyspokesmeetat thehub,
Butthevoidbetweenthemcreates
theessenceofthewheel.
Clayformspots,
butthevoidwithincreatesthe
essenceofthepot.
Wallswithwindowsand doorsmakethehouse
butthevoidwithinthemmakesthe
essenceofthehouse.
Fundamentally:
containsutility
The material
containstheessence.
The immaterial
GeorgeAdams,whowas a studentatWeimar,andwhois nowlivingandworking
Associationseminarat theRoyalAcademy
in London,speakingat an Architecture
in September1968describedlttenas havinga powerful influence
and all-pervading
but that he was evidentlysomethingof a mystic;in 1923 he resignedon
ideologicalgrounds.

TAKEOVERFROMITTEN
ANDMOHOLY-NAGY
ALBERS

Meanwhileit seemsclearthatGropiuswishedto strengthen the constructivist


side and whenAlberstookoverthe preliminary coursefromltten,and Moholy-
Nagy tookon the second-yearcourse,the resultswere veryinteresting and the
contrastis clear.The greateremphasis on and
constructivist objectiveideas helped
to give the studentsa deeperunderstanding of the technicallimitsof different
materialsin construction.
Too oftenart schools to-day,tryingto copy the Bauhaus, have seen these
fascinating abstractdesignsas an end ratherthanas a means.

'no longer can anything exist in isolation'

Anotheressentialprinciplewhichformedthebasis fortheBauhausis expressed


in a fewwordstakenfromGropius'sstatementin 1923: "... the old dualistic
world-conceptwhichenvisagedthe ego in oppositionto the universeis rapidly
losingground.In its place is the risingidea of a universalunityin whichall
opposingforcesexistin a stateof absolutebalance.This dawningrecognition of
theessentialonenessof all thingsand theirappearanceendowscreativeeffort with
a fundamental innermeaning.No longercan anything existin isolation. .
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JANUARY
Fromthisfollowsthe importance he attachedto teamworkin architecture as
against the Beaux Arts attitudewhich assignedthe architect to his ivorytower
alooffromtechnology. We see herethe development of his viewson the totality
of all aspectsof thevisualscene.The artistwas notsomeonewithno concernfor
the community. Gropiuswould agreethatthe individualhas the greateroppor-
tunity expresshimself
to to thefullestextentwhenhe recognizesand feelshimself
as a socialbeingas well as an individual.

SIEGFRIED
GIDEONREPORTS
FROMWEIMAR
In August 1923, an exhibitionof students* workwas held at Weimar.This
exhibitioncauseda greatstirbothin favourand thereverse.Fortunately Siegfried
Gideon,the Swiss architectural historian,was presentduringthe exhibitionand
in an articlein the Swiss journal Das Werkhe wrote: 'The State School of
Buildingin Weimaras it was calledhad onlybeen runningunderWalterGropius
forthree-and-a-halfyears.Germanyhad suffered a terribledefeat,her currency
was runningawayand foodwas scarce,and yetherewas something of greatand
' He continued:'The school . . . makes an
lastingimportance. appeal to the
contemporary world, to the
accept justification of its existenceon the basis of its
aimsand itsaccomplishment. It is in anycase entitledto respectforitsunswerving
pursuitof its objectives,in spite of the presentsituationin Germany,which
makeshertheslaveof immediatenecessity;in spiteof paucityof funds;in spite
of cheapridicule,in spiteof maliciousattacksfromreactionaries and,notleast,in
spiteof difficulties.'
internal

THERISEOF POLITICAL ANDTHEMOVETO DESSAU


REACTION

BythistimetheSocialDemocraticgovernment thathadshownsuchpromiseand
had supportedtheBauhausat Weimarwas givingwayto thereactionary pressure
of the People's Party,the forerunnerof the Nazis. This situationwas described
in a noteto Gropiusat the end of March 1924 by the businessmanagerof the
Bauhausas follows:4 . . . sinceOctober1922 I havedone mybestto further the
development of the Bauhaus. Co-operationwhichshouldhave been a matterof
courseon thepartof thegovernment officials
. . . has notbeen forthcoming, the
attitudeof superiorgovernment officials
is malevolent, obtuseand so inflexible
as constantlyto endangerthegrowthof theinstitution. . . .'
In December1924 Gropiusand his staffwroteto the new government that
becauseof theobstructions theywouldclose the Bauhaus.The studentswrotea
similarletterin January of thenextyear.So endedthefirstphase.Fortunately at
that time the SocialistMayor of the cityof Dessau, Dr. Fritz Hesse, offered
generousfacilities,includingthe financeforthe finenew buildingwhichwe all
nowrecognizeas therealBauhaus.The buildings, to Gropius's design,includeda
wingforstudentsand housesforstaff.The buildingswerereadyfor
residential
occupationby theend of 1926.
The basic ideas wereof coursethe same,but whilethe constructivist side was
strengthened Gropiusdid not dispensewiththe imaginative inspirationof the
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JANUARY
1969 THEBAUHAUS
GROPIUS, ANDTHEFUTURE

OskarSchlemmer
. . . particularly
withhistriadic
, musthave had a tremendous
ballet impac

paintersKandinsky,Klee and Schlemmer.Oskar Schlemmerat that time


withhis triadicballet,musthave had a tremendous
particularly impact.Withall
Schlemmer'sindividuality,he was at the same timededicatedto Gropius'sidea
ofteamwork.
The clcfee
collaborationwithindustry thatWalterGropiushad alwaysaimedat
was quicklydeveloped.Studentsspenttimein factoriesand factory
representatives
spenttime in the Bauhaus.A of
system royalties for bothstudents'and teachers'
workwas organized,so thattheincomefromthissourcewas dividedbetweenthe
school and the designer.The move to the new buildingwas a tremendous
achievement, especiallywhenwe rememberthe financialdifficultieson the one
hand and theproblemsof copingwithan inexperienced democracy theother.
on

GROPIUS RESIGNS IN 1928


Alreadythe Bauhauswas beginningto have a powerfulinfluence,
but earlyin
1928WalterGropiusdecidedto leave. On 13thJanuaryhe wrotethathe wanted

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JANUARY
to devotemoreof his time to workwhere he
would not be crampedby officialduties. He
wrotethattheBauhauswas wellfounded,it was
gaining influenceand there were increasing
numbersof students.The Bauhaus was cer-
tainlygaininginfluence.Productsdesignedby
Bauhuslerswere going into production.It is
perhapsinteresting thatArthurKornin a recent
letterwrote:'If everthe aim of theBauhausto
blend technicalknowledgewithcreativeability
was fulfilled
it was in the furnituredesignedby
Breuer*- typical examples being the Breuer
cantilevertube chairof the early1920sand the
Long chairin laminatedwoodof themid 1930s.
Bothchairsare stillin production.
AlthoughGropiuswroteoptimistically, a clue
to what was reallygoing on may perhapsbe
foundin the coincidenceof his departurewith
thatof Marcel Breuer,HerbertBayer,Moholy-
Above: Breuers tubular Nagyand XantiSchawinsky. The factthatthese
chair of the early 1920s fourkey membersresignedat the same time
at the Bauhaus; below:
s laminatedwood
Breuer" suggeststhat the growingpower of the reac-
chair of the mid-ig^os tionaryelementin Germanycombinedwiththe
in
designed England. Both technocrats* demand for more emphasis on
chairsstill in production vocationaltraining was at leasta partialcause of
Gropius's resignation.He also believed that
muchof the oppositionwas now focusedon him personallyand thattherefore
it wouldbe helpfulto theBauhausifhe resigned.
A fewdaysafterGropius'sformalstatement Moholy-Nagy wrotea verymoving
letter.He wrotethathe recognizedthatthe Bauhauswas, of course,concerned
withindustryand trade,but not to the extentof a vocationaltrainingschool.
'There mustbe room*,he wrote,'forteachingthebasic ideas whichkeephuman
contentalertand vital.' And he continued:41 can no longerkeep up withthe
stronger and stronger tendencytowardtradespecialization in theworkshops. We
are now in dangerof becomingwhatwe as revolutionaries opposed: a vocational
trainingschool which evaluatesonly the finalachievementand overlooksthe
development of the wholeman. For him thereremainsno time,no money,no
space,no concession.. . .' Moholy-Nagywenton: 'The questionariseswhether
theexistenceof a creativegroupis onlypossibleon thebasis of oppositionto the
will be the decisionto workonly
statusquo. It remainsto be seen how efficient
forefficientresults.Perhapstherewillbe a new fruitful period.Perhapsit is the
beginning of theend.'
The end of the Bauhauswas now approaching. Hannes Meyer,who was then
in chargeof the architecturaldepartment,becamethe director, but in June1930
he had troublewiththe municipalauthority and resigned.Mies van der Rohe

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THEBAUHAUS

' Moreoveractual werebeginning


toappearin
, examplesofmodern design
England.... In 1930Le orbusi etandPefriand
er,Janner designedfor
Venesta at Olympia.*
a standfortheBuildingTradeExhibition [Believed
to be the onlyexampleof theirworkexecutedin England. - Ed.]

was appointedin his place and triedto save theBauhaus,and did so, untilit was
closedbytheNazis in 1933.

TAKESNOTICE
ENGLAND

Meanwhilein EnglandBauhausideaswerebeginning to be noticed.One British


journalistdescribingthe 1927 Leipzig Fair wrote:'We do not understandthe
modernmovement and we do not likei, but added a recommendation to study
'what goes on at Dessau*. MortonShand, however,was writingexcellentand
well-informed and theGermanWerkbundExhibit
articleson modernarchitecture,
at Paris in 1930,designedby Gropius,withBreuer,Moholy-Nagyand Herbert
Bayer,had a profound effect.
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Moreover,actual examplesof moderndesign were beginningto appear in
England.In 1928SergeChermayeff designedan exhibitionforWaring 's in Oxford
Street,and the FrederickEtchellsbuildingforCrawfords in Holbornwas com-
pletedby 1929.In 1930Le Corbusier, Janneretand PerrianddesignedforVenesta
a stand forthe BuildingTrade Exhibitionat Olympiaand JosephEmberton's
RoyalCorinthian YachtClub was completedin 1931.
In 1933 Wells Coates designedthe Lawn Road Flats and in the same yeara
full-scalereplicaof one of the smallflatswas shownin the Exhibitionorganized
by the Design and IndustriesAssociationin DorlandHall. In the following year
the RoyalAcademytriedto go modernwithits InteriorDesignExhibition - what
a wonderful contrast withtheenterprise in holdingthe Bauhausexhibition at the
RoyalAcademyin September1968! But it mustalso be remembered thatin 1930
the BritishGovernment Exhibitin BuenosAireswas housedin a NormanCastle
with a Tudor Barn, and the main hall of the Union Castle's new ship, the
Winchester Castle, was designedin the FlemishRenaissancestyle.Wells Coates,
however, designedan exhibitforBuenosAiresofa verydifferent character.
It was a frustrating time.On the one hand therewas fora fewthe visionof
greatpossibilities, and in a new attitudeto living.But
in thearts,in architecture,
on the other,to the government and in commerce,the manifestations of the
modernmovement wereregardedas beingall verywell forthe Continentals but
not,of course,forEngland;nor did theyseemto appreciatethe fullsignificance
of the close associationof a reactionaryattitudeto artand designwiththe cruel
horrorof theideologicaland racialpersecution thatwas takingplace in Germany.

LEAVES
GROPIUS BUTENGLAND
GERMANY, NOTYETREADY

Fortunately WalterGropiuswas invitedto go intopartnership withMaxwell


Fry. He and Ise Gropius arrivedat VictoriaStationvia Italy at 3.20 on the
afternoon of Thursday18thOctober1934, and came to live in the new Lawn
Road Flats. The fewenthusiasts of the timehad hopefullyexpectedthatonce it
was knownthathe was in Englandimportant would
projects flowintoGropius's
and Fry'soffice;but did they?Not a bitof it.
Not a bitof it; all Englandcoulddo to takeadvantageof Gropius's presencefor
threeyearswas a privatehouse in Chelsea and ImpingtonVillage College in
Cambridgeshire.
Accordingto rumour,the acceptanceof Gropiusand Fry as the designersof
Impingtonhad littleto do witha knowledgeof theirworksor theirreputation
and more to do with the fact that moneywas raised privatelyto pay the
architects'fees, and that the offerwas made under the signatureof such
distinguishedmenas JohnMaynardKeynes,Professor Constableand Sir Charles
Reillyand even Cambridge dons- who might haveknown - rejectedGropius.
better
The opportunity to haveGropiusat theCambridgeSchoolof Architecture was
missed.He and Fryalso madea fineproposalforChrist'sCollege,recently illus-
tratedin an excellentguideby students.Rumourhas it thatit was turneddown
becauseit had a flatroof.
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JANUARY
1969 GROPIUS, ANDTHEFUTURE
THEBAUHAUS

VillageCollege
Impington andFry, 1937
, byGropius

thatevenas late as the 1950sNikolausPevsnerin his


It is also a sad reflection
guideto Cambridgeshire had to referto a chairdesignedby David Pye forthe
Masterof PembrokeCollegeas 'thefirstexampleof themid-20thcentury stylein
officialCambridgeFurnishing, historicinterest'.
and as suchit had considerable
UNITEDSTATES MORERESPONSIVE TO NEWIDEAS
Unresponsive EnglandlostGropiusin 1937to a moreresponsive UnitedStates.
Not only Gropiusbut Breuerand Moholy-Nagyand othersall foundgreater
opportunitiestherethanin stodgyEngland.It was notso muchbecausethe pay
in the UnitedStateswas higher,but becauseof the lack in the UnitedKingdom
of eithercommercialor government enterprisebetweenthewars.
When it was knownthatWalterGropiuswas leavingEnglandhe was givena
Famouspeoplesaid howsorrytheywereat his departure - butone
greatsend-off.
could nothelp sensinga sighof reliefthatthisman wouldno longertroublethe
Britishstatusquo.
Othercountriesmorereadyto acceptnew ideas seizedtheopportunity. Walter
Gropius, Moholy-Nagy, Breuer,Herbert Bayer and many other Bauhuslers
thatcountry,
settledin Americaand invigorated and indeedmanyothercountries,
withfreshand stimulatingideas.
NEWSPIRITIN BRITAIN AFTER THEWAR
different.
Afterthewar,however,thesituationin Britainwas entirely She was
no longerrichbut therewas a growingdemandfornew ideas and a breakfrom
dependenceon pastglories.
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JANUARY
Ise and WalterGropiuswritingaftertheirvisitin September1968 confirmed
thatsomething had happened,at leastto London. 'We bothsound',theywrote,
'likediscoverersofa jewelof a townwhichhad beenhiddenunderlayersofgrime
'
onlyto emergenowradiantand youngin spirit.
and respectability,
There have been manychangesbut one particularly interestingdevelopment
has been a changein the public sector.Insteadof a negativeattitudetowards
development thereis nowevidenceofimagination and drivein somedepartments.
The Government, forexample,has set up the Councilof IndustrialDesign and
theArtsCouncil.More recently the Ministryof Public Buildingand Workshas
starteda studyin depthof officeactivitywhichmaylead to entirelynew kinds
of equipmentforgovernment offices.
The establishment of theNationalResearch
and Development Counciland itsachievement withtheHovercraft is a particularly
goodexample,butthedriveshownbytheDepartment ofEducationand Scienceis
nearerto thesubjectof thispaper.The new universities whichshouldhavebeen
built yearsago while the countrywas rich are now being rapidlyestablished,
althoughthecountrycan hardlyafford them.
The Department of Educationhas establisheda world-widereputation in two
otherdirections:in the firstplace the Department'ssuccessfuland imaginative
experiments in primaryeducation,verymuchon the linesthatA. S. Niell and
otherswereusingin the '30s, are now beingdevelopedon a nationalscale. The
new EvelynLowe schoolin Bermondsey is a good exampleof new educational
ideas housedin architecture to match.
The otherconcernsschoolbuildings.In themid-1940s,CharlesHerbertAslin,
a local government officialand countyarchitectof Hertfordshire, appointeda
youngand progressive team.Theybeganto applyindustrialized buildingmethods
fortheirnew schoolsverymuch on the lines advocatedby WalterGropiusin
1909.The Ministry of Educationthentookoverthisinitiative on a nationalscale
to considerableeffect.Alreadyindustrialized school buildingsto the value of
20 millionhave been completedby one methodonly,and thereare of course
othersystems.

PROPOSALS
FORFUTURE
ACTION

And now as regardsthe future;the proposalsthat followare based on the


assumption thatthiskindof initiativeand drivecan be used to promotea more
dynamicattitudeto designtraining.
There should be at least one designschool outsidethe educational'System'
based on Bauhaus principles,but using them as a launchingpad for future
experiment.It is important
thatthetalentedartstudentshouldbe deeplyinvolved
withthedynamics ofdesigningfornewand changing needs,and newand changing
production methods - notto mentionnew materials.The trainingavailablemust
be on a sound basis of science.All formsof dogmatismmustbe avoided and
encouraged.In otherwords,waysmustbe foundto keepthestudent's
originality
head abovethecloudswhilehis feetmustbe keptfirmly on theground.

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JANUARY
1969 THEBAUHAUS
GROPIUS, ANDTHEFUTURE
THEARTIST AS FORECASTER
The importance of the artistin societyis recognizedbut the importance of the
artistas an essentialpartof industry is oftenmissed.It mustbe remembered that
the artistsometimessees throughto futurepossibilities.
In Santa Maria Novella in Florencethereis a paintingby Masaccio. It was
paintedin 1425. SiegfriedGideon in his Time, Space and Architecture writes
about this picture:'The longitudinal barrelvaultthatMasaccio paintedwas to
provethegreatsolutionto thevaultingproblemthatconfronted the architectsof
thefullRenaissanceand Baroqueperiods.'Gideon goes on to pointout thatthis
particulararchitectural formdid not appear in construction until nearlyfive
decades later,when Leon BattistaAlbertidesignedand built San Andrea at
Mantua in 1472. There is also the old and well-knownstoryof how the great
scientist,Kelvin,refusedto join the RoyalAeronauticalSocietyon the grounds
thathe had 'no faithin aerialnavigation whatsoever, exceptperhapsballooning'.
And howByron,thepoet,sixtyyearsearlier,had supposedthatone daywe would
all be travelling in air machinesand eventually reachthemoon.
Gropius saw clearlyenough the need to bringthe artistand the scientistinto
close associationwhenhe pointedout thatthefinestcreativeworkcan onlybe by
the man who fullyunderstands the laws of staticsand dynamics,which,as he
4
wrote,equip himto givelifeand shapeto his innervision'.Gropius,speakingat
4
University College London on 17thOctober1967,said thattheremustbe: A
passionatesearch for an answerin which all relevantfactors,social, visual,
technicaland economichave been broughtintobalance ... it takesa long and
systematic trainingto get intothe habitof seeingall factorssimultaneously ...
the consciousattemptto recognizeopposites - the solid and the void, unityand
diversity . . .' He wenton: 'Whetherthedesignresultwilllaterbe consideredas a
workof artdependson thearchitect's innatepoeticgifts. . . The orderarrivedat
by the extra -ordinary artistdoes not presenta closed,logicalsystemas it is, for
instance, found in mathematics; it remains ratheran open process... a paradox
in suspense,eternally unfathomable, forever fascinating.'
One furtherpoint: the importanceof studentand staffresponsibility in the
controloftheirownproblems.Studentsat theBauhausweretaughtto knowtheir
materialsthroughthe experienceof trialand error.The same methodsshouldbe
used in administration. A vitaldemocracy is morelikelyto emergeif as students
we have had the opportunity to practisedemocracy,make mistakesand profit
fromthosemistakesat schooland university ratherthanmakingmistakeson the
larger national and world scale. It would have been betterto have takenthe
initiativeand givento studentsa sharein controland responsibility ratherthanto
be forcedto do so as a resultof revolt.
Too oftenBauhausideas are criticizedas beingold-fashioned, crazy,irrelevant
or impracticable. Lord Butler,essentiallya realist,speakingat Bassingbourn
VillageCollegein 1954 of anothergreatinnovator, HenryMorris,said: 'If there
is an excessof idealismin thisproject,let us be thankful forit.' The same may
be said of Gropiusand the Bauhaus- but don't let the matterstop there.The
Bauhausexperience shouldbe used as a jumping-off point.
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JANUARY
PerhapsMoholy-Nagy was rightwhenhe wrote:'The questionariseswhether
theexistenceof a creativegroupis onlypossibleon thebasisof oppositionto the
statusquo Whata splendidthingit wouldbe to set up such a creativeagency.
It mighthave remarkable - resultscomparablewiththe astonishing
results burst
of imaginativeenterpriseof the of
earlypioneers the industrial
revolutionwhich
put Britainso farahead.
DISCUSSION
the chairman: can see in theaudiencea numberof peoplewhohaveplayeda
partin theBauhausmovement. And also a lotofyoungpeople.I hopetherewillbe
plentyofquestionsand comments.
MR.jean straker: I havebeen a Memberof thisSocietysinceI was a student.
RecentlyI havebeentalkingto someof thestudentsat theuniversities and I find
thereis stilla fragmentation ofdisciplinesin thecreative worldin spiteofthedesire
to breakdownthebarriers whichexist.At WarwickI gavea talkon theimportance
of establishing, withineach university, an artsacademyso thatall the disciplines
could cometogether there,so thatthebiologistcould comeintoconflict withthe
physicist, the historianinto conflictwiththe psychologist and so forth,and by
creativeendeavourmakeeveryformof artisticconstruction withinthe University
part of an inter- disciplinary project.We could carryforwardthis conceptof
experimentation, whichsocietiesconstantly seemto havea downupon. It was not
onlyGropiuswho was facedwiththe bureaucratic rigidity whicheverycreative
artistfindsin all societies.It seemsto me thatit is withinourgrasp,in Englandat
thistimeofstudentrevolt,to devisesomeinstitutional meansforusingprinciples of
educationand oflearning and oforiginality and creativity to lookintothefuture, so
thatyoungpeoplecan havetheirheads.
the chairman: The Royal Societyof Artsmightwell changeits name to the
'Royal Societyof Art and Innovation' ! One of our presentneeds is forinter-
disciplinary relationshipand oursearchis foractionbasedon changing needs.I am
glad this important matterhas been broughtbeforeus at an earlystagein
discussion.
mr... roberts:As a youngpersonwhodid notexperience whatwas goingon
in modernthought beforethewar,I thinkitis easyto lookbackandsee theBauhaus
as a secondRenaissance, a revulsion againststuffy conservatism and an expression of
faithin thethought of creating something new.Thereis a placein modernsociety
forperhapsa thirdRenaissance - or an extension oftheBauhausRenaissance. What
concernsme is whether theretrulycan be a place in our modernsociety,withits
enormously complextechnologies, fora studentseekingto amalgamate in his mind
so manydifferent disciplinesand cultures? It is difficult
to see howstudents cantake
the broaderBauhausview and yetbe successfulnowadays;youngarchitects, for
example.
the lecturer: Yes, an architect has got to understand an awfullot of different
things ; he cannotbe a goodarchitect unlesshe does.I thinkthereis muchtoomuch
specialization in everyprofession.Nevertheless thereis a growing needforthosewho
can see thewholeproblem - unityand diversity.
mr.Mauricegoldsmith(Scienceof ScienceFoundation) : I am associatedwitha
groupcalledtheScienceof ScienceFoundationwhichis attempting, in a sense,to
foster theverykindofthingthatthelecturer hasbeensuggesting - to securea many-
disciplinesapproach,whichembracesnot onlythe naturalsciencesbut also the
socialsciencesand theartsand humanities, to current problems.It seemsto us that
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JANUARY 1969 GROPIUS, THEBAUHUS ANDTHEFUTURE
withoutthiscross-fertilization we shallnot be able to developthe kindof thing
whichtheBauhauswas able to initiate.It is quiteclearthatwe cannotmechanically
imitatethe Bauhaus.Conditionsnow are quite different. I suggestthatwe need
somequantitative assessment ofwhatmightbe requiredto setup 'a creativeagency'
and to findthecreativeentrepreneur . I am reminded of thisbecausethereare some
studiesgoingon at the momentat Harvardon the technicalentrepreneur . The
Americans are interested in theremarkable qualitiesthattheentrepreneur possesses,
andtheyhavedecidedto studythisin a systematic way.Preliminary researches have
revealed,forinstance,that Route 128 aroundBoston,wheremanyof the new
technological enterprises havesprungup,essentially is baseduponyoungpeopleaged
between25 and 35 who have been able to translatetheirlaboratory ideas into
immediate commercial practice.Beyondthe age of 35 thereseemsto set in some
crucialfallingawayin theabilityto do this.Theyhavediscovered, also,thatone of
thereasonswhylarge-scale enterprises whichattempt to do thiskindofthingbyand
largefailrather miserably, is thatsuchenterprises tendto frownuponanyonebelow
theage of40.
Although thesestudieshaveonlyjust begun,thereare alreadyindications thatit
maybe possibleto spotthetechnicalentrepreneur at a veryearlystage.One of the
suggestions whichhas been made is thatverylargeorganizations shouldnot only
go aroundspotting youngpeopleat university and bringing themin,butalso should
have somebodywithinthe organization who does thekind of thingthe lecturer
mentioned - spotlikelyyoungpeoplewithintheorganization itself.Fromthisfollows
anotherapproachto statuswithinthe organization; thatis, insteadof a 'pyramid
approach'developa 'flatapproach'to the distribution of responsibility. With a
pyramid yougetusuallyan age structure, witha flatapproachyoudo not.
the lecturer: I am surprised that40 is an age barrierin America.If thatis the
case, I supposeit is about70 in England! It is appallingto findin Englandthata
manof30 or35 is thought tobe tooyoungfortheresponsibility ofcertain jobs. Those
are the people who matter,and I believetheycould be spottedearlier.Your
comments aremostimportant and thereshouldbe moretimeto discussthem.
the chairman: I wouldremindtheaudiencethata wholearmyof establishment
officersgoesto theuniversities at theend ofeachyearin orderto seekentrepreneurs
whowillgo intoAdvertising. Surelyitwouldbe possibleto broadenthatsearch?
MR.AnthonyHarris: I was tempted to shoutoutto thelecturer, 'Whataboutthe
workers?' Whilethe Bauhausdidn'tfacewhatWilliamMorrisdid, whichis the
qualityofthelivesofordinary working men,it was veryobviousin Francethisyear
thattheideasthestudents hadwerenotparticularly acceptableto theworkers. Does
Mr.Pritchard feelthata newgroupofthesorthe was discussing couldlearnfromthe
Bauhaus,and mightstudywhatgoes on insidethe factories - not merelywhatis
produced, but how it is produced? Or was the Bauhaus from this pointofview,letus
say,hopelessly managerial?
the lecturer: I would not have said it was 'hopelesslymanagerial'.I would
probablyagreethatit had notverymuchto do with'labourrelations' ; but I think
thegeneralprincipleof approachis right.We mustdeal notwithworkers, or any
particulargroupofworkers, becausewe areall,ifI maysayso,workers. Whatdo you
meanbyworker? The operative at thebenchor machine?
MR.Harris: I meanthatsomebodywhotakestheresponsibility forthedesignof
productsoughtalso to feela similarresponsibility towardsthedesignin production.
the lecturer: Of courseyou are right.I have no doubtwhatsoever thatgiven
suitableconditions mostpeoplein a factory canmakean important contribution. It is
certainly nonsenseto say that,forexample,tradeunionistscan'tdo that.My own
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OF THEROYALSOCIETYOF ARTS
JOURNAL JANUARY 1969
personalexperienceon the FurnitureDevelopment .Councilshowedclearlythat
therewere as many,if not more,progressive, exciting,practical,technicalideas
comingup fromtradeunionrepresentatives as therewerefrommanagement. But I
don'tthinkGropius,whilehe would,I am sure,appreciateyourpoint,had very
muchtimeto dealwithfactory relationswhileat theBauhaus.He wouldnow,but I
don'tthinkhe didthen.Thatis whyI saidwe mustn't justcopytheBauhaus,butuse
it as a jumping-off place forfutureexperiment, and yourpointmustcertainly be
includedon theagenda.
professorE. maxwellfry,C.B.E.,A.R.A., F.R.i.B.A.
: Whenthelecturer was talking
aboutinter-disciplinary relationshipsit occurredto me thatin architecturewe find
no difficultyat all in combining variousdisciplines.Everyonehas his allottedplace
becausetheendis clearlyin view,and I don'tthinkit needsa greatdealofresearch
to tell you thatif you have a sufficiently good end in viewyou have yourinter-
disciplinaryharmony ; whichmeansthatsomebody musthaveidealistic viewsofhow
lifeshouldbe led in thelasthalfofthiscentury. Untilsomebodyhas this,and can
carrya groupofpeoplewithhim,as Gropiusdid,thenyouwillstillbe researching
and measuring insteadof combining in a generalmovement. Each movement from
Morrisonwardshas presented societywitha newvisionofhowto live,andit is only
thatwhichwe arelackingnow.
MR.Denniskelly : I wasa littleconcernedtoheara suggestionthatthereshouldbe
one high-level
designinstitute setup. I thinkthewaytheBauhaushappenedwas a
happyaccidentsimilarto, say,fifteenth-century Florence,and I wouldnot expect
thatthesehappyaccidentswillbe repeated, but ratherthatthereshouldbe a great
numberof institutes of designin thiscountry. The recentfurther educationcuts
seemagainstthis.It seemsthatthe countrycannotafford education.If it cannot
afford whaton earthcan it afford?
education,
the lecturer: I didnotsaythereshouldbe onlyone,I saidat leastone.
Following up thepointyoumadeaboutfurther education : lastweekendI puton a
gramophone recordof HenryMorrisspeakingon further educationand the im-
portanceofeducational facilities
beingcontinually availableforadults.He was most
forthright in his demandforadulteducation.I entirely agreethatadulteducationis
one of themostimportant -things forour country at thisstage.Personally I would
willingly paya higherincome-tax to see thiswas done.
MR.guymorgan,f.r.i.b.a.: SevenoreightyearsagoWinchester Collegeappointed
as newartmaster,GrahamDrew.My sonwas particularly interested in thatsubject
and so I talkedwithGrahamDrew. He said he was goingto tryand createan
environment forhispupils- to whichendhe spentquitea lotofmoneyin hishouse
and garden,bothon contemporary lines.At Winchester, artis stillnota recognized
subject,so the boys are losingtimeif theygo to Graham'slecturesand paint.
Nevertheless, Winchester wontheSchoolsawardlastyear,whichwasentirely due to
Drew'senthusiasm in creatingtherightenvironment, whichI gatherreallyis a little
Bauhausin itsway.His gardenhas beenrecently exhibited in, I believe,Homesand
Gardens andis quitea daringandbrilliant pieceofwork;an indoor-outdoor swimming
pool (heated)is incorporated.
MR.L. j. prechner:Therearestrange periodsofflowering in thearts,butit is an
openquestionwhether youcaninducethemartificially. ThinkofAthensfivecenturies
b.c., of RenaissanceFlorence,or ofViennain the 1890sor Berlinin the 1920s.Far
morethanartinstitutes and liberalattitudes are required.How can we inducesuch
flowering?
My otherpointis theincreasing complexity ofmodernart,designandarchitecture.
The artistis nowfloodedby artexamples, notonlyfromall ages,butalso fromthe
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JANUARY
I969 GROPIUS, ANDTHEFUTURE
THEBAUHAUS
wholeworldgeographically, rightfromthemostprimitive to themostmodern.He is
beingfloodedall thetimewithideas.He has notgotmuchtimetherefore to develop
hisownideas.We arelivinginthemodernworld,notintheageofLeonardoda Vinci,
who,as oneperson,couldstillencompass so manydisciplines,and I wonderwhether
it is not far-fetchedto imaginea wholeteam of specialistsand artistsworking
together.A singleteamis too smallto digestall thisinformation. PerhapsI sound
ridiculous,but I wonderwhether theaid of computers(of a muchmoreadvanced
generation thanat present)wouldnotalsobe necessary in modernconditions?
the lecturer: First:how to inducesuch a flowering? All one can do is to lay
downconditions thatwouldmakeit possible.The Bauhausprinciples arenota bad
basisforexperiment.
So faras all themultiplicityof disciplines thefirstessentialis the
is concerned,
orlogicalapproachto ourproblems.
abilityto thinkclearlyandapplya scientific It is
nottheproblemsthemselves butthewayone approachesthem.As to computers, it
mustbe remembered thattheyaresimplyveryhigh-speed andefficient
morons.They
willdo whatyoutellthem,andunlessyoutellthemwhatto do accurately, yougetthe
wronganswers.But theymightverywellhelp.
MR.Jacquespaul : I understand we havea lotofex-Bauhausstudents heretonight.
I wonderif one of themcould answera questionwhichhas worriedme forsome
time.I understand thatGropiusdid notactuallyteachthestudyof architecture at
theWeimarBauhausanddidnotdo so untilafterhe foundedtheDessau Bauhaus?
MR.GEORGE A.adams,F.s.i.A.: We actuallycomplained ofthisto Gropius,I think,
saying,'Hereyouare,DirectoroftheBauhausand an architect. The wholeschoolis
conditioned towardsbuilding, towardsarchitecture,andyoudon'tgiveus anylessons.'
He repliedthat,' Untilwe havereallymasteredthe craftsproperly we shouldnot
embarkon architecture. Firstwe oughtto be goodcraftsmen.'
MR.j. Austenbrown:I suggestthatrationalization, standardizationand technico-
logicaladvanceswilltendto makeit moreeconomicalforindividualand separate
manufacturers to producepartsof a product,whilethe 'designfunction'remains
withwhatwill becomemerelythe/assembly'side of production. Thus thereis a
dangerofdesigninindustry becoming a selectingprocessratherthanan inventiveone.
A manufacturer producingan upholstered chair,forexample,obtainsa shell,
designedby a plasticsman,a stretch coverfromanothersourceand designedby a
fabricsman,andan underframe developedbyan engineering works.He merely selects
theitemsand assemblesthem.
Gropiusknew,and couldplacetheartistin relationto manufacture followingthe
industrialrevolution.Willit notrequireat leastas greata manto relatehis function
to industry followinga technologicalrevolution?
the lecturer: If youaregoingto tackletheseproblems fromtheword'go' as you
shoulddo in anykindofprogressive business,youwillsolvethem.It doesn'tmatter
whether theproductsare madefromdifferent bitsand piecesand thenassembled.
The significantpointis whether theyaregoodproducts in theend.It doesnotmatter
wheretheyaremadeas longas theyaremadeunderdecentconditions and thatthe
endproductis designedto thelastdetailand thereis effective productioncontrol.
MR.Denniskelly: A characteristic oftheBauhauswas thatit brokethingsdown
intoverysmallelements, and studiedtheseelementsand reassembled them.One of
theverygood thingsso faras furniture is concernedis thatthere,continuesto be
a verywide marketforwhatI thinkthisaudiencewouldconsiderbadlydesigned
pieces! The pointis peoplewantsomething extra.Theydon'tjustwantfourlegsand
a top fora table,whichis whatthemoderndesigneris givingthem,so themanu-
facturer hastogiveittotheminstead.I thinkthisis oneofthecharacteristics ofthose
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JOURNAL JANUARY 1969
who followthe Bauhausaesthetic, to reduceelementsto a simplicity whichis an
austerestyle,and to disregard'thatlittlebitextra'.
the lecturer: It is a mistaketo assumethatonlyausterity camefromBauhaus
teaching.On thecontrary, I canremember flatthatwasaustereandwhich
a particular
Gropiusmade an exceedingly warmand charming background forhumanliving.
There was 'somethingextra',and I thinkyou will findthatwiththe workof
Moholy-Nagy and otherBauhuslers.
MR.G.M.de may: The lecturer mentioned byimplication thathe favoured a design
teamof innovators, preferablyundertheleadership of an artsgraduateor an arts-
trainedman.I venture to suggestthatthishas beenexploredbeforein manyplaces,
notably in Birmingham at theCollegeofAdvancedTechnology. It hasalsobeendone
on a smallerscale,againin Birmingham, by theSchoolof Industrial Design,which
is notedforitssuperbandtechnically competent leadership,andin otherplaces,such
as SevenoaksSchool,wheretheytraintheveryyoungin creativity, advance
technical
and the projectionof theirideas. This disturbsmanyengineers, architectsand
scientists. If you wantartspeople ratherthanengineersto lead a technological
societyI am afraidyouare askingforsmallcentresof chaosratherthanproductive
results.
the lecturer: I hopeI didnotimplythatnothing was beingdoneat present.My
paperwas on Gropiusand the Bauhaus.Of courselessonshave been learntsince
then.I hope theywill be learntverymuchfaster.I don'tmindif engineers and
architects aredisturbed. The moredisturbed we are,thebetteritwillbe foropening
ourminds.
As regardsteamwork,I don'tthinkyou can specifythatthisor thatdiscipline
shouldlead theteam.I thinkit is themixture thatmatters, thehard,toughscientist
and theimaginative artisttogetherarewhatwe need.
the chairman:Someonespokeabout 'flowering periods'.There was a kindof
flowering periodin Britainin 1951, whenGeraldBarrymade people excitedby
carrying outhisgreatenterprise fortheFestivalofBritain.Let us remember -
that
and him. But perhapsthis is the real momentof flowering, because nowadays
everyone can sharein communication, can profitby theseexcitements. Thinkwhat
television can do; thinkwhatit coulddo if you insiston it. If David Frosthad
interviewed Gropiuson television he mighthaveremainedhereinsteadof goingto
America !
May I now ask you to expresswithgreatwarmththepleasurethatthislecture
has givenus.
Thevoteof thankswas carriedwithacclamation andfanother havingbeenaccorded
totheChairman upontheproposalofMissJaneDrew, themeeting ended.

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