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I cannot provide references (and don't really feel obliged to research them now), but I think this is a misrepresentation of bauhaus. Bauhaus as a school for d

I cannot provide references (and don't really feel obliged to research them now), but I think this is a misrepresentation of bauhaus. Bauhaus as a school for design was inherently technical with Werkstätten (workshops) where craftsmen taught the basics in woodworking, and other crafts. In that, Bauhaus continued the Arts&Crafts movement (or the respective German edition of that movement) while applying a 'simplified' visual language. Of course a Bauhaus alumnus or a Bauhaus teacher wouldn't reach the technical skills of a "Meister" in the crafts, but the connection certainly ran deep.

emteycz 6y ago
That's mentioned in the article, the problem they're talking about is that the classes were focused on handwork and what the teachers thought would be good for industrial production, but actually wasn't.
- jacquesm 6y ago
  That's misunderstanding the goal of teaching handwork. Handwork teaches you about the materials behavior first and foremost, which is absolutely essential knowledge when you want to do something industrial, unless you will be using a material that you can't work by hand, such as synthetics. But if you want to use wood industrially having basic woodworking knowledge will teach you a lot of very useful stuff about the properties of wood, what you can and can not make, regardless of the manufacturing methods, the strengths and weaknesses of the materials and so on. Ditto for metals, and to some extent this goes for glass and ceramics as well (though in manufacturing methods those come closer to working with plastics, the same goes for casting metals).
  - Gravityloss 6y ago
    Yes. You need to understand both the material and the industrial production methods. The criticism was that Bauhaus only taught the former.
hef19898 6y ago
It is aso worth noting that craftsmen based manufacturing, espcially in the early 20th century, has nothing to do with mass production. And what machine learning has to do with any of that, I have no idea.
- deleted 6y ago
  [deleted]
amicoleo 6y ago
Yes you're absolutely right that Bauhaus as a school was technical and a continuation of the Arts & Craft education. As you say though, their technical knowledge was around craftsmanship, and not in design for manufacturing (like we would refer to now). The key example referred in the article is on a metal-working course taught by Moholy-Nagy. Students would handmade prototypes based on assumptions of what would be easier to mass-manufacture (like using basic shapes such as cylinders of spheres). But in fact products with those shapes were actually hard to make industrially.
- eternalban 6y ago
  > a metal-working course taught by Moholy-Nagy. Students would handmade prototypes based on assumptions of what would be easier to mass-manufacture (like using basic shapes such as cylinders of spheres). But in fact products with those shapes were actually hard to make industrially. This was cause for a good laugh, though that likely wasn't your intention. But hear me out. What doesn't seem to be mentioned is that Bauhuas was a leftist school. Moholy-Nagy is being your typical Marxist teaching a class on industrial products without having ever even stepping foot in a factory, much less knowing the state of industrial manufacturing. Poser of tech? Well, in a way, Bauhaus was investigating the aesthetics of Modernity and industrial society. The disregard for actual manufacturing realities is entirely in line with disregarding human psychology when proscribing utopian authoritarian societies. It is a mindset and it should be added, symptomatic of their conceit.
  - ibn_khaldun 6y ago
    Your tone detracts from the intrigue of this comment I for one, have no problem with it at all. I only bring it up to make an accessory complaint about how the bland enforcement of "civility" online can stifle people who express themselves in a certain way. You could've easily disregarded the first two lines of your comment and began with the "Poser of tech?" line, but without, it's just mundane input void of any association with a human being that actually feels something about the topic at hand instead of just having a thought about it. Anyway, I loved your critique. With all of this being said, from at least a visual perspective, how do you feel about the work inspired by Bauhaus? What sort of design do you feel appreciates the human psychology of the issues/environment it intends to involve itself with?
kemiller2002 6y ago
I think you're right. This is the impression I got after reading about Bauhaus in the ABC's of Triangle, Circle, Square.
Animats 6y ago
Right. A key point here is that some complex things are easy to mass produce. If you can make it by stamping (available in the Bauhaus period) or casting (also available), adding decorative detail doesn't cost you anything. There's a class of parts you can make on a four-slide machine cheaply, and it includes most small threaded parts like the ones used in assembling lamps. A good example from that period was stamped tin ceilings, which were a big thing in the US around 1880-1920 or so. These are purely decorative ceiling panels, available in many patterns. They replaced decorative hand-made plasterwork. Some of the patterns have Victorian details, some are rather plain. Manufacturing cost does not increase with pattern complexity.[1] [1] https://www.decorativeceilingtiles.net/tin-ceiling-tiles/ https://www.decorativeceilingtiles.net/tin-ceiling-tiles/

emteycz 6y ago

That's mentioned in the article, the problem they're talking about is that the classes were focused on handwork and what the teachers thought would be good for industrial production, but actually wasn't.

jacquesm 6y ago
That's misunderstanding the goal of teaching handwork. Handwork teaches you about the materials behavior first and foremost, which is absolutely essential knowledge when you want to do something industrial, unless you will be using a material that you can't work by hand, such as synthetics. But if you want to use wood industrially having basic woodworking knowledge will teach you a lot of very useful stuff about the properties of wood, what you can and can not make, regardless of the manufacturing methods, the strengths and weaknesses of the materials and so on. Ditto for metals, and to some extent this goes for glass and ceramics as well (though in manufacturing methods those come closer to working with plastics, the same goes for casting metals).
- Gravityloss 6y ago
  Yes. You need to understand both the material and the industrial production methods. The criticism was that Bauhaus only taught the former.

hef19898 6y ago

It is aso worth noting that craftsmen based manufacturing, espcially in the early 20th century, has nothing to do with mass production. And what machine learning has to do with any of that, I have no idea.

deleted 6y ago
[deleted]

amicoleo 6y ago

Yes you're absolutely right that Bauhaus as a school was technical and a continuation of the Arts & Craft education. As you say though, their technical knowledge was around craftsmanship, and not in design for manufacturing (like we would refer to now). The key example referred in the article is on a metal-working course taught by Moholy-Nagy. Students would handmade prototypes based on assumptions of what would be easier to mass-manufacture (like using basic shapes such as cylinders of spheres). But in fact products with those shapes were actually hard to make industrially.

eternalban 6y ago
> a metal-working course taught by Moholy-Nagy. Students would handmade prototypes based on assumptions of what would be easier to mass-manufacture (like using basic shapes such as cylinders of spheres). But in fact products with those shapes were actually hard to make industrially. This was cause for a good laugh, though that likely wasn't your intention. But hear me out. What doesn't seem to be mentioned is that Bauhuas was a leftist school. Moholy-Nagy is being your typical Marxist teaching a class on industrial products without having ever even stepping foot in a factory, much less knowing the state of industrial manufacturing. Poser of tech? Well, in a way, Bauhaus was investigating the aesthetics of Modernity and industrial society. The disregard for actual manufacturing realities is entirely in line with disregarding human psychology when proscribing utopian authoritarian societies. It is a mindset and it should be added, symptomatic of their conceit.
- ibn_khaldun 6y ago
  Your tone detracts from the intrigue of this comment I for one, have no problem with it at all. I only bring it up to make an accessory complaint about how the bland enforcement of "civility" online can stifle people who express themselves in a certain way. You could've easily disregarded the first two lines of your comment and began with the "Poser of tech?" line, but without, it's just mundane input void of any association with a human being that actually feels something about the topic at hand instead of just having a thought about it. Anyway, I loved your critique. With all of this being said, from at least a visual perspective, how do you feel about the work inspired by Bauhaus? What sort of design do you feel appreciates the human psychology of the issues/environment it intends to involve itself with?

kemiller2002 6y ago

I think you're right. This is the impression I got after reading about Bauhaus in the ABC's of Triangle, Circle, Square.

Animats 6y ago

Right. A key point here is that some complex things are easy to mass produce. If you can make it by stamping (available in the Bauhaus period) or casting (also available), adding decorative detail doesn't cost you anything. There's a class of parts you can make on a four-slide machine cheaply, and it includes most small threaded parts like the ones used in assembling lamps. A good example from that period was stamped tin ceilings, which were a big thing in the US around 1880-1920 or so. These are purely decorative ceiling panels, available in many patterns. They replaced decorative hand-made plasterwork. Some of the patterns have Victorian details, some are rather plain. Manufacturing cost does not increase with pattern complexity.[1] [1] https://www.decorativeceilingtiles.net/tin-ceiling-tiles/ https://www.decorativeceilingtiles.net/tin-ceiling-tiles/