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Walter Gropius
- 1. ARCH. WALTER GROPIUS… 1883 -1969 by “THE BUILDING IS THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF ALL FINE ART…” THE BAUHAUS MANIFESTO, 1919. 1. EVANSMURITHI - EAAQ/00125/2017. 2. JOANMAKENA- EAAQ/00105/2017. 3. KENNEDYJULIUS - EAAQ/00121/2017. 1
- 2. Contents… The chronological content. Introduction. Principles. Social thought. Design. His best works. The Fagus factory. The Bauhaus building. References. “Architecture begins where the engineering ends” 2
- 3. The Chronological Context… - Modernism to Postmodernism - 1890s 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s First generation modernists Second generation modernists Third generation modernists The pioneers of modernism. They each treated form, space, structure, materials and ornaments in Novel ways. These were the architects of ‘high modernism’- the universal International Style - as well as the fashionable Art Deco period. These were the architects of Post- modernism. They reacted against the orthodoxy of high modernism. Peter Behrens - Berlin Walter Gropius Frank Gehry Auguste Perret - Paris Le Corbusier Philip Johnson C. R. Mackintosh - Glasgow Mies van der Rohe Charles Moore Otto Wagner - Vienna Gerrit Reitveld I. M. Pei Adolf Loos - Vienna William Van Allen Michael Greaves Louis Sullivan - Chicago Napier Art Deco architects Louis Kahn Frank Lloyd Wright - Chicago and mid-western states of USA Robert Venturi 3
- 4. Introduction… Born in Berlin on 18thmay, 1883. Was a German American architect and an educator. He was an influential proponent of modern design and furthered his ideas through Bauhaus school design, through his own architectural works and his long years of teaching at Harvard. He was taught by his father, an architect and learned the study of proportions with actual architectural expressions by his uncle. He took 7 months study in Spain and met Peter Behrens in 1908 and worked under him. In 1934, he moved to U.K. London, where he was the controller of design. In 1937, he departed London for New York and Harvard university. At an age when most men retire, Gropius began his carrier in full vitality and enthusiasm. 4
- 5. Principles… His design has full command of the elements of architecture, which were to constitute the international modern style. He believed that all initial training for artist and craftsman should be same i.e. introduction to form, colour, nature of material. Simple geometry often rectangular. Use of modern materials like steel, Rcc and glass. Smooth surface. Primary colors - White, Grey beige or Black. Linear and horizontal elements. Grid system. The use of machine was encouraged because of the phase of industrialization. He realized the interdependence of machine and architecture, thus encouraged the use of prefabricated units. 5
- 6. Social Thought… “Together let us desire, conceive, and create the new [building] of the future, which will embrace architecture and sculpture and painting in one unity and which will one day rise toward heaven from the hands of a million workers.” Walter Gropius embraced the philosophy of his teacher Peter Behrens (and that of other members of the Deutscher Werkbund) to affect a change in the German social structure from a class-divided society to an industrially-based, egalitarian mass society. This rather left-wing socialist philosophy eventually led to the closure of Gropius’ Bauhaus by the Nazi's in 1933. Bauhaus ideas were however embraced by communist Russia and the commercial, mass-production economy of American. He wanted to create well-designed, useful, everyday objects and appliances that were accessible and affordable for the masses. This required mass-production, which in turn necessitated objects be made, at least in part, of industrial materials and standardized components. 6
- 7. Design… His most significant building is the Bauhaus building at Dessau, 1925-26. The creation of the Bauhaus was an extension of the Deutscher Werkbund. A group of german architects, designers and industrialists who sought to merge artistic design and creation with industrial mass-production to produce affordable, high quality, machine-made products and appliances. In 1928, Gropius resigned as director of the Bauhaus and in 1937 he emigrated to the united states. Gropius lectured at Harvard university in Cambridge, Massachusetts and he later established The Architects’ Collaborative (TAC), a major architectural firm, one of their significant buildings being, (now the MetLife building) 1958-63. Gropius always adopted a collaborative approach to design. While studying under peter Behrens, he met Adolf Meyer with whom he worked on the design and construction of their first significant building, the Fagus shoe-last factory, 1911-13, and at the Bauhaus. “If the mind is un umbrella, it functions well when open” 7
- 8. His Best Works… The Fagus Factory (1910–11), Alfeld An Der Leine, Germany. Werkbund Exhibition. Bauhaus School And Meisterhäuser (Houses For Senior Staff) (1925–32) , Dessau, Germany. The Gropius House (1937), Massachusetts, USA. Josephine M. Hagerty House (1938). Pan Am Building (now MetLife Building) 1960-1963. Harvard Graduate Centre (1949–50), Massachusetts, USA. Huntington Museum Of Art. John F. Kennedy Federal Office Building, Massachusetts, USA. “Most of his designs were white, grey beige or black in colour” 8
- 9. Two Significant Gropius Buildings… The Fagus Shoe - last Factory, Alfeld, Germany, (1911-13). The Bauhaus Building, Dessau, Germany, (1925-26). 9
- 10. The Fagus Factory… With its clear cubic form and transparent façade of steel and glass, and simple facades without ornamentations. Ground Floor Plan - Fagus shoe factory. The modular simplicity is repeated in the interior. Elevation - Fagus shoe factory. 10
- 11. It was built at Alfeld - an - der - Leine in 1911. In collaboration with Adolf Meyer, it was Gropius’ first independent commission. Most striking thing: simplicity and confidence of the architecture. In Fagus works, Gropius brought the accomplishment of the past fifteen years. It was designed by Gropius keeping in mind the surroundings. It was called by Gropius an artistic and practical design. Fagus building was the first to extract the full aesthetically revolutionary impact from the structural development. Fagus structure was actually a hybrid construction of brick columns, steel beams and concrete floor slabs and stairways. It was a steel frame supporting the floors, glass screen external walls. Pillars are set behind the façade so that its curtain character is fully realized. The other unifying element is the use of brick. … 11
- 12. Glass screen was used all over the walls to have proper view from inside. Walls are no longer supporters of the building but simple curtain projecting against increment weather. It was domination of voids over solids. Plane surfaces predominate in this factory. The glass and walls are joined cleanly at the corners without the intervention of piers. Fagus Factory - Internal View Fagus Factory Entrance External View … 12
- 13. Stylistic Features… The skeletal frame enables the walls to become transparent screens to admit sun, air and light for workers. A clear expression of industrial materials: steel, brick, plate glass. Monumental rectangular form, clean lines, standardized elements, no ornament, a machine aesthetic. The corner stairwell exploits the structural potential of reinforced concrete. The cantilevered stairs and landings hang freely in space and are screened by a structurally independent transparent skin of glass. 13
- 14. … Facade of three - storey. Flat-roofed structure. Striking fully- glazed corners (glass curtain walls. Vaulted entrance. Plane surface without ornamentation. 14
- 15. Overview… Elevation The Supports of the building are Hidden Slender Piers Iron Frame 15
- 16. The Bauhaus Building… Designed by Gropius and his partner Meyer with certain amount of participation from students in 1919. To produce a separation of each of these functions from others, at the same time not isolating them but bringing them together into efficient integration. Workshops noticeably more industrial, particularly in their window. The square paneled metal windows are typical of mass- produced industrial units. 1. Workshop block. 2. Dining hall. 3. Studio workshop - teaching block. 4. Administrative office - spans the roadway. 5. Trade school - social area. The five main elements are fully glazed and 3 storeyed. Bauhaus, Dessau Site Plan 16
- 17. Aesthetically, Bauhaus was an advanced building but not technologically – probably because of the limited funds. It was ,someway behind the contemporary works. Bauhaus is enclosed by glass curtains. The curtain glass walling was first used in Fagus factory in 1911 and then used with certain refinement. The whole cube seems to immense horizontal plains floating on the ground. Giant light cube dazzling white light from every wall. The high glass walls revealing the light steel structure….Delineated in all its transparency by the iron grid of its exterior structure. Workshop Wing … 17
- 18. Stylistic Features… ■ Standardized, modular components. ■ Functionalist, purist, industrial, machine aesthetic. ■ Exposed, utilitarian fixtures. ■ Metal frames. ■ Flat roofs. ■ Transparency. ■ Asymmetrical composition. ■ Horizontal windows. ■ White walls. ■ Internal skeletal structures. ■ Cantilevered elements. ■ Open, fluid space. ■ Windows flush with wall plane. ■ Lightweight, floating effect. ■ Glass ‘curtain’ walls. 18
- 19. Ground Floor Plan View of the complex in which the elevations show the linear nature of the individual structures. The complex is divided into three main wings. The studio apartments are connected by auditorium, canteen, kitchens and gymnasium to the long narrow corridor. The wing on left is the school of arts and crafts, wing on the right accommodates the workshop.4 1 5 First Floor Plan 3 2 … 19
- 20. Façade of the student's studio apartments with their cantilevered balconies and large openings General view of the Bauhaus building. … 20
- 21. Bauhaus, Dessau. Student’s Studios In Foreground Bauhaus, Dessau. Administration Wing over the Street, Connecting the School Divisions. Bauhaus, Dessau. Interior, Workshop. Bauhaus, Dessau. Interior, Corridor and Stairs … 21
- 22. Bauhaus, Dessau. Interior, Directors Office. Bauhaus, Dessau. Interior, Students Work and Bedroom. Bauhaus, Dessau. Interior, Auditorium … 22
- 23. Formand Function… Accommodation 5 stories + basement, 28 student apartments with kitchenettes, gymnasium, laundry, lockers, bathrooms. Communal Area 1 story plus basement, houses divisible dining and theatre space. The Bridge 2 stories raised on stilts, lower level contains masters offices, upper level houses the architecture department. Workshop Wing 3 stories plus basement, contains printing, dying, sculpture, carpentry, weaving, mural, metal workshops, exhibition spaces. Technical School 3 stories plus basement, houses classrooms, library, administrative offices. 23
- 24. Characteristics of Bauhaus Architecture… A great style of architecture for those who prefer minimalism as well as function or style. It employs – “less is more”. Buildings are mostly cubic in shape. Sides and rooftops are mostly flat. Colours are mostly white, black, grey or beige. The interiors reflect a functional or open floor plan. Generally, they’re often minimalist or contemporary. 24
- 25. Examples of Bauhaus Design… Joost Schmidt, Bauhaus Exhibition poster, 1923. El Lissitzky, typography, 1924. Wilhelm Wagenfeld, lamp, 1924. Marianne Brundt, teapot, 1924. Marcel Breuer, Wassily Chair, 1923. Mies van der Rohe, D42 Armchair, 1927. 25
- 26. … Bauhaus Door Knob Early Decorative Door Knob VS 26
- 27. Conclussion… Gropius is recognized as one of the Four pioneers of modern architecture. Gropius was a functionalist. Most of his buildings are constructed that aim to be logical interpretation of purpose for instance: Impington village school, Harvard graduate centre. Gropius was quick to see the advantages of economy in the buildings. Gropius was experimented in his projects. Being an educator his nature made him ready to listen to others and give them their full due. He was always ready to consult and learn from others. Gropius was a classicist as his most beautiful buildings prove e.g. Those in Bauhaus. Almost all his buildings have a slight horizontal emphasis - balanced by verticals together with the rectangular windows moving towards squares and large areas of plain walls always well-proportioned create a feeling of classic repose and simplicity. Almost all his buildings have flat roofs. 27
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Editor's Notes
- Gropius was a major Pioneer in the modern movement. Through his teaching he became one of the most influential designers of the 20th century. Gropius was a second-generation modernist and a contemporary of his fellow German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, both of whom were architecture students of Peter Behrens from 1908 -1910.
- Walter Gropius full name - George Walter Adolf Gropius. Gropius could not draw and was dependent on Collaborators a Partner - interpreters throughout his career. In school he hired an assistant to complete his homework for him. Unfortunately, architectural commissions did not match with that enthusiasm. Gropius's career was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I in 1914. He was drafted in August 1914 and served as a sergeant major at the Western front during the war years (getting wounded and almost killed) and then as a lieutenant in the signal corps. Geographically, Walter Gropius was based originally in Berlin and Dessau, Germany. He migrated to the USA in 1937 and taught and practiced in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- In his belief pre- fabrication is a logical progressive process aimed at rising standard of building.
- This statement by Gropius indicates his concern for the Gesamtkunstwerk. This is a building which stylistically unified with all its furnishings and fixtures. It also reveals the influence of the Dutch De Stijl movement which sought to unite the visual arts of architecture, painting and sculpture into one seamless environment. This concept, derived from William Morris and the English Arts and Crafts movement, and reflected in the more recent organic architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, was embraced by Gropius, but with an industrial aesthetic and means of production in mind. This is evident in the types of buildings that Gropius chose to design. That is buildings for the masses, for the workers: factories, schools, apartment blocks, and commercial buildings. Like Peter Behrens before him, Gropius’ wanted to reconcile artistic design with modern materials and industrial methods of production. Standardization became a design issue at this time because it limited the freedom and scope of artist-designers, and not all Bauhaus creations made it to the consumer mass market.
- Mies van der Rohe, the third and last Bauhaus director, had already emigrated to USA in 1933 after the Nazi’s closed the Bauhaus. The former Pan Am Building (now MetLife Building) was recently voted by New Yorkers as the building they most wanted demolished! He employed the most radical and innovative artist-designers to staff the Bauhaus, including Marcel Breuer who he continued working with in the United States. The quote signifies an open working space. Workers function well when they’re given enough open space.
- In 1919, Walter Gropius established the Bauhaus, which became the most famous and influential design school of the 20th century. This building, built only a few years after Behrens’ AEG Turbine Factory, has been cited as marking the beginning of 20th century architecture. Colors: white, gray beige or black.
- This factory building is perceived to be a pioneering work of what later became known as Modern Architecture. The main building was rectangular in shape and it was designed as a structural framework without pillars in the corners, with a front grid cut by glass cover. The office and is one of the most important and characteristic of the Complex.
- “The Ultimate aim of all artistic activity is building! The artist is a heightened manifestation of the craftsman… let us together create the new building of the future which will be all in one: architecture and sculpture and painting.” – WALTER GROPIUS – All buildings have a base of about 40cm of black brick and the rest is built of yellow bricks.
- Use of floor-to-ceiling glass windows on steel frames that go around the corners of the buildings without a visible (most of the time without any) structural support. In order to enhance this feeling of lightness, Gropius and Meyer used a series of optical refinements like greater horizontal than vertical elements on the windows, longer windows on the corners and taller windows on the last floor.
- Here’s an example of his principle of using plane surfaces with no ornamentation. Colors: white, gray beige or black.
- Colors: white, gray beige or black. Gray in the background. Look at the lighting.
- According to Gropius, the factory should be a kind of palace for the workers who were offered light, air and hygienic atmosphere. Although the skeletal nature of this building’s structure had already been pioneered by earlier modernists, it is the architectural expression of this building’s structure that is significant. You see a normal factory building wouldn’t be that glorious and well designed. The Fagus Factory is still in use today and was included on the list of UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE SITES in 2011.
- This is a German school of Architecture, applied arts and design. The German term Bauhaus—literally "building house"—was understood as meaning "School of Building. “The Bauhaus was not an institution… it was an idea.”- Mies van der Rohe, its last director 1953. To produce a separation of each of these functions from others, at the same time not isolating them but bringing them together into efficient integration. Workshops noticeably more industrial, particularly in their window The square pedaled metal windows are typical of mass-produced industrial units.
- Here’s an example of his principle of using plane surfaces with no ornamentation. Colors: white, gray beige or black.
- Observe other stylistic features here and here
- Workshop block. Dining hall. Studio workshop - teaching block. Administrative office - spans the roadway. Trade school - social area.
- Similar to the Fagus factory, the façade of the house were smooth and very horizontal without any ornamentation. Colors: white, gray beige or black.
- The others pioneers are Mies Van Der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright and Le-Corbusier. It was not only aesthetically that he liked the flat roof - he also realized its functional advantage in freedom of planning.