- The Bauhaus movement teaches truth in materials
as a core tenet, which means that a material
should be used in its most appropriate and honest form
and its nature should not be changed.
For example, supportive materials such as steel
should be exposed and not hidden within the interior
framework of a building or piece of furniture.
The Bauhaus movement transformed the design
and production of modern furniture
by incorporating the use of steel as
frames and supports for tables,
chairs, sofas, and even lamps.
The use of machine-made, mass produced steel tubing
created simple forms that required little handcrafting
or upholstery and contributed to the streamlined,
modern look of Bauhaus furniture.
The aim of the Vorkurs, the foundation course,
was a way to liberate the pupil from
the dead weight of conventions
so that he or she could approach the
practical application of different materials and form.
The Vorkurs was a curricular necessity
for undoing the errors of an academic education,
and to liberate the creative potential of the students.
After completing the obligatory Vorkurs
that introduced students to the qualities
of many different materials,
graduates then enrolled in one of the different workshops,
such as printmaking or metalwork.
Only the best students were admitted to
the study of architecture in their fourth year.
By 1923 Gropius was convinced that creative work
at the Bauhaus must be connected with
industrial design if the school were
to create social change.
Johannes Itten's use of metaphysical speculation
of form and color was at odds with Gropius's approach.
Moholy-Nagy replaced Itten as director of the Vorkurs
and reinforced the Bauhaus's connection of materials
to industry, technology, and innovation.
He was convinced that the creation of new forms
in honest materials could help create
an improved new world order.
The creation of the unity between art and technology
was not dependent on students engaged in
systematic work towards standardized production.
Instead he provided students with opportunities
for an amassing of impressions that established
a foundation for the handling of materials
in both technical and artistic work.
He continued Itten's practice of introducing students
to a variety of mediums and materials through
exercises training their tactile and optical skills.
Moholy-Nagy increased the students' understanding
of the qualities of a particular material.
He worked to help the student understand
a grasp of materials through actual experience.
This is never attained through book knowledge
in the usual school exercises and the traditional courses.
Moholy-Nagy was influenced by Raul Heinrich France's
concept of biotechnique,
as the possibilities of using nature
as a conventional model and creative technique.
This refers to the idea that the material and structure
of a natural form, say a tree, works exactly as it should
with only the necessary material.
He subscribed to France's premise for the application
of natural processes to objects.
That is, following the concept of form follows function.
As he stated, "Every process has its necessary form,
"which always results in functional forms."
The Bauhaus's philosophy was that everything
that man makes should follow nature's rules
and derive its forms from the demands of its function
and the character of the materials used.
To achieve this, art and technique
had to be fused into one,
which meant that artists were best trained in the workshop,
gaining familiarity with machines and materials.