What Is Bauhaus Design? History and Characteristics

Bauhaus-style design and decor is a term describing the furniture, objects, graphic art, and interiors that were created as a result of the influential early 20th-century design and architecture movement named after the German school founded by architect Walter Gropius. Bauhaus embodied a form-follows-function, less-is-more approach that still resonates today.

Learn more about the history and characteristics of Bauhaus architecture and design below.

History of Bauhaus Design

Established six months after the end of the war, in 1919, Bauhaus sought to create a radical new form of design and architecture to help rebuild post-World War I society. Gropius wrote in the Bauhaus school’s founding manifesto that “the ultimate, if distant, aim of the Bauhaus is the unified work of art.” He aspired to the German concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, or the “total work of art” that synthesizes many art forms into one. 

The school was shut down by the Nazis in 1933 under its final director, the celebrated architect and designer Mies van der Rohe. But the Nazi assault did not defeat the Bauhaus spirit.

Gropius and other prominent Bauhaus designers left Germany and spread the ideas of the Bauhaus from Western Europe to the U.S. and Canada to Israel, turning it into an international movement and cementing its legacy as arguably the most influential arts and design school in the history of the world.

Bauhaus developed into the International Style when Gropius, van der Rohe and other prominent members of the Bauhaus emigrated to the U.S. in the 1930s and influenced the development of modernism in the 1950s and 60s. 

While the Bauhaus movement itself lasted only 14 years, Bauhaus architecture and design has had an enduring impact on generations of designers. One notable example is Steve Jobs, who often credited the influence of Bauhaus simplicity on the look of Apple products. 

Key Characteristics of Bauhaus Design

• Bauhaus-style design is rational, simple, and functional
• Key tenets of Bauhaus design include form follows function and less is more
  
• The style is characterized by a lack of ornament and a focus on clean lines that reduce forms to their essential elements
• Bauhaus design, art, and architecture often features simple geometric forms such as circles, squares, and triangles
  

• Use of bold but sparing pops of primary colors (red, yellow, and blue)
• One of the bedrock principles of Bauhaus design is the notion of “Truth to materials,” where materials are used in their most natural and unvarnished state
• Bauhaus designs used what were in the early 20th-century modern materials such as glass, steel, cellophane, and plywood
• Simple designs and materials allowed Bauhaus designs to be easily mass produced and accessible to large numbers of people

Bauhaus Design Tips

Bauhaus-style furniture and design objects have a streamlined appearance and a timeless elegance that is easy to incorporate into today's minimalist interiors or in more eclectic spaces that mix periods and styles including vintage, antique, and contemporary for a timeless look.

Many Bauhaus-style designs have become iconic pieces of furniture that are still reproduced (and widely imitated) today. Notable Bauhaus classics include the Barcelona Chair designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich in 1929; the metal iconic Cesca chair designed by architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer (1928), and his Wassily Chair, inspired by the tubular metal frame of a bicycle.

Incorporate Bauhaus style into your interior with color accents such as painting a door or a wall in a primary red, yellow, or blue. Framed vintage or reproduction Bauhaus posters are a popular way to showcase the enduringly appealing geometric graphics that defined the era. 

What is the most famous Bauhaus design? 

One of the most famous examples of Bauhaus design is the Wassily Chair designed by architect and furniture designer Marcel Breuer (1928). The chair design was inspired by the tubular metal frame of a bicycle and looks as fresh as it did in 1925 when he first designed it. 

Does Bauhaus still exist? 

The original Bauhaus school was shut down by the Nazis in 1933 under its final director, architect and designer Mies van der Rohe. But Gropius and other prominent Bauhaus designers left Germany and spread its ideas from Western Europe to the U.S. and Canada to Israel, turning it into arguably the most influential arts and design school in the history of the world.

While the Bauhaus movement itself lasted only 14 years, Bauhaus architecture and design has had an enduring impact on generations of designers. Many Bauhaus-style designs have become iconic pieces of furniture that are still reproduced (and widely imitated) today. The late Steve Jobs often credited the influence of Bauhaus simplicity on the look of Apple products. 

Why is Bauhaus called Bauhaus? 

Bauhaus was named after the German school founded by architect Walter Gropius. Its name means “house of building,” an inversion of the German word Hausbau (“building of a house”).