
Bauhaus: A Failed Utopia? - bookofjoe
http://the-easel.com/essays/bauhaus-a-failed-utopia/
======
nextos
I don't think Bauhaus failed, at all. It's influence lives on in the design of
many buildings, especially in Europe. For example, Frankfurt kitchens.

The fact that it has blended so well into mainstream architecture is a
testament of its success.

Bauhaus was also highly influential to kick off Scandinavian mid-century
design.

~~~
ntzchenonsqtr
1\. "utopia" literally means "no place." 2\. Bauhaus design affordances are
geared toward humans-as-machines 3\. Bauhaus design has become ubiquitous.
Ergo, human-humans have no place. Ergo, Bauhaus succeeded in building a utopia
all around us and in our homes. (Florescent light flickers on after Alexa and
Siri fight for the privilege)

~~~
smogcutter
Side note about 1: utopia is a pun. The "u" doubles as a transliteration of
the prefixes eu- and ou-, meaning "good place" and "no place" respectively.

------
subpixel
I find it curious that the Bauhaus movement is celebrated over and over while
other significant art and design movements, like the Wiener Werkstätte, are
seldom mentioned.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Werkst%C3%A4tte](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiener_Werkst%C3%A4tte)

~~~
tomcam
That opened my eyes. A lot falls into place. See more of the now-familiar
visual language they pioneered, which seems to intersect a big with the
Craftsman movement.

[https://www.theviennasecession.com/a-history/](https://www.theviennasecession.com/a-history/)

------
cftorres
Is sad to know how the actual style differs so much to the original. I usually
see the modern architecture and design and perceive it as a cold, spirit
lacking functional thing. The start of this project was a more socialy
sustainable utopy but it became a much simplier praise for materials and
geometry.

------
tomcam
Have no idea how this ended up in HN, but I’m delighted. It’s a wonderfully
interesting re-introduction to a subject I didn’t know as well as I thought I
did.

~~~
jakoblorz
Just recently I read about Frankfurt Kitchens on HN. HN seems to be more
topic-diverse than I expected.

