Essay - Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer

Bauhaus

Walter Adolf Gropius was a German Architect, born on May 18, 1883 in Berlin. Having received his education in Berlin and Munich, he established the Staatliche Bauhaus at Weimar. Although throughout his lifetime he matured as his ideas transferred from one Modern understanding of Arts, to another, he remained famous for his Bauhaus work and development of projects and ideas. Working with Adolph Meyer initially, and with great names such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, forced to emigrate from Germany, he moved to London, and then to Harvard University, where he taught Architecture and shared his ideas and concepts. Some of his most popular designs are: 

Bauhaus Building Dessau, 1915

Fagus Works, 1911

The fagus factory is located in Alfeld an der Leine, Germany. It is made from steel, brick masonry and glass and has an early modern style. It was materialized due to his connection with Peter Behrens and in co-operation with Adolph Meyer, as had been the case with most of his early structures.

Gropius House Lincoln, MA, 1937

“Architects, painters, sculptors, we must all return to crafts! For there is no such thing as “professional art”. There is no essential difference between the artist and the craftsman. The artist is an exalted craftsman. By the grace of Heaven and in rare moments of inspiration which transcend the will, art may unconsciously blossom from the labour of his hand, but a base in handicrafts is essential to every artist. It is there that the original source of creativity lies.

Let us therefore create new guild of craftsmen without the class-distinctions that raise an arrogant barrier between craftsmen and artists! Let us desire, conceive, and create the new building of the future together. It will combine architecture, sculpture, and painting in a single form, and will one day rise towards the heavens from the hands of a million workers as the crystalline symbol of a new and coming faith.” — Walter Gropius

Marcel Lajos Breuer was born on 21 May 1902 in the Hungarian province, the city of Pécs. With his incredible artistic abilities, he managed to win a scholarship to study at Vienna, which at beginning of the 20th century was in the bright spotlight of the scene of World War I and the proclamation of the Austrian-German Republic in 1918. However, the quality of the institution was not satisfactory for the young creative mind of Breuer, which resulted in him joining the Bauhaus school in Weimar and Dessau, firstly to study, and after working for a year in Paris, to take the position of head of the carpentry workshop. It was exactly here that he met Walter Gropius, with whom he moved to London to work with in 1935. Following these productive years, in 1941, he set up his own office, which he moved to New York in 1946. Apart from architecture, Breuer became famous for his work as a furniture designer, with his steel and aluminium, and plywood chairs, affordable products of mass-production like for example The Wassily Chair which was inspired by the handlebars of the bicycle.  

The Wassily Chair No. B3, 1925

This design was made specifically for Wassily Kandinsky, that is why the chair is named after him. The chair was made from a tubular steel which was polished, bent and later became chrome plated. This material is also affordable, no need for springs and hygenic. As for the rest, it was made from fabric, possibly black leather. Breuer's designs were classified as designs for modern living. 

Alvar Aalto used to make plywood furniture and these chairs are both inspired from his works.

Chamberlain Cottage

Breuer and Gropius’ collaboration in Massachusetts while teaching at Harvard proved to be an extremely fruitful period of small house designs. Except these domestic commissions, they also worked together on producing the Pennsylvania Pavilion at the World Fair in 1939, New York, Gropius house (1937) Lincoln, MA. Chamberlain cottage is a fine example of their work at this point of their professional careers, a compact home, specifically tailored to the needs and desires of the commissioner, however restricted in terms of construction time and cost. 

References:
InfoLinks, 2014, 'A World History of Art', [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.all-art.org/history580-2a.html [Accessed 20 Jaunuary 2014] 
Design Technology Department, 2014, 'Marcel Lajos Breuer' [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.design-technology.org/MarcelBreuer.htm [Accessed 20 January 2014]