Educational Media Reviews Online

Ever look at a post office, an apartment building, the design of stackable chairs, or these industrial looking desk lights you sea at stores like IKEA? What about children’s toys: the block design or the use of primary colors? You’re looking at Bauhaus design.

This film explores Bauhaus (pronounced bow house), an artistic movement that began in 1919 and whose roots grew so deep that, 100 years later, surviving two world wars, it still inspires much of the designs of the twentieth century. We are taken on a historic voyage to witness the birth of this movement and the various phases of its development: from industrialist to constructionist. We see how contemporary art movements and economy moved the design concepts from craftsmanship and art, to functionality, to addressing end user needs.

One of the best of features of this film is its ability, not only to document the movement’s history, but to tie it to its modern form by following the migration of its major contributors (such as Walter Gropius, Marcel Beuer, Josef Albers, Miles van der Rohe, and László Moholy-Nagy) to the United States. This film is incredibly concise and easy to follow. It’s audio and visual and editing quality is superb.

Bauhaus would be a great tool for studying architectural and artistic developments that influence our contemporary design. I highly recommend this for school, public, and academic libraries alike. In addition, it’s is essential for any specialized collections in trade organizations such as art museums and art schools.