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Arts and Crafts Movement and Bauhaus are two major movements In design history. In this paper, the author alms at making an overview of the two movements Including the historical, cultural and social context and revealing the philosophy behind each Morris from the Arts and Crafts Movement and Walter Groping from Bauhaus and their significant artworks as case studies, and finally complete a comparative study of art works and art movements. 2. Overview of the Arts and Crafts Movement
The Arts and Crafts Movement originated from mid-19th century, which aimed at fighting against the decreasing design level caused by industrial mass production of furniture, interior products and architecture. The theoretical director of this movement Is John Risking, the key practitioner Is William Morris. (Kaplan, 2004) This movement was Influenced by Japanese art, mainly In the aspects of Jewelry and book design. At that time, artists could not fix the problems brought by Industrialization, sought to escape from the reality and returned to their Idealized mid-century and Gothic period.
The philosophy of the movement opposed mass production and mechanic aesthetics, thus it did not become a leading style, from the ideologist perspective, it is negative. However it brought design style references to later designers and has profound meaning to the New Art movement. The main characteristics of Arts and Crafts Movement stresses craftsmanship, naturalism, oriental decoration, Gothic and other mid-century styles, the sincere of design, simple and rustic functions, and clearly objects to mechanical production and artificial trend. (Analog, 1971) 3. Overview of the Bauhaus
The term Bauhaus Invented by Walter Groping was originally the name of a design school in Germany. The establishment of Bauhaus symbolizes the existence of modern design. (Groping, 1 965) At the beginning of the 19th century, all kinds of vintage trends brought European society and industrial products an artificial and superficial style such as Gothic steam engine and Rococo weaving machine. Some designers wanted to combine art and technology in design, thus led to the existence of Bauhaus. (Winglet&Stain, 1 969) The building of Bauhaus have significant positions in architecture history.
In its furniture workshop, a series of steel pole chairs were invented, which opened a new chapter of modern furniture design. (Winglet&Stain, 1 969) In terms of the design deduction philosophy of Bauhaus, student should make technology and art should achieve harmony, their visual sensitiveness should reach to rational level,have scientific understanding of material, structure, textile and color, collaborative work Is the core of design, artists, entrepreneurs and technical workers should cooperate closely, students’ assignment should integrate with enterprise 4.
William Morris and his three significant works William Morris is one of the key designers and leaders of Arts and Crafts Movement in the I-J. He was a world-renowned wallpaper and textile designer. His aimed at recovering the style of old times particularly the mid-century style. He denied the mechanic and industrial style, as well as criticized the over-decorated Victorian style. (Stanzas, 1996) He believed that high class design only had three sources, which were mid-century, Gothic and naturalism.
He stressed the combination of form and function, insisted on craftsmanship, and repetitively emphasized two basic reminisces, one was product design and architecture served for the public rather than a few people, the other was design work must be collective activities instead of individual labor. The Red House (see Pica. L) achieved huge success. Morris adopted the functional demands as the main consideration and partially absorbed the mid- century architectural elements especially the Gothic style to design houses, thus got rid of the complicated feature of Victorian period. Stanzas, 1996) Meanwhile, Morris also designed the interior decoration and furniture of the whole architecture. Pal. 1. Red House, designed by William Morris source: http:MGM. Dachas. Com/faker/2010/6/2010612326341733479. Jpg The textile design Strawberry Thief (see Pal. 2) could be used as curtains and covers of furniture. The inspiration came from the thrushes in Marriageable house, a kind of bird often flew into the kitchen to steal the strawberries.
Morris improved the crafts on the basis of fabrics, firstly printed alizarin red and mignonette yellow on blue and white base, the color reducibility was excellent and the details were abundant, which made Morris satisfied. Though the fabric cost very high, it enjoyed great market popularity. Strawberry Thief was the most famous fabric of Morris company. Pal. 2. Strawberry Thief, textile pattern, designed by William Morris Source: http:// Wakefield. Org/wisped/commons/4/41/Morris_Strawberry_Thief_1883_detail.
Jpg Wall paper was introduced in the I-J in the 16th century and became popular in the late 19th century. In 1875, Morris designed this wallpaper with Acanthus patterns ( see Pica). The natural and organic leaves were colored with yellow and green, which look very elegant and exquisite.
Besides, Groping used asymmetric shape to achieve the balance and flexibility of the whole building. Berlin-Siemens Start Housing (see Pica. 5) is another limestone in modern architectural history. The house has big windows and balconies. In order to guarantee the light and breath, Groping abandoned the traditional parametric layout and allocated determinant layout. (Vesper, 2005) He also proposed that determining the distance between buildings according to their heights under certain architectural density demand, so as to keep abundant sunlight and green space between houses. Pal. 5.
Berlin-Siemens Start Housing, Germany, designed by Walter Groping Source: http://www. Radius. Com/site/attachments/2012/04/20120405145906_440_c Jpg Groping also designed the famous Harvard Graduate Center (see Pal. 6). The building has a series of outstanding design characteristics including Jagged changes ( heights f the buildings, scale, width, shape), virtually and reality (built on stilts, overbid, corridor, glass, stone), space (yard, connection, independence) . (Vesper, 2005) He perfectly managed the difficulties in architecture such as the management of scale, determination of axis and the match of shapes.
Pal. 6. Harvard Graduate Center, USA, designed by Groping Source: http://farm. Statistician. Com/2122/2190106140_e24b3436b2_z. Jpg 6. Conclusion All in all, Bauhaus inherited the core philosophy of Arts and Crafts Movement, both of Arts and Crafts Movement and Bauhaus oppose mass production and allocate the ambitions of art and technology. However, different from the Arts and Crafts Movement, Bauhaus does not hate machines but tries to set up a close and wide relationship with industry, which is the demand of the time as well as the necessity design movements.
It summarized and performed the essence of various design reform s and movements since the Arts and Crafts Movement in the I-J. William Morris and Walter Groupie’s design concept and design practices all present the humane spirit. Both of the designers paid much attention to the application of materials and used design to promote social reform. They put the demands of the public at the first place and fully performed their social responsibility.