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Design and History
The Bauhaus Building in Dessau (1925)
The aim of the design activities at the Bauhaus was to develop affordable products for the populace, while maintaining a high degree of functionality. During this second phase much theoretical and practical work was conducted on the concept of function, which always involved a social perspective in its aim to “govern the circumstances of life and labor” (Moholy-Nagy) and take “ques-
tions of mass demand” seriously. Function always meant a combination of two factors in design, marrying the conditions of industrial manufacturing (technology, construction methods, materials) with the social conditions, in the service of the needs of the broader population and the requirements of social planning. Accordingly, during this second phase of the Bauhaus, undirected artistic experimentation retreated in favor of applied design tasks. To some extent as a result of assignments that gave rise to industrial commissions, the Bauhaus became a “university of design.” Standardization, series manufacturing, and mass production became the backbone of all Bauhaus activities. The principal force behind these developments was Swiss architect Hannes Meyer, who be-