by Magdalena Droste
Taschen, 2006
Comments: One of my favorite design styles is the Bauhaus movement in pre-World War II Germany. The Bauhaus was a design school that emphasized a philosophy of simple, clean, and functional forms. The expression of these ideals was taught across a wide range of disciples including architecture, graphic design, typography, photography, industrial design, furniture design, textile design, and fine art. It was the Bauhaus that was largely responsible for the "International Style" of architecture which had a massive impact on the future of modern building styles. The list of the creative thinkers that worked and taught at the Bauhaus reads like a who's who of the greatest designers of the last century: Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, Marcel Breuer, Walter Gropius, Johannes Itten, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and many others.
This book is one of the best visual references to the work that came out of that period. Taschen publications are well known for their presentation of visual materials and this book is no exception. In addition to a strong narrative that tracks the history and personalities, there are numerous color plates of the most representative work derived from the Bauhaus and brief biographies of all the key participants. This is a very fine book on the one of the most important periods in the history of design.
Copy Notes: Hardback, first edition, numerous photographs
