Chapter Seven The Bauhaus and the Golden Age of Design

Chapter Seven
The Bauhaus and the
Golden Age of Design

The German citizens faced harsh political, social, and economic
punitive elements of the Treaty of Versailles, like a flower growing
through cracks in the pavement; culture thrived amid these
obstacles. Art, music, Cinema, literature, science, psychology, and
philosophy became a pivotal element of the “Golden Age” of the
Weimar Republic. For almost a decade, the new constitution
provided the equivalent of the First Amendment of the United
States Constitution. Freedom of expression opened the door to
endless possibilities for the creation and celebration of culture.
Walter Gropius is often referred to as “the founder of the Bauhaus
movement”. We know he was a famous architect, artist, and school
founder; the philosophy of this school was to present beauty and
produce well-made products. Iconic examples of these products
include door handles and other design elements in public
buildings. Walter Gropius directly inspired a major movement. The
Bauhaus movement had a home base for modernist art,
architecture, and design in a school founded on the idea of
challenging traditional doctrine
Walter grew up in an affluent family in Berlin while an epic scale
of industrialization was set in motion. This shift from rural to
urban areas sparked curiosity about how to combine technology,
architecture, and craftsmanship. His belief was that beauty and
functionality could be combined in building his designs. One such
example is the glass-and-steel factory, which was finally completed
in 1911. Walter fought in WWI; he was appointed head of the
Weimar School of Arts and Crafts. This evolved into the Bauhaus.

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1. EBSCO Research Starters, “Walter Gropius,” accessed June 4, 2026, https://
www.ebsco.com/research-starters/history/walter-gropius.
In 1919. The ideals and values of this institution instilled the desire
to connect art and industry. In addition to aesthetics, community
was a pillar of design, viewed through a pragmatic lens, shaping
designs to improve the ecosystem as a whole and encourage
responsible civic duties. To Gropius, buildings were not steel, glass,
wood, or other inanimate materials assembled like molecules into
the structure. To Walter, these final products were sentient beings
that fit into a niche in their specific ecosystem. 1

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