Study on the Bauhaus Berlin

Background Most research on the Bauhaus has been focused on a certain period of time of the Bauhaus Dessau, while hardly illuminating the Bauhaus Berlin followed by the times in Dessau. It needs to be reexamined on how the general understanding of the Bauhaus has been embodied based on their activities in a limited period of time. Methods First, this study conducts a literature review on the subject of the Bauhaus. Primarily focusing on key publications and their views on the Bauhaus Berlin, I attempt to summate the existing perspectives on the Bauhaus Berlin commonly shared amongst the scholars and the public alike. Second, I inquire into the meanings of the Bauhaus Berlin and the broad design activities of the School members since the Berlin era, which have rarely been explored in existing studies. Results Since the School members relocated to the United States, the Bauhaus has been reconstructed apolitically and ahistorically, while design practices of the Bauhaus Dessau have been significantly emphasized. Such an unbalanced study resulted in a mythic homogenization in the study of the Bauhaus. During the Berlin era, the Bauhaus faculties and students struggled to maintain the School's tradition, while some members conducted individual practices. Conclusions The study on the Bauhaus Berlin provides a case and the ground upon which we can conceive that certain incidents or concepts in design history could bring about unbalanced understandings about the history. The case study of the Bauhaus Berlin concludes that today's understanding of the Bauhaus has been established based on the practices of a limited time period (Dessau) of the whole history of the School.