- Noémi Vizi
- Photos: Fortepan
- Reading time: 2 minutes
The Bauhaus phenomenon
Functionality taking priority over design, metals, glass surfaces, simple lines, minimalism, flat surfaces, circles, squares, triangles and their spatial forms such as cylinders, cuboids and pyramids. If the Bauhaus phenomenon had to be described in a few words, these characteristics would perhaps best define it. Its roots go back to 1919, when Walter Gropius founded the school in Weimar, Germany1. The teachers aimed to convey a particular way of thinking, which first appeared in drawings and geometric forms. Architecture education began in 1927. This new artistic movement influenced almost every industry, from advertising to product design. Unfortunately, politics did not look favourably upon this new approach – it was considered internationalist – and therefore Hitler ordered the school to be closed2, causing the students to scatter around the world. Perhaps the best-known architectural heritage of Bauhaus is the ensemble of 4,000 white buildings in Tel Aviv, known as the White City, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 20033. Bauhaus is better understood as a phenomenon rather than a style. It reached its peak between 1920 and 1970 and had a significant influence on modernism4.
In architecture, Bauhaus-inspired buildings were influenced by simple geometric forms, such as squares and circles, but asymmetry, simplicity and the absence of decoration may also appear. Roofs were generally flat, while steel, glass and concrete were the most popular materials used5. In Hungary, Bauhaus principles became less widespread, therefore Hungarian buildings are generally closer to modernism. Unlike in other countries, where Bauhaus was mainly associated with mass housing projects created for the working class, in Hungary these characteristics can primarily be recognised in villas belonging to wealthier social groups6. Only those buildings can truly be called Bauhaus houses whose designers studied at the Bauhaus school (for example Farkas Molnár). Therefore, in Hungary, Napraforgó Street 15 is the building that can officially be described as a Bauhaus house7.
In Budapest, Napraforgó Street is home to modern-style houses designed and built in the 1920s and 1930s. These buildings display Bauhaus and modernist characteristics and are also known as the Napraforgó Street experimental housing estate8. The architects included Lajos Kozma, József Fischer, Henrik Böhm, Ármin Hegedűs, Gyula Wälder and Alfréd Hajós. Each of them sought to incorporate their own approach and individuality into the buildings. As a result, Bauhaus, Neo-Baroque, Art Nouveau and Art Deco styles coexist harmoniously side by side.
Every building has something unique to discover, and this architectural journey through time is certainly worth experiencing.
1 https://berker.hu/100-eves-a-bauhaus-epiteszeti-stilus/
2 https://lakasgeneral.com/2021/11/04/a-bauhaus-epiteszet-jellemzoi-es-tortenete/
3 https://berker.hu/100-eves-a-bauhaus-epiteszeti-stilus/
4 https://ludwigmuseum.blog.hu/2019/08/23/_a_bauhaus_nem_stilus_interju_ritook_pallal
5 https://lakasgeneral.com/2021/11/04/a-bauhaus-epiteszet-jellemzoi-es-tortenete/
6 https://pestbuda.hu/cikk/20190201_bauhaus_budapest
7 https://ludwigmuseum.blog.hu/2019/08/23/_a_bauhaus_nem_stilus_interju_ritook_pallal
