ANCIENT PERUVIAN TEXTILES & BAUHAUS MODERNIST ART and ARCHITECTURE
file:///C:%5CUsers%5CTOMGOU%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_image002.jpg file:///C:%5CUsers%5CTOMGOU%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_image004.jpg file:///C:%5CUsers%5CTOMGOU%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_image006.jpgAfter the tragedy of the First World War the Bauhaus (1919-1933) - a powerhouse of new design – was set up in Weimar, then the new capital of Germany. The Bauhaus came to be very influential, particularly in helping to forge the modernist style of architecture. This style, at its best (though there are too many “worst” examples around) was and is notable for its unfettered and unadorned surfaces and for the purity of its text(ur)ed [ur-texted] facades: an interweaving of strong horizontal lines (the floors and ceilings, ‘horizontal’ windows) with sometimes stronger vertical curtain walling.
file:///C:%5CUsers%5CTOMGOU%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_image008.jpgThis interwoven exterior could be traced back to the aesthetic influence of ancient Peruvian textiles via the work of Bauhaus founders weaver Anni Albers and painter Paul Klee. Some later architects forgot the ‘interweaving’ principle and relied entirely on functionality, i.e. the line of the floors with pre-fab windows located between. The result is so often depressing: minimum cost rather than minimalist. A return to the ancient drawing board is called for.
file:///C:%5CUsers%5CTOMGOU%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_image010.jpg file:///C:%5CUsers%5CTOMGOU%7E1%5CAppData%5CLocal%5CTemp%5Cmsohtmlclip1%5C01%5Cclip_image012.jpgImages, top down, left to right. Ref: Anni Albers and Ancient American Textiles: from Bauhaus to Black Mountain. Virginia Gardner Troy. p.107 Royal Tunic. Inca. Cotton and camelid. Orig.71x76.5. Bliss Collection. Dumbarton Oaks. Washington. DC.
p.138 Joseph Albers. 1950 Masonry brick. Harkness Graduate Centre. Harvard University Law School. p.107 Paul Klee Farbtafel (auf Majorem Grau) 1930. Pastel on paper and mounted on board. Paul Klee Stiftung. Kunstmuseum. Bern. p.57 Tunic. Inca. Black and white chequerboard pattern with red yoke, cotton and camelid with gold beads. Museum fûr Vôlkerkunder. (Photo) Joseph Albers (Mitla. Detail of the Palace of the Columns, Oaxaca) no date. Joseph and Anni Albers Foundation, Bethany, Connecticut, USA.
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