Industrial development, the liberation that followed the catastrophic First World War, and the transition from the politically aged societies that produced it to the political structures of the states that emerged after its end, created the need for many questions to be answered—about the very nature of society and every expression of social life. The reshaping of the world map, the strengthening of ideologies that proposed a liberation unlike anything humanity had ever known, made it imperative that answers be given on political and social levels regarding what the continuation of human civilisation as a whole could be.
A result of this search in design—and in the arts more broadly—was the emergence of two diametrically opposed styles, with some elements of shared inspiration but certainly with completely different aims: Art Deco and Bauhaus. Although the main period of their development was short, elements of them, as well as characteristic works classified within them, are still being created to this day, with periods in which their presence becomes increasingly intense in creative production.
Art Deco: the optimism of luxury
Art Deco began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally—spreading widely in the United States—until the 1930s. Although its decline began with the great crisis of 1929, the kind of production that characterises it continued right up to the era of the Second World War. The style influenced many aspects of design, such as architecture, interior design, industrial design, fashion and jewellery-making, as well as the visual arts and cinema.
Core features one finds in its design are the sunburst pattern and the fountain motif, both of which symbolise light and the dawn of a new era. Many skyscrapers—iconic examples being the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building in New York, symbols of this new era—bear these fundamental designs. Motifs that evoke speed, power and flight reflect the great innovations of the time, while its overall geometry expresses the design of machines and new technology.
One of the basic elements one encounters in Art Deco is the new depiction of womanhood: a woman now liberated after World War I and socialised, taking part in progress—at least in the developed and free societies. From the middle of the war onward, in the countries involved, this was an inevitable development, as many women took positions in production in place of the men absent at the front. After the war, this led to an elevated social status, while optimism for the future brought forth a new type of woman within the societies of the era.
Human figures in general do not follow their realistic form; they appear more flexible and elastic, inspired by the musical currents of the time, such as jazz, and the dance movements that accompanied them. All these elements find harmony with a geometry borrowed from older civilisations, such as Egypt and the cultures of Central America. Colours are intense and strongly contrasted, while decoration is often characterised by animal-skin motifs—most notably leopard and zebra.
The ideological stamp of Art Deco was “luxury for everyone”: forms that reflected an eternal youth, dynamism, and above all a society capable of consuming. Its themes were often exotic.
One of the most characteristic representatives of Art Deco is considered to be Jean Dunand, a Swiss jeweller, sculptor and interior designer. Dunand inspired the key luxurious materials that characterise the objects (jewellery, decorative interior pieces) of the style, with a strong presence of precious metals such as silver and gold, accompanied by the contrast of dark-coloured materials that held them together. The designs were usually detailed and reflected the broad economic prosperity that followed World War I. The jewellery, despite the fact that it often carried simple geometric shapes, functioned as symbols of economic status, expressed through the strong chromatic contrasts of their expensive materials.
In general terms, Art Deco is now considered an extension of Art Nouveau—an evolution of it—rather than an opposing approach. Essentially, what evolved was the heavy, detailed depiction of Art Nouveau into a more industrial and geometric depiction, with intense chromatic contrasts—colours that, in Art Deco, are not “earthy”.
Art Deco reappears in periods of economic euphoria in many countries, with its most characteristic return being in the 1980s in the Western world, even if expensive materials in those cases are replaced by newer synthetics. In the internet era it manages to gain more and more ground, thanks to the allure of its lines and the optimism it expresses in graphic arts.
Bauhaus: an elegant world for everyone
Bauhaus was a pre-war movement that combined architecture with the fine arts and, essentially, proposed—through a clear ideological position—a new philosophy of design. It developed with Germany as its centre, from 1919 until the closure of the Bauhaus school by the Nazis in 1932. The movement and the school were the proposal and the work of Walter Gropius, who believed that design is not the privilege of a small caste, but must be accessible to everyone.
The Bauhaus school (which means “building a house”) was founded in Weimar and attracted some of the most emblematic artists of the era to teach there. Among them were Paul Klee, Vassily Kandinsky, Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer and Gunta Stölzl. The school was residential (students lived there), and both men and women attended. The programme began with a foundational semester on shapes and materials, before moving on to specialisation through workshops on design projects.
Bauhaus aimed to create art by artists who did not come from within a class system—freed from economic constraints—capable of producing art for the masses. Skilled drafting and minimalist design were combined with a beautiful technique in order to propose something aesthetically good, ergonomic, and capable of being mass-produced. Its principles were that design should be honest, that form should follow function, and that often the design outcome emerged from collective work. It represented what a new society needed in the age of machines and industry, combining the modern not so much with its appearance, but with its practicality.
Bauhaus was open to the use of many materials, keeping as its main characteristic minimalism and the avoidance of unnecessary details in design. Its line was the search for the evolution of the geometry of objects, without particular emphasis on the internal structure of the object, but rather on its ergonomics and symbolism.
One of the pioneers of Bauhaus was Marianne Brandt, a German painter, sculptor, photographer and designer, who studied at the Bauhaus school and became head of the metal workshop. Her works—proposals for household objects (lamps, ashtrays, teapots, etc.)—are considered monuments of modern industrial design. Beyond that, she also left a rich body of work in her experiments with photography, which highlighted a symbol of a new, strong and independent New Woman of Bauhaus.
Bauhaus has been integrated to a great extent into typography, where the practicality of design and the clarity of lines are a central demand, with the result that it is essentially present in our everyday life to this day. Moreover, the features that follow the development of industry exude an innovative feeling that is very useful in advertising. However, it gains ground when the middle class sheds the need to spend enormous amounts on objects whose practical significance remains the same. A characteristic example of this mindset is the German automotive industry.
Comparison
Bauhaus and Art Deco developed in the same period, but they are two entirely different approaches to design. Art Deco aimed to highlight luxury through geometry, whereas Bauhaus aimed at simplicity and practicality in its creations. Art Deco works are characteristic of high social status, something reflected in the use of very expensive materials, with a good deal of exaggeration in design complexity, while Bauhaus is a symbol of the accessible object: clean lines that do not burden a space, and construction that can be done much faster and in large numbers. Both are considered styles that inspired and influenced Modernism.
