Inspiration: From Bauhaus to Your House

An original Tetra favorite — Object and Totem's Bauhaus Box — is now back in the shop. As its name indicates, the piece, with its raised geometric forms, is inspired by the Bauhaus, the enduringly influential design school established by Walter Gropius in Germany in 1919. (Pictured above is his office, featuring a rug by Gertrud Arndt and wall hanging by Else Mögelin.)

Until it was closed by the Nazi Party in 1933, the Bauhaus championed a radical approach to object and furniture design — utilizing unadorned geometric forms and industrial materials — that feels every bit as fresh and relevant today. Many of its talents went on to become icons in the U.S., including Mies van der Rohe, Josef and Anni Albers, and Marcel Breuer.

Here are a few of our favorite objects and interiors created by the school's designers.

Cradle by Peter Keler, 1922

Bauhaus furniture by Marcel Breuer and Bruno Weil. Copyright MODERN XX/ Galerie Modern Design Berlin

  

Fruit bowl by Josef Albers, 1923

Chess set by Josef Hartwig, 1924

A Bauhaus interior featuring chairs designed by Marcel Breuer
 

House of Dr. Rabe (1930-31) by Adolf Rading, with interior decorations by Oskar Schlemmer