Bauhaus, De Stijl, lines, etc.

As future designers you will be expected to draw inspiration from your own knowledge, experience, and background. In the last couple of weeks, we have looked at designs from Bauhaus and De Stijl. It is very useful to revise your understanding of these styles by identifying unique characteristics of each style, and also their similarities.


You should, for instance, be able to tell which is which:

Notice the use of straight lines in the first design. This was a characteristic used prominently in De Stijl. But, obviously, straight lines can be found in all sorts of designs So, if the first design was indeed from De Stijl, what are some of the other features that would indicate this?

Here we have something you would all have seen from De Stijl:

Again, you will have noticed the strong emphasis on straight lines. However, here are a couple of things from Bauhaus that also feature prominent straight lines:

A good exercise, then, would be to reflect in your own words why you think these designs are indeed examples of different styles. Write about the subtleties that make them so, based on what you know about the history and philosophies of these two styles, and consider things like materials and use of colour.

Ultimately, it is important to recognise that ideas behind designs are often fluid, and as future designers you will most likely be influenced by a myriad of styles everytime you are in charge of designing something. Take this building, for example:

It may have occured to you that it seems disproportionate to the timber planks below it. That's because it's a doghouse:

If you were hired by someone to design a house for a dog, would you draw inspiration from Bauhaus? Considering the needs of the dog, is this a good idea? What are some other considerations you would need to take into account of? Nevertheless, the designer behind this doghouse was able to formulate their design based on their knowledge of a style that isn't normally associated with doghouses - something that makes the final creation more remarkable and noticeable.