Hannes Meyer’s New Bauhaus Pedagogy From Dessau to Mexico

Architect Hannes Meyer made substantial changes to the Bauhaus educational programme, reshaping it in response to the crisis created by Walter Gropius’s concept of a new unity of art and technology. From 1928 to 1930, as director at the Dessau Bauhaus he brought in fresh disciplines backed by new appointments and guest instructors. He geared the design process to concrete social problems and incorporated the latest scientific methods. He successfully innovated the realization of building projects and industrial products together with his students. Building on new research, the book reveals both the intellectual background to his teaching concept and the specific classroom practice in individual subject areas, while also giving space to teachers and students to have their say. The book traces the evolution of this educational approach all the way to the Ulm School of Design and assesses the impact of Meyer’s teaching in the work of his students.