Deutsche Werkbund

Poster for the Werkbund

1906 marked the beginning of a revolutionary phase in design that would change it forever. It all began at the Deutsche Kungstgewerbeausstellung ( German Arts and Crafts Exhibition) which was held in Dresden. This particular year a big change was scene in that the jugendstil style was being phased out by a very different design language which was in comparison very formal and focused mainly on functionality. The work exhibited at this exhibition was mostly work produced by collaborations of designers with established workshops and most of the pieces displayed had  more utilitarian value than previous years, These characteristics really projected what the designers were thinking at the time. One of these designers was Richard Riemerschmid. and the realisation was that the only way to produce large amounts of well designed aesthetically pleasing products was with the help of machinery. In this way the Exhibition highlighted these new views and realisations that the participants so believed in and it acted as a catalyst for the Deutsche Werkbund.

Glass Pavilion - Bruno Taut

A year after the German Arts and Crafts Exhibition in 1907 the Werkbund was born. It’s main purpose was to reinstate a bond between the designers and manufacturers, for this reason the founding members of the Werkbund consisted of 12 designers and 12 manufacturers all of a very high level. Peter bruckmann was the first chosen president of the Werkbund and within it’s first year the Werkbund reached up to five hundred members. With growth becoming so rapid within the association the members thought it necessary to start a yearly book in which they published articles and works done by it’s members. This included buildings by Walter Gropius and Peter Behrens and cars by Ernst Naumann. The yearbook served as a way for the Werkbund to advocate its beliefs in the bond between art and industry and also contained it’s members’ details and area of specialisation.

 1914 was a big year in the Werkbund as it marked the year of it’s landmark exhibition in Cologne, it included Gropius’ steel and glass model factory and Van de Velde’s Werkbund theatre. A year after the exhibition the number of members tripled and shot up to an astonishing two thousand members.

Glass and Metal factory - Walter Gropius 

Although the Werkbund was achieving what it set out to do and remained creating unity between both sides of the trade. This same bond fuelled an on going argument between the members known as the werkbundstreit. While some members believed in standardisation others believed in individualism in design. By the end of the first world war there was an enormous need for consumer products which gave no other option but to follow the route of standardisation and industrial production. In 1927 another landmark exhibition was set up my Ludwig Mies Van De Rohe and the main focus was a housing estate project which brought together the likes of Marcel Breuer and Le Corbusier. The exhibition led to the spread of modernism. Although 1934 brought an end to the Werkbund, the association brought jugendstil and the Modern movement together and through its many successful endeavours continued to have a great impact on german industrial design and architecture.

Referencing:

Peter Behrens | Clio’s Calendar: Daily Musings on Architectural History. 2015. Peter Behrens | Clio’s Calendar: Daily Musings on Architectural History. [ONLINE] Available at: https://archhistdaily.wordpress.com/tag/peter-behrens/. [Accessed 23 January 2015].

Deutscher Werkbund: German Work Federation: Architecture, Crafts, Design. 2015. Deutscher Werkbund: German Work Federation: Architecture, Crafts, Design. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/architecture/deutscher-werkbund.htm#werkbund. [Accessed 23 January 2015].