Bauhaus Ideal Then And Now The: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO MODERN DESIGN [Hardcover]

William Smock SMOCK (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Smock energetically examines the legacy of the Bauhaus, a post-World War II German school of design founded by Walter Gropius to replace Victorian-era design with machine-age style. Citing embodiments of the famous dictums "form follows function," "truth to materials," and the linking commandment "less is more," Smock analyzes visual efficiency and modernism's appeal to reason, especially in architecture. He posits, however, that modern art stopped looking new in the 1970s, when architects sought more personal and fanciful forms of expression, becoming more showbiz in their orientation than aesthetic in their fusing of high and low culture. Smock concedes that the excesses of modernism include dogmatic solemnity, but he finds designers who rebound to be "flashy and ephemeral," and argues that their mannerist decor exerts its own tyranny. Highly politicized (Smock asserts that Reagan's 1982 election helped kill the dream of visual language), amply illustrated with pencil sketches, and featuring a detailed annotated bibliography, Smock's short and lively book is long on controversy and ideas. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 140 pages
• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers (August 30, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0897335228
• ISBN-13: 978-0897335225
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,496,754 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Modernism V2.0, April 6, 2006

By 

Scott Klinker "Designer-in-Residence, Cranbro... (Bloomfield Hills, MI United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bauhaus Ideal Then And Now The: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO MODERN DESIGN (Hardcover)

Today's design students are overloaded with too many skills and ideas to absorb. Unfortunately, as students race into the future, it seems that subjects like Design History are the first to suffer. This book addresses that problem. You could think of it as the 'cliff notes' of Modernism. It's concise, fun to read, and beautifully illustrated. You can read it in one sitting. It connects Modernist ideas across design, art and architecture from the Bauhaus until now. Along the way, Smock pokes fun at some of the more pretensious characters and positions of Modernism. Most of all, he puts the ideas and forms of Modernism in context for our time. The author clearly has a deep appreciation for his subject, and argues that we still have much to learn from the spirit and optimism of Modernism. For students, this book should help to inspire new interest in what Modernism was/is all about. It suggests that rather than seeing a dusty footnote in history, maybe it's something we should pick up, polish, and re-examine. As an intro, this book should inspire further study for young designers.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautifully illustrated design manifesto, January 31, 2006

By 

Gromer "Gromer" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Bauhaus Ideal Then And Now The: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO MODERN DESIGN (Hardcover)

Sprinkled liberally with the author's own pencil sketches of famous architects, buildings and other design icons, "The Bauhaus Ideal" is a small book chock full of unique perspectives on the history of design. It is pitched at the lay reader or college student - even someone with no interest whatsoever in Bauhaus or architecture would find this an absorbing read, which is why I think it would do very well in an intro liberal arts course for college freshmen hoping to pick up some ideas about modern art and architecture before they branch off onto the irreversible "med school" or "law school" track. It reads rather like the notebooks of da Vinci because of the deft pencil sketches; it also reminds me of John Ruskin's manifesto, "The Stones of Venice". Smock would very conversationally talk about an architect or a building, then throw in a little sketch - the effect is like dropping in on a professor who really knows his stuff but is cool enough to not beat you over the head with it. Smock is good enough to be a professional illustrator. In a few lead strokes he would capture the spirit of a real person's face, or the bare branches of winter. For the non-lay reader, the architect, or "those in the know", this book reaffirms one's thoughts about the giants in the architecture world and asks provoking questions about why things are what they are. All in all, a real treat and worth the price.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for a research project..., May 7, 2007

By 

Alexandra Drozd (Pittsburgh, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Bauhaus Ideal Then And Now The: AN ILLUSTRATED GUIDE TO MODERN DESIGN (Hardcover)

Great book; found it very useful for a presentation on Bauhaus.