Bauhaus Conflicts 1919-2009: Controversies and Counterparts

From its founding in 1919, the function and identity of the Bauhaus was mobilized by warring factions, as it passed through the guiding hands of its three directors (the apolitical Walter Gropius, the Communist Hannes Meyer and the progressive Mies van der Rohe). Even beyond the well-known controversies that arose between colleagues during the heroic Bauhaus years, the reception and legacy of the various Modernist icons associated with the Bauhaus led to dispute: Socialists, Communists, Nazis, Stalinists, Capitalists, Cold Warriors, student revolutionaries in the 1960s and later dissidents, all have created their own image of the Bauhaus. Bauhaus Conflicts 1919-2009 examines the critical reception of the legendary school, its teachers, students and pedagogical philosophy and the battles over its legacy that continue to this day.