Best In Show

A CENTURY AGO this year, the German architect Walter Gropius established the Staatliches Bauhaus, a school he hoped would unite all the different strains of art under one roof, and bring art back into contact with the everyday world.

- Miriam Methuen-Jones

In rebelling against superficial ornamentation, the Bauhaus represented an opportunity to extend beauty and quality to every home through well-designed industrially made products; what evolved from this hub was an explosion of experimental art which quickly spread across Europe.

Many enduring classics emerged during this period, such as Marcel Breuer’s Wassily chair and the Barcelona chair of Mies van der Rohe and Lilly Reich, while the philosophy of the Bauhaus had a major impact on other designers.