“Only work which is the product of inner compulsion can have spiritual meaning.”
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Author detail
American and German architect, teacher, and industrial designer. One of the most important architects of the Modern movement, Gropius studied architecture in Munich and Berlin, then worked in the studio of Peter Behrens in Neubabelsberg. From 1910 to 1914, he worked as an architect in Berlin. After the war, he chaired the Staatliche Bauhaus at Weimar, then at Dessau. He left the Bauhaus in 1928, working in Berlin as an architect again. Gropius emigrated to England in 1934. In 1937, he went to the United States permanently, eventually becoming an citizen in 1944. He joined TAC (The Architects Collective) after the war, producing many structures and praticing until his death. *(Source: Union List of Artist Names - Getty Research Institute)*
Quotes
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“Only work which is the product of inner compulsion can have spiritual meaning.”
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“One of the outstanding achievements of the new constructional technique has been the abolition of the separating function of the wall.”
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“In all great epochs of history, the existence of standards - that is, the conscious adoption of type-forms - has been the criterion of a polite, well-ordered society; for it is a commonplace...”
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“We must forget the prewar time, which was totally different. The sooner we adjust ourselves to the new, changed world, to its new, albeit harsh, beauties, the sooner will each individual be...”
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“The utilization of flat roofs as 'grounds' offers us a means of re-acclimatizing nature amidst the stony deserts of our great towns; for the plots from which she has been evicted to make roo...”
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“Today the arts exist in isolation, from which they can be rescued only through the conscious, cooperative effort of all craftsmen. Architects, painters, and sculptors must recognize anew and...”
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“Theo van Doesburg wanted to teach in the Bauhaus in 1922. I refused, however, to appoint him since I considered him to be too aggressive and too rigidly theoretical: he would have wrought ha...”
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“As there is in Germany - as well as in Russia and Italy - no art which is not approved of by the government, any criticizing remark about the present policy made by me would easily be taken...”
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“The general public, formerly profoundly indifferent to everything to do with building, has been shaken out of its torpor; personal interest in architecture as something that concerns every o...”
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“If we investigate the vague feelings of the average man towards the arts, we find that he is timid and that he has developed a humble belief that art is something which has been invented cen...”
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“Our fresh technical resources have furthered the disintegration of solid masses of masonry into slender piers, with consequent far-reaching economies in bulk, space, weight, and haulage.”
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“Each person feels that he is an 'expert' in one or two fields and just the 'public' in all the others. But you know, probably, from experience that no one is really able to appreciate any di...”
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“The strong desire to include every vital component of life instead of excluding part of them for the sake of too narrow and dogmatic an approach has characterized my whole life.”
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“Our guiding principle was that design is neither an intellectual nor a material affair, but simply an integral part of the stuff of life, necessary for everyone in a civilized society.”
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“Overwhelmed by the miraculous potentialities of the machine, our human greed has interfered with the biological cycle of human companionship which keeps the life of a community healthy.”
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“The Bauhaus strives to bring together all creative effort into one whole, to reunify all the disciplines of practical art - sculpture, painting, handicrafts, and crafts - as inseparable comp...”
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“The development of the New Architecture encountered serious obstacles at a very early stage of its development. Conflicting theories and the dogmas enunciated in architects' personal manifes...”
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“Architects, sculptors painters, we all must return to the crafts! For art is not a 'profession.' There is no essential difference between the artist and the craftsman. The artist is an exalt...”
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“Proficiency in a craft is essential to every artist. Therein lies the prime source of creative imagination. Let us then create a new guild of craftsmen without the class distinctions that ra...”
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“With but a few exceptions, we don't have this personal study under masters any more. Craftsmanship has sunk very low. We no longer have any universally creative persons who are able to guide...”
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