1.1.1 Industrial Revolution – William Morris The beginning of modern design is usually pinpointed at the start of the industrial revolution (Fiell, 2012). When mechanized production started there was a growing need for planning and tooling of products so that they could be made consistently by machines. However very little forethought went into the design of products and there was often little to no theoretical, intellectual or philosophic meaning behind them, which did little to progress design as an issue to be considered by society (Fiell, 2012). William Morris set about reforming design in 1861 with his firm Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co., (Clutton-Brock, 2007) by uniting practise and theory to create more cohesive products, but his efforts …show more content…
The teachers of these students, leading artists at the time, gained legendary status (Droste, 2006) due to the success of the school and its students. The school was started in Weimar, Germany in the year 1919 (Droste, 2006). The teaching strategies, developed mostly by Johannes Itten and Laszlo Moholy-Nagy, that the Bauhaus developed and used for the 14 years of its existence made long lasting impression on art and design institutions that are used the world over to this day (Droste, 2006). Gropius prefaced his directorship remarking that “It is naturally vital for everyone that we attract strong, lively personalities. We must not start with mediocrity; it is our duty to enlist powerful, famous personalities wherever possible, even if we do not yet fully understand them.” (Droste, 2006). Gropius initially appointed three artists an art theoretician, painter and sculptor (Droste, 2006). The painter of the trio was Johannes Itten, author of the Vorkurs, the preliminary course that initially ran at the Bauhaus and ended up defining the core teachings of the school (Droste, 2006). Vorkurs is seen as the initial prototype for combining art, design and architectural studio education in most modern curriculums (Lerner, 2005). Itten usually started his classes with physical breathing exercises to help his students relax (Droste, 2006) which was to prepare them to ‘create order and direction out flow’. Itten’s aim was to help his students discover rhythms within different subject areas and harmonise them to create exceptional outcomes (Droste, 2006). His classes had three main areas of focus, ‘studies of natural objects and materials, the analysis of Old Masters and life drawing.’ (Droste, 2006). The study of natural objects and materials brought forth the key elements of contradiction and essential properties of materials (Droste,