“Every human needs a certain degree of sentimentality to feel free, away with the universal styles, away with the equalization of industry and art. – Josef Frank”

Josef Frank was, of course, referring to ‘The Bauhaus’ or ‘Modernist’ Style. Critics of the Bauhaus, like Frank, felt that the ‘style’ had been taken too far and that Modernism and Minimalism had now left out the user – the human – and in doing so, the reason the for the design to exist.

Josef Frank’s, life could be wonderfully characterized as always in motion. Moving with ease from architecture and furniture design to glassware his eclecticism was fueled by curiosity and nothing captures this roaming imagination better than his textiles…celebratory and vibrant, they redefined Swedish modernism.

Franks’s designs defied contemporary sensibilities by offering a welcome contrast to the linear, grid-like restrictions that defined modernism, the Bauhaus and others. And therein lies his magic. Patterns that are almost architectural in their generous scale, that show an affection for craft and reconcile seemingly disparate historic traditions and modern invention.

Frank believed that the purpose of modern design was to provide comfort for both the body and the mind. Reacting to the hard-edged style developed by modernist designers like Marcel Breuer and Mart Stam, he called for a new approach, one that would emphasize a sense of coziness and relaxation. In his many writings, he chastized those who were more concerned with creating the appearance of modernism than with serving the real needs of their clients. The inspiration for modernism, he argued, should come not from advances in technology, but from a careful study of the history and culture of everyday life.

As the ‘Father of Swedish Modern’ Frank’s most notable legacy is, of course, IKEA. Where minimalist (in both use of materials and design), modern furniture do indeed emphasize a sense of coziness and relaxation.

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The legacy of the Bauhaus is very strongly felt within contemporary culture, an enormous amount of 20th and 21st century design wouldn’t have existed without it. But the Bauhaus resonates further through our current fixation with re-styling our domestic environments and our design-led lifestyles. The Bauhaus ethos also strongly informs the work of many contemporary artists working in design, fine and applied art, and influences ideologies of production at all levels.

The Bauhaus existed in a Germany ravaged by 2 world wars where materials and skills were in short supply. This led to a very logical design solution. The minimalist approach utilises less materials, time and skill by stripping away design elements that are purely decorative to allow the final products form to follow it’s function. At the time this was the only real choice. The Bauhaus ethos also encourages designers to fully understand the entire production process. A designer who understands the construction of the final design will make choices that that simplify the production and thus use less material and time.

And it’s the ideology of hand-in-hand design/production that I think is probably the most important part of the legacy of the Bauhaus. It is certainly valuable to todays multi-disciplined designers who, because of the blurring of divisions between design and production, need to hone skills that would previously be of more use to ‘mac operators’ (yes, that used to be a job title).

But as we see more and more Bauhaus ‘inspired’ designs in print and on the web I wonder if we are again treading the path once criticised by Frank and his contemporaries and that the importance of the ‘style’ has been taken too far. That todays ‘Copycat Modernists’ are also duplicating the previous mistakes of their heroes and producing designs that neither provide comfort for the body or the mind.