How has Bauhaus affected Chinese contemporary design education？

王雅

With the development of the economic， design industry is developing at an astonished speed. From the design concept has been received to the contemporary design has been integrated into basic life. Of course， Bauhaus has affected Chinese contemporary design education in a number of ways. As Nikolaus P（1999） said “The Bauhaus style later became one of the most influential currents in modern design， Modernist architecture and art， design and architectural education.” This essay will first give three examples about how Bauhaus design thoughts affected Chinese contemporary design education. Bauhaus design thoughts promote innovation and oppose imitation， advocate the purpose of design is not a product but for person， and also promote design need to follow the laws of the nature. Then， it will give two examples about how Bauhaus teaching thoughts affected Chinese contemporary design education. Bauhaus teaching thoughts emphasize standards systems and focus on the rigorous theoretical. Bauhaus teaching thoughts also pay attention to the unity of both technology and art. Finally， it will show under the influences of the Bauhaus， the future develop direction of Chinese contemporary design education.

According to Findeli， Alain （1991） “Bauhaus was founded by Walter Gropius， and it specializes in fine arts， crafts and modernist architecture and design.” Bauhaus is not a simple design process， but the design thoughts. The first part will be presented three examples about how Bauhaus design thoughts affected Chinese contemporary design education.

First of all， Bauhaus design thought promotes innovation and opposes imitation. Stem， Fred （2012） believes that“ Bauhaus refers both to a school and a philosophy of design and production. This approach created the modern innovation design in architecture， interiors and furniture.” （pp.1） For example， promoting the usage of the new technology and new materials. Because of the influence of the Bauhaus design thoughts， innovation has become an important word in Chinese contemporary design education. In China， more universities， which teach design， are paying more attention to the training of students creative ability and design quality. For example， more universities specially set up Creative Thinking course. As a result， Chinese designers realize that we need to pay more attention on the new ideas. The government also provides more and more policies to encourage creativity.

The next example is that because of the Bauhaus design thought advocate the purpose of design is not product but for person. As a result， Bauhaus broke the boundary between the pure art and applied art. Making the design service for the person and fully meet various needs， not only focus on the appearances， but also to solve the problems. For example， the production of the Mobile Phone， at first it only has some simple functions， such as， answers the phone or sends the messages. With the increase of peoples need， Mobile Phone has more other functions， such as take photos or listen to the music， even make it like a watch， which is more easy to use. Under the influence of the Bauhaus design thought， Chinese design education pay more attention to make students learn in practice， rather than make the textbook as the education center. So， China is putting people-centered into a more important position in design education.

The final example is that Bauhaus design thoughts promote design need to follow the laws of the nature. Design cannot only make odd， new， and strange as the purpose， but through careful consideration， defining a number of basic forms to re-use it， and create a succinct effect. Designers need to have different reactions， when meet different natural situations. Before the designers can follow the laws of the nature， we need to have wide range of natural knowledge and skills. Bauhaus period has opened the science and technology course， such as， materials science and physics. Due to Bauhaus， instead of the phenomenon in China that most design universities are vocational schools and have less basic natural knowledge. Chinese design education also paying more attention to other necessary courses in design education， which means that Chinese designers have more abilities to follow the laws of the nature.

Next， the second part will be presented two examples about how Bauhaus teaching thoughts affected Chinese contemporary design education. The contribution of the Bauhaus to the modern industrial design is enormous， particularly， it has a profound impact to the design education. For many design universities， Bauhaus education thoughts have become the basis to study.

Firstly， Bauhaus teaching thoughts emphasize standards systems and focus on the rigorous theoretical. For example， Eaton advocated the study of color from a scientific perspective， which through rigorous teaching methods and establish rigorous theoretical foundation， give the students enrich experience， instead of only focus on the visual effects and psychological reactions of the color. Due to Bauhaus teaching thoughts， Chinese contemporary design education learns the positivity of the courses from the Bauhaus， such as the similar design professional names. As a result， Chinese contemporary design education also setting the standards systems and making the rigorous theoretical into the important position.

In addition， Bauhaus teaching thoughts also pay attention to the unity of both technology and art. For example， during the period of Weimar， using the “two-track education system”. Each design courses have an “art teacher” and a “technology teacher”. So that， the students can receive dual impact between art and technology， and combine the theory and practice. The new teaching thought， which named school-enterprise cooperation also give profound impact to Chinese contemporary design education. For example， more and more design universities offer part-time job or entrepreneurial environment. The school-enterprise cooperation making Chinese design students have more comprehensive development.

Finally， under the influences of the Bauhaus， The Chinese contemporary design education still facing many problems. For example， because of globalization， computer technology is developing rapidly， Chinese design students can easy to over-reliance on computer， copy other peoples work， and stop thinking. So， in my opinion， we also have many things to do in the future. The Chinese contemporary design education needs to summarize the experience from the Bauhaus， combine both modern design education theory and traditional Chinese thinking， and make the excellent design work that represent Chinese characteristics. That is the real meaning of Chinese contemporary design educations future develops direction.

In conclusion， the Chinese contemporary design education has been affected in many different aspects by both Bauhaus design thoughts and Bauhaus teaching thoughts. Although， as we can see， there are many things we can do in the future， the Chinese contemporary design education need to develop both modern design education theory and traditional Chinese thinking. All in all， Bauhaus affected the Chinese contemporary design education， and make the Chinese contemporary design education better and better.

REFERENCE LIST：

[1]Findeli，Alain.（1991）.Bauhaus Education and After： some Critical Reflections.

[2]Structurist； 1991/1992， Issue 31/32， p.32.33550503.

[3]Pevsner， Nikolaus， ed.（1999）.A Dictionary of Architecture and Landscape Architecture （Paperback）. Fleming， John； Honour， Hugh （5th ed.）. London： Penguin Books. p.880. ISBN 0-14-051323-X.

[4]Sterm， Fred.（2012）.Bauhaus： The Experiment That Changed The World of Design. Vol. 27 Issue 11. P1. 85504591.