How László Moholy-Nagy's Bauhaus work changed design

The Bauhaus designer who predicted the future of graphic design

László Moholy-Nagy believed that technology would eventually turn typesetting into a process that allowed fonts to be easily modified rather than manually constructed. This history from the American Institute of Graphic Arts digs into how Moholy-Nagy arrived at those prescient theories.

A history of Bauhaus, the influential 20th-century design movement

The design school was short-lived but immensely impactful, turning design in architecture, typography, and a number of other fields away from superfluous ornamentation and toward practical, straightforward expression. This history of the movement from the Metropolitan Museum of Art outlines its major figures, key events, and the ways its influence persists.

How Lucia Moholy's photography captured the Bauhaus aesthetic

The photographer was one of the few affiliated with the school who photographed its locations, documenting the modern style long after the Nazis had driven its artists from Germany. This podcast episode explores why she went uncredited for so many years.

Why Bauhaus—the 20th-century design school and aesthetic movement—matters today

The school, founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany, in 1919, was an experimental educational environment that valued the function of an object before its form, a philosophy that would animate the rise of minimalist and modernist design in the 20th century.

The ways Bauhaus still shapes modern life

The German art school was around for less than 15 years, but its aesthetic and philosophy can still be seen today in sleek, minimalist design, bold typefaces, and even the corporate aesthetics of IKEA, Apple, and other brands. This DW feature visits the schools that have taken up the Bauhaus legacy, using its ideas to tackle contemporary problems.

The impact of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, the final Bauhaus director

The legendary modernist architect—known for maxims like "less is more" and "God is in the details"—had not yet designed some of his most famous buildings when he took over as director for the Bauhaus and steered the school to Berlin when the Nazis effectively closed its Dessau location. This Dezeen profile considers the artist's tenure at the school, which would shape his later work.

The collaborative educational theory behind the Bauhaus school

The Bauhaus was an experimental school that prized interdisciplinary collaboration, blurring the lines between architecture, industrial design, theater, and other creative fields. Walter Gropius, the school's founder, lays out the ideas behind the school's unique curriculum in "The Theory and Organization of the Bauhaus," a 1923 manifesto.

How an international perspective shaped Bauhaus

The Bauhaus was located in Germany, but it welcomed students and teachers from across the world. Its collaborative spirit meant that the work it produced considered the many histories and perspectives of its international community. When the school was dissolved, those designers then spread across the globe, bringing the new style with them. This timeline from the director of Stiftung Bauhaus Dessau details how the process unfolded.

Browse some of the most iconic Bauhaus furniture

The Bauhaus style has become so commonplace that you might not have realized its influence on modern furniture, but the German school's impact is profound, from the Wassily and Barcelona chairs to Gropius' industrial style door knob.

The Bauhaus artists who became Nazi collaborators

The Nazis deplored the Bauhaus style, until they found a way to use it for themselves. This deep dive explores the connection between the Nazis and three Bauhaus-affiliated designers—Franz Ehrlich, who was sent to Buchenwald and forced to design the camp's gates (seen below), Fritz Ertl, who designed the shower rooms at Auschwitz, and Herbert Bayer, who helped design Third Reich propaganda.

How Bauhaus resonated in Norway

The Bauhaus style may have originated in Germany, but it had a major impact in Norway. This history unpacks the work of Marianne Brandt, Thorbjørn Lie-Jørgensen, Ola Mørk Sandvik, Hans Mollø-Christensen, and other Norwegian designers and architects

Exploring Oskar Schlemmer's 'Triadic Ballet,' a Bauhaus-inspired performance piece

The "symphonic dance of threeness" brought together Bauhaus' varied artistic interests and offered a fable in which collectivism wins. This history and timeline of the work details its origins as well as its near-destruction at the hands of the Nazis, who considered it profane.

How Charles Blair Macdonald changed the design behind golf

Macdonald's contributions to golf course design, including 21 principles still used today, are just as legendary as the game's players. This deep dive into the mostly forgotten figure explores his legacy, including why he never charged for his services.

Picasso is known as one of the creators of cubism

In the early 1900s, cubism redefined modern art by breaking objects into geometric shapes and showing multiple perspectives at once. Developed by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque, it challenged the idea that art should mirror reality, and laid the foundation for many movements that followed.

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

Frank Lloyd Wright influenced contemporary architecture to have a more holistic approach

Frank Lloyd Wright’s work throughout the 20th century introduced concepts like open plans, floor-to-ceiling windows, and community-focused design. His “organic architecture” philosophy can be seen as a predecessor to today’s sustainable architecture.

Mid-century modern graphic designers like Milton Glaser and Eric Carle found success with children's books

Glaser was famous for creating the "I Heart NY" logo, the DC Comics logo, and an iconic Bob Dylan poster for CBS Records, but he naturally transitioned to illustrating children's books like "The Smallest Elephant in the World" and "If Apples had Teeth." Carle, author of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" and "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?," began his career in advertising. Scholars say mid-century modern's preference for clean lines and bold colors was a natural fit for kids' books.

The design changed video games forever

Miyamoto’s direction and Kondo’s sound showed younger generations the potential of video games, inspiring a more sophisticated form that moved far beyond the one-dimensional entertainment of the arcade era.

Andy Warhol, explained

Andy Warhol wasn't just an artist—he was a cultural force. From his early days working as a New York illustrator to managing The Velvet Underground and creating experimental films, Warhol blurred the line between art and commerce, leaving a legacy that changed pop culture forever.

The iPad drawings of a Pop Art legend

David Hockney gained popularity in the 1960s as a major figure in British Pop Art, but since then he's continued innovating, particularly through his use of an unlikely medium: the Apple iPad. This video essay explains why Hockney began drawing on the iPad in the late 2000s and analyzes his major iPad works, including the Yosemite Suite.

The man who championed the ‘case method’ for higher ed later found it insensitive

The "case method" style of education is core to most MBA programs across the country. Recent research posits that Wallace Donham’s (who is credited with establishing the method as a force at Harvard Business School in the 1920s) views on the method changed in later years.

Salvador Dalí’s collaborations with fashion designers

Dalí was known to dabble in the world of fashion and formed a bond with the bold Italian designer Elsa Schiaparelli. Their collaborations birthed iconic designs like a bureau-drawer suit and a lobster dress.

Lady Gaga studied the Abramovic Method

The Abramović Method compiles Abramović’s own learnings and gives instructions to other artists for remaining present and grounded. Pop star Lady Gaga learned the method and cited it as a huge influence on her work.

The rise of the museum gift shop

While museum gift shops are commonplace now, they weren’t when the Met opened in 1870. Nevertheless, the museum was one of the first to offer copies of several of their paintings for visitors to display in their own homes. Read about how the museum gift shop has evolved and how they decide what to carry with this look behind the scenes from Artsy.

The history of molecular gastronomy, from thickening yolks with alcohol to making art with food

Before understanding why they worked, humans used scientific principles, including designing solutions and analyzing outcomes, to develop preservation methods like curing meat and fermenting vegetables. By the 20th century, the application of industrialized food preparation to smaller kitchens set the stage for the subdiscipline of food science.

Gustav Klimt featured a lot of gold leaf in his art

Austrian artist Gustav Klimt's most iconic image, "The Kiss," can be seen today printed on tapestries, t-shirts, mugs, and more. The painting comes from a decade in his career where gold held a prominent place. Klimt's family business of goldsmithing, in tandem with inspiration from Byzantine churches, coalesced in his obsession with gold.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

The 19th-century painters of the Hudson River School were among the first American romantics, with portraits that displayed the natural beauty of the young country.

The Mona Lisa's celebrity status and repeated restorations have obscured what made the painting so revolutionary for its time

See the most iconic photos from four decades of LIFE magazine

American dance legend Martha Graham, sometimes called 'the Picasso of dance,' refused to perform at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin and conceived the piece 'Chronicle' in response to the experience.

Clever Hans was a 1900s horse that was believed to be able to solve math equations, tell time, and read and comprehend German, until a psychology student discovered how he got his answers.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

English mathematician Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer algorithm a century before computers existed and hypothesized that computing devices would one day be able to compose music—foreseeing the generative AI systems of today.

The first horror movie is believed to be George Méliès' 1986 short 'The Haunted Castle,' which pioneered the use of special effects

Exploring the Larry Bird punch that almost changed March Madness

Budweiser stores yeast derived from the original 1800s strain in a secret bunker, which only the Head of Yeast Management can access—not even the CEO

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

See how fireworks are made and learn how metals like magnesium and copper are responsible for different colors.

Roughly 43 million US borrowers owe roughly $1.7T in student debt, the second-largest source of consumer debt behind mortgages.

In its famous catalog, Sears sold $600 DIY house kits from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in an estimated 100,000 'Sears and Roebuck homes.'

See a 3D reconstruction of Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital that was home to an estimated population of 200,000 to 400,000.

Objects can be 3D printed with light by projecting 2D computerized tomography (CT) scans onto rotating cylinders of resin, which solidify upon exposure.

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Quincy Jones' 'Big Band Bossa Nova' helped introduce bossa nova—a jazz-influenced Brazilian genre—to the US

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.