Technology+Process

One of the similar themes I see between the first year design program and the Bauhaus is the way we are taught to experience and feel the nature of the objects and substances we work with. We are encouraged to experiment and push the boundaries to become the master of materials before producing functioning forms with them. John Ruskin said “he who wishes to become master of colour must see, feel and experience each individual colour in its endless combinations with all other colours.” This relates to way we experiment with many different materials so we learn the properties and ways it can be manipulated to suit our way of expressing ourselves. Johannes Itten believed new personal experiences and discoveries would lead to a “new way of seeing”. I see this statement as the basis of our courses here in the first year design programme. The teaching in this course gives us a structure to apply to our design ideas to in an unobtrusive way, a way that makes the design stronger instead of preventing the development of the idea. Although teaching principles have evolved over the years the Bauhaus theories are still used in modern day as a starting point for design schools such as the first year design program here at Victoria University.