From the Bauhaus to your house

Widely considered to be one of the first examples of modernist architecture, the Fagus Factory (a shoe factory) in Alfeld, Germany, was designed by Walter Gropius and built from 1911–1913. With its rectilinear form and predominant glazing, the Fagus Factory was the forerunner of modernism in the coming decades. Particularly notable are the building’s glazed corners (a feature later repeated in Gropius’s Bauhaus Building). Walter Gropius believed strongly that a building’s exterior design should reveal the logic behind its construction. Emphasising the social aspect of architectural design, he would prioritise elements such as daylight and fresh air.

The model by Chisel & Mouse captures the three-storey main building of the Fagus Factory. The building was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011.

The Moller House in Vienna was designed by Czech-born architect Adolf Loos. The villa of Milada and František Müller, it was constructed from 1929–1930. A pioneer of the modern movement in architecture, Adolf Loos advocated clean lines and large, smooth surfaces. Designed in Loos’s ‘Raumplan’ architectural style, Moller House comprises different height levels for various rooms, determined according to their function. 

Loos’s 1910 essay ‘Ornament and Crime’ was a response to the prevailing state of art nouveau. Expressing his disdain for ornamentation in favour of smooth and clean surfaces, Loos’s ideas heralded the era of modernism and were at the core of the Bauhaus’s philosophy.

The model by Chisel & Mouse captures the stunning, irregular facade of the Moller House.