Subscribe to our newsletter. In 1919, the economy in Germany was collapsing after a crushing war. Architect Walter Gropius was appointed to head a new institution which would help rebuild the country and form a new social order. Bauhaus buildings have flat roofs, smooth fa ades and cubic shapes. Colors are white, gray, beige or black.
Floor plans are open and furniture is functional.
The Bauhaus school disbanded when the Nazis rose to power. Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe and other Bauhaus leaders migrated to the United States. The term International Style was applied to the American form of Bauhaus architecture. The name came from the book The International Style by historian and critic Henry-Russell Hitchcock and architect Philip Johnson. The book was published in 1932 in conjunction with an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.