Hoschule für Gestaltung (HfG) - Ulm

This lecture with Rhiannon was a follow on lecture from our last, based around the Bauhaus. I found this lecture extremely enjoyable - I loved learning about the Bauhaus, so to be taught about another school that influenced design endlessly was very interesting. The links that can be found between the two schools are also fascinating. To see that the same people that were apart of the Bauhaus' legacy, such as Max Bill, to appear to play roles in the HfG and its development was amazing. The influence of the Bauhaus is immense, and, from the lecture, it was clear that the influence, in its termination, was carried by the artists involved throughout the world.

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Max Bill

Born in 1908 in Winterthur, Switzerland, Max Bill was a graphic designer, painter, architect, industrial designer, and sculptor, who to this day is most notably known for his chronoscopes (wrist watches), manufactured by Junghans Company. He was also a pioneer of the 'Concrete Art Movement'.
      In his early years, Bill studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Zurich. It was around this time that his ambition was to become a silversmith, however, after seeing the work of the architect, Le Corbusier, he was inspired to study the subject at the Bauhaus - the most renowned art school of the time. Alongside architecture, he also studied metalwork, stage design and painting.
       Following his education at the Bauhaus, in 1930 Bill set up his own studio in Zurich, concentrating on architecture, painting, and sculpture, while earning a living through advertisement design. Then in 1937 he formed a group of Swiss abstract artists, known as the Allianz group. Soon after, in 1944, Max Bill became more involved in industrial design, hosting the first international exhibition for concrete art in Basle.  Bill believed that the aim of concrete art was to project abstract thoughts in a tangible form. His work from around this time period was highly reflective of his Bauhaus training. 
       In the 1950s, the Bauhaus was revived in the HfG, of which Max Bill became the head. He also designed the school's buildings and curriculum, alongside leading the architecture and product design courses within the school. Bill resigned from this position in 1957, after failing to recognise the link between design and industrialisation. He then became a professor at the State Institute of Fine Arts in Hamburg, teaching environmental design.
       In Max Bill's later life, he received the Frank J. Malina Leonardo Award for lifetime achievement, presented by The International Society for the Arts. This was before he died in 1994, in Berlin, at age 85.

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Links

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Bill
http://www.artnet.com/artists/max-bill/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Max-Bill