See more objects with the tag architects, architecture, study, design, studio, modernism, education, presentation drawing, exterior, Bauhaus, New Objectivity.

See more objects with the color darkgrey dimgrey darkslategrey or see all the colors for this object.

Object Timeline

1929

  • Work on this object began.

1938

  • We acquired this object.

2002

2014

2025

  • You found it!

Print, Design for a Professional School, Hagen, Westphalia, Germany

This is a Print. It was designed by Walter Gropius. It is dated 1929 and we acquired it in 1938. Its medium is photostat with hand additions. It is a part of the Drawings, Prints, and Graphic Design department.

Walter Gropius is perhaps best known as founder and director (1919–1928) of the Bauhaus, the German design school that initially aimed to unite arts and crafts, but soon switched its focus to industry and developing a universal modern design language. Later Bauhaus designs were geometric, without superfluous ornament, and embraced new materials and technologies, following tenets of rationalism and functionalism. Although Gropius left the Bauhaus in 1928 to open a private practice, he continued to espouse its principles. He created this drawing in 1929 as a competition entry for an engineering school in Hagen, Westphalia, Germany. The T-shaped building features the flat roof and facade, long rows of windows, and raised first floor typical of modernist architecture at the time. Upon donating this drawing to the museum, Gropius deemed it “a characteristic design.” Hagen had become a place for architectural and artistic experimentation, and Gropius’s second-place finish (the highest award received) shows an interest in modernist forms. With the onset of World War II in Europe, Gropius, like many other Bauhaus teachers and students, emigrated to the US, where he continued to spread the principles of modernism through built work and teaching, influencing new generations of designers.

This object was donated by Walter Gropius. It is credited Gift of Walter Gropius.

Our curators have highlighted 4 objects that are related to this one. Here are three of them, selected at random:

  • Pair Of Door Handles
  • nickel-plated brass mounted on painted wood.
  • Gift of George R. Kravis II.
  • 2016-5-17
  •

Its dimensions are

101.6 x 155.6 cm (40 x 61 1/4 in. )

Cite this object as

Print, Design for a Professional School, Hagen, Westphalia, Germany; Designed by Walter Gropius (German, 1883 - 1969); Germany; photostat with hand additions; 101.6 x 155.6 cm (40 x 61 1/4 in. ); Gift of Walter Gropius; 1938-68-1

There are restrictions for re-using this image. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.

For higher resolution or commercial use contact ArtResource.

If you would like to cite this object in a Wikipedia article please use the following template:

<ref name=CH>{{cite web |url=https://www-4.collection.cooperhewitt.org/objects/18353895/ |title=Print, Design for a Professional School, Hagen, Westphalia, Germany |author=Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |accessdate=10 March 2025 |publisher=Smithsonian Institution}}</ref>