From Bauhaus to our houseTom Wolfe
From Bauhaus to our house
by Tom Wolfe · first published 1700
26mentions
11recommended by
19HN commenters
2011–2026first – last mentioned
58% recommend37% neutral5% critical
Why HN recommends it
A sharp, funny critique of modernist architecture and its pretensions, tearing into Bauhaus-style design and the ideology behind it. It is witty and worth reading for anyone who builds.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A lamentation on the state of modernist, international style architecture. In this long-form architectural screed in essay form, Wolfe takes aim at celebrated figures in the modernist movement—most notably Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Bauhaus founder Walter Gropius—and examines the reasons for their rise and continuing acclaim.
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Have you read Tom Wolfe's "From Bauhaus to Our House"? It is a great critique of Bauhaus architecture. I really love Bauhaus buildings when they stand in contrast to other styles, but when you have a skyline dominated by lesser Bauhaus knockoffs, it is…
on “The endless influence of the Bauhaus (2017)” ↗I don't know of any studies, but I found "From Bauhaus to Our House" a worthwhile read: http://www.amazon.com/From-Bauhaus-Our-House-Wolfe/dp/031242... It discusses how Gropius started off with more of a continental arts-and-crafts outlook, but that increasing competition…
on “Long-Term Exposure to Flat Design:How the Trend Slowly Decreases User Efficiency” ↗…reaction, you should blame the initial problem, which was architectural modernism and an obsession with discarding all the lessons of the past in the name of innovation, so called. Tom Wolf nailed it in "From Bauhaus to Our House": https://www.amazon.com/Bauhaus-Our-House-Tom-Wolfe/dp/031242... As badly as these buildings suck, they at least make a gesture at a humane world. Christopher Alexander tried to warn us.
on “Future generations will laugh in horror and derision at the folly of facadism” ↗I highly recommend Tom Wolfe’s From Bauhaus to Our House. In it he tears apart modem architectural pretentiousness the same way he went after the radical chic. It’s hilarious and devastating.
on “Why people hate contemporary architecture (2017)” ↗1984's From Bauhaus to Our House by Tom Wolfe is a great dive into the 'modern' look. It's not a deep look, but a fun one all the same (it is Tom Wolfe after all). He traces the design we all see in the downtowns to the works of early…
on “School or Prison” ↗This sort of thing never stood out to me until I read Tom Wolfe's sardonic "From Bauhaus to Our House."¹ I recommend it. ¹ https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41001.From_Bauhaus_to_Ou...
on “The endless influence of the Bauhaus (2017)” ↗For anyone that wants to read a critical take of Bauhaus and modernist architecture in general, check out the very funny From Bauhaus to Our House by Tom Wolfe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Bauhaus_to_Our_House His other book on art was pretty good too, and both were received very poorly by their respective industries, which is probably…
on “Exploring Bauhaus: Revolutionary design school that shaped modern world” ↗You might enjoy the Tom Wolfe book, From Bauhaus to Our House. In it he tries to explain the observations you make. Very lively, funny writing and you know he is on the right track because he was universally panned by modern architects.
on “Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia will be completed in 2026” ↗…trendy within their clique at a given time. (and, to head you off at the pass: you may like brutalism or Obama's library, but the data clearly show that regular people do not) See Tom Wolfe's excellent From Bauhaus to Our House: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Bauhaus_to_Our_House Also this ACX discussion (it's a few posts) is really good: https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/book-review-from-bauhaus-to... https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/contra-everyone-on-taste https://www.astralcodexten.com/p/three-model-organisms-for-t...…
on “CNC Stone Carving” ↗…unable to return to any pre-modern sense of aesthetics due to their ideological commitment to the ur modernist impulse of pride (called innovation) recommended reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Bauhaus_to_Our_House it is interesting to note that even individual aesthetic disasters like victorian homes, when combined in a neighborhood with common roof-lines, etc. form a charming aesthetic that has been singularly…
on “Why Is Everything So Ugly?” ↗Very sad to hear. His book "From Bauhaus to Our House" changed my life, finally giving me a plausible explanation as to how we managed to create such a horrific built environment post WW2.
on “Tom Wolfe Has Died” ↗"The Painted Word" is also fantastic, if you liked "From Bauhaus to Our House". Similar approach.
on “Tom Wolfe Has Died” ↗https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Bauhaus_to_Our_House Good read, and I'd love an update some day. I think that the only thing that has changed is that we sometimes use pink/red bricks now in these large glass/steel boxes.
on “Why Are America's Most Innovative Companies Still Stuck in 1950s Suburbia?” ↗Everyone who builds anything should read From Bauhaus to Our House.
on “Tom Wolfe's Irresistible Snap, Crackle and Pop” ↗…making concrete, glass, and steel structures than had little or no human touch (cf. the landscape of Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange). Tom Wolfe wrote a short critique of modern architecture in 1981 called From Bauhaus to Our House. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/From_Bauhaus_to_Our_House The socialist aesthetic, privileging the designer, can be just as controlling in its way as the fascist aesthetic. But this article gets Apple's…
on “User-friendliness and fascism ” ↗