Princethorpe College – The Bauhaus Trophy for Design – £200

The Bauhaus Centenary in 2019, celebrated 100 years of a revolutionary approach, which is very much embraced by the Princethorpe STE(A)M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics) ideal. The first recipient (2021) was Seb Lloyd-Thomas, who is pursuing architecture at university. His first architectural project at Princethorpe was the design of living accommodation based on redundant steel shipping containers. In 2022, Daniel Hatfield received the AFW Bauhaus Trophy  in recognition of his ‘most promising contribution to the aesthetics of design’

Why is it called “The Bauhaus Trophy”? Alex Darkes, Foundation Assistant Head at the College, explains

One of the most significant contributors to the avant-garde art movement of the twentieth century was the Bauhaus school, founded in Weimar in 1919 by the visionary Walter Gropius.

Bauhaus (building house) brought together many elements of the creative world under one roof, uniting various mediums, materials and disciplines, including drawing, painting, architecture, textiles, sculpture, metalwork, pottery, typography and furniture.

Bauhaus involved some notable artists of the C20th including Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky and Marianne Brandt. Outstanding architectural projects, other than the original Bauhaus school in Dessau, include the Fagus Factory in Lower Saxony, with its revolutionary unsupported corners and extensive use of glass curtain walling

The movement had turbulent undercurrents and its unconventional approach meant frequent clashes with authority and closure in 1933. That aside, the influence and aesthetic of school persisted, culminating in the fascinating Bauhaus movement, spawning an enduring influence on modern architecture and design.

The Bauhaus Centenary in 2019, celebrated 100 years of a revolutionary approach,