Bauhaus 1919-1933
by Magdalena Droste
(Taschen, £40)

SIMULTANEOUS with the cataclysm of WWI exposing the bankruptcy and decadence at the heart of European politics, the 1917 October revolution in Russia emphatically demonstrated that radical political change with a global significance was on the agenda.

[[{"fid":"14321","view_mode":"inlineright","fields":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"inlineright","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"class":"media-element file-inlineright","data-delta":"1"}}]]In western Europe, little changed politically. But an interrogation of how societies operate continued, with the Bauhaus school and movement in Germany becoming perhaps its most acute cultural manifestation in a climate of ideological ferment.

Architecture, weaving, furniture shops and domestic appliance and graphic design were all within its wide-ranging remit and each had various degrees of commercial success. The Bauhaus band pushed at the musical frontiers while its theatre group sparked spatial innovation with its groundbreaking designs.