Ulm School (HfG Ulm)

ウルム造形大学 / 1953–1968 / Style / Postwar Industrial Design

Founded by Max Bill as the Bauhaus's successor, the school redefined design as science, method and system. Its collaboration with Braun made the functionalist face a world standard.

Ulm School (HfG Ulm) — Max Bill, Ulm Stool (CC BY-SA 3.0) · © Christos Vittoratos
Max Bill, Ulm Stool (CC BY-SA 3.0) · CC BY-SA 3.0 · © Christos Vittoratos
Ulm School (HfG Ulm) — Max Bill, entrance of the HfG Ulm building — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 · © Christian Gänshirt
Max Bill, entrance of the HfG Ulm building — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · © Christian Gänshirt

At a glance

Visual cues

  • Method and system
  • Grids and modules
  • Ornament excluded
  • Design as science

Best used for

  • Aligning a product family and its markings as one system of rules
  • Building a device whose operation is explained by symbols and color rules alone

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Dictionary entry

Type
One sans face, three sizes at most, everything ranged left
Composition
Lay out controls and displays on a grid of modular dimensions
Material
Neutral surfaces with one or two colors allowed to mark function
Caution
Borrowing the grey and the grid without deciding the reasoning leaves nobody able to justify a rule, and the system collapses as elements are added.
Further study
Max Bill / Tomás Maldonado / Braun and Dieter Rams

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