As any design-lover can testify, a visit to the Bauhaus building in Dessau, Germany, is a dream come true. And for skinflint’s co-founder and director Chris, this is no exception. With a design career spanning more than two decades (from studying product design at Sheffield Hallam University, to working with some of the biggest names in lighting), star struck would be a fair description. Ahead of launching our latest Bauhaus Collection of restored original vintage lights, we sat down with Chris to talk about his recent pilgrimage to Dessau, Germany, the heart of the Bauhaus, uncovering the people that propelled the movement, as well as the history and the mystery behind Kandem Leuchten - the manufacturer that made Bauhaus artists’ best pieces. 

Founded in 1919 by architect Walter Gropius (who would later go on to design the iconic Bauhaus Dessau building), the Bauhaus school was radical in its ethos and output; seeking to unify art and craft, both by bringing these disciplines together (literally) under one roof, and in what was taught. As it evolved, it became clear the initial emphasis on craft was financially impractical. In 1923 Gropius repositioned Bauhaus to become a delicate balance of preserving the artistic vision of the individual, with the importance of designing for mass production. It was at this time that the school adopted the  ‘Art into Industry’ slogan. With a curriculum spanning painting, weaving, metalwork, pottery, typography and cabinet making, it in turn, produced a new generation of iconic designers and artists who realised the Bauhaus concept. That is; creating simplistic, functional pieces of art, that could be mass-produced for everyday use. As a result, Bauhaus design is often abstract, angular, geometric and clean lined with little ornamentation. The movement provided the catalyst for many of the iconic furniture and lighting designs still in use today, such as Mies Van Der Rohe’s MR Side Chair, and Marcel Breur’s Wassily Chair, which are all on display inside the building. 

Home to the revolutionary school of art, architecture and design from 1925 until 1932, the Bauhaus Dessau building, as well as the Bauhaus movement itself, have become so ubiquitous, so familiar and so imitated that it is sometimes forgotten how radical it really was. Standing here some 100 years later, it feels as radical as ever. The key Bauhaus principle of ‘form following function’ can be felt here to full force, as can the work of the Bauhaus masters who led and taught at the school - some of the biggest and enduring names in art and design: Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, Marcel Breuer, Marianne Brandt, Wassily Kandinsky, and Paul Klee to name just a few. It is probably one of the most photographed buildings in Germany and stands more than any other as a symbol of Modernism.

The sprawling buildings still retain their campus feel to them today, formed of a huge curtain wall of steel, glass and concrete. Coincidently, in line with the work we do here at skinflint, the iconic Bauhaus sign down the side of the building was being refurbished on the morning of our visit! We’re drawn to some opaline-like wall lights, on the exterior that appear as if floating in space. While outside is ‘typically’ Bauhaus, in white, black and grey, the interior is stark yet surprisingly playful, with pops of the red, yellow and blue primary colours we’ve come to associate with the Bauhuas paintings by Wassily and Klee. The spaces are minimal yet house beautiful examples of statement lighting, much of which was designed by the students themselves.

Later on, as our tour takes us to the Bauhaus Museum in Dessau town centre, it is the German lighting manufacturer Kandem and the influential German painter, sculptor, photographer and designer Marianne Brandt that has our interest piqued. First studying at the Bauhuas school and later becoming head of the metal workshop, Brandt pushed the boundaries of what women could achieve in the realms of education and business. As a student, her lighting fixtures were chosen to grace the halls of the Bauhaus campus (they are still there today). Together with a colleague, she also designed the Kandem lamp, which was the most commercially successful design to come out of the Bauhaus. Today, Brandt's designs are considered the harbinger of modern industrial design, with objects including metal ashrays, tea and coffee services, lamps and household objects recognised as among the best to come out of Bauhaus Dessau. Her iconic 1927 teapot that is also part of the Museum of Modern Art’s collection, recently sold at auction for £284,890, breaking the sale record for Bauhaus design, whilst a modern licesenced design would cost you around £10,000.

Above L-R: Examples of original 1929 Kandem Table Lights at the Bauhaus Museum. Kandem advertisements with the Bauhaus desk lamp. The 1929 Kandem desk lamp represents the jumping-off point for the Bauhaus models later designed by Brandt/Bredendieck. Taken from the book ‘Bauhauslechten? Kandemlight!’.

The collaboration between the Bauhaus Dessau and Kandem (an abbreviation of the K&M taken from Körting & Mathiesen) from the latter half of the 1920s was the perfect partnership to bring the Bauhaus’ ‘art into industry’ slogan into life; giving the industrial firm a creative partner to design the lighting it produced, and the Bauhaus a powerful manufacturer to carry out its design ideas. The collaboration between the firm and the Bauhaus was based on economic interest - both parties were eager to make products that were suitable for mass production and that would sell. Working closely with the school, Kandem purchased and manufactured many of the student’s designs, including Brandt’s piece that was to become a modern classic - The Kandem Desk Light. During the roughly five years of collaboration by contract with the Bauhaus, the number of fixtures produced by Kandem’s factory rose to tens of thousands - a Bauhaus brochure mentions 50,000 sold by 1931. Despite this, very little is still known about the collaboration.

Above: The Kandem stall at the 1930s Leipzig Spring Fair. Taken from the book ‘Bauhauslechten? Kandemlight!’.

The school was eventually expelled from Dessau in 1930 by the Nazis, relocating to Berlin. Under direction of Mies van der Rohe, it was forced to close completely in 1933, and with it, the official Kandem-Bauhaus relationship ended too. Production of the lamps continued into the 1940s with little mention of Brandt and the Bauhaus before ceasing forever. The designs are now widely considered to be benchmarks in design history.

Above: One of our original table lamps by Kandem, sensitively restored by hand by the skinflint workshop, ready for modern-day use.

During the turbulent and dangerous years of World War II, many of the key figures of the Bauhaus emigrated to the United States, where their work and their teaching philosophies influenced generations of young architects and designers (Chris included). Celebrating its centenary in 2019, the spirit of the Bauhaus lives on, continuing to influence every aspect of our lives in ways we don’t even notice: from the fabric covering the seats of the tube to bookshelves, kitchenware, road signs, cutlery and fitted kitchens, and at skinflint, many of the vintage lights we salvage and restore today. 

Explore our latest Bauhaus Collection of restored original vintage lights.