Deyan Sudjic, Harriet Harriss and Nina Hertig talked to Dezeen's editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs about the connections and contrasts between the Bauhaus and Danish design in this talk filmed by Dezeen at the Design Museum in London.
To celebrate the centenary year of the Bauhaus movement, Dezeen and Danish tap manufacturer Vola hosted this panel discussion exploring the influence the German design school had on Danish design.
The talk covered the impact the Bauhaus had on Danish design, and explored which has been more successful in bringing modernist design to the masses.
The panel comprised Sudjic, director of the Design Museum in London, Harriss, reader in architectural education at the Royal College of Art, and Hertig, Danish design expert and co-founder of Sigmar.
The panel discussed the similarities between Danish design and the values of the Bauhaus, and the extent to which Danish designers such as Arne Jacobsen, Kaare Klint and Poul Kjærholm were influenced by the German school.
The also debated the role of women designers including Lilly Reich, Anni Albers and Benita Koch-Otte at the Bauhaus, the appropriation of their work by their male colleagues and the reasons why their contribution was not fully recognised until recently.
Sudjic is the current director of the Design Museum in London and was previously editor of Domus Magazine from 2000 to 2004, as well as the founding editor of Blueprint Magazine from 1983 to 1996. He wrote the book B is for Bauhaus, a "personal dictionary" of modern design.
Harriss is a reader in Architectural Education and head of the research programme in Architecture at the Royal College of Art in London and was a judge for Dezeen Awards 2018. Her 2016 publication "A Gendered Profession" addresses the issue of gender inequality in architecture.
Hertig is the co-founder of multidisciplinary design studio Sigmar. Based in London, Sigmar works primarily with historical furniture and interiors.
Vola released its first product in 1968, the 111 tap designed by Arne Jacobsen. Vola celebrated its 50th anniversary-year in 2018 with a series of short films exploring the brands relationship with water and its approach to sustainability.
Dezeen's Bauhaus 100 series explorers the movement's key figures and projects, to mark the centenary of the school's founding.
The talk was held at the Design Museum on 12 March 2019. Watch more livestreams here including our talk with architect Neri&Hu in Stockholm last month and our discussion with David Chipperfield in Venice last year.