The
Ulm School of Design (Hochschule für Gestaltung) was a college of
design based in
Ulm,
Germany.
Founded in
1953 by
Inge Aicher-Scholl,
Otl Aicher and
Max Bill, the latter being first Rector of the school and a former student at the Bauhaus. The HfG quickly gained international recognition and is now viewed as being second only to the Bauhaus as the most influential school of design. During its operation from 1953–1968, new approaches to the design process were implemented within the departments of Product Design, Visual Communication, Industrialized Building, Information and Filmmaking.
The HfG building was designed by Max Bill and remains intact today as a historically important and functional building under the auspices of Foundation Ulm. The HfG was one of the most progressive educational institutions of design in the decades of the
50s and
60s and a pioneer in the study of
semiotics.
The history of HfG evolved through innovation and change, in line with their own self-image of the school as an experimental institution. This resulted in numerous changes in the content, organization of classes and continuing internal conflicts that influenced the final decision of closing the HfG in 1968. Although the school ceased operation after fifteen years, the ′Ulm Model′ continues to have a major influence on international design education.
History
Background and early political history
The postwar years, between
1945 and
1952 in West Germany were...
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