Christian Holmes Outside Topic #2

            During one of our first lectures we discussions, we unpacked the Greek term “techne”. This is the root Greek word for art. The definition also contains within it a distinction from “craftsmanship”. While this word is where the English language gets its word “technical”, this word notes more of an aesthetic artistry, rather than the practicality of craftsmanship. This definition made me take pause and wonder how the Bauhaus movement of the Weimar Period in Germany related to this term. The Bauhaus sought to create a harmony between the beautiful and the functional. Utility and art intertwine in what the Bauhaus architects called the perfect harmony of structure. The Bauhaus architects dreamed of creating great “secular Cathedrals of utility and beauty. With all of this in mind, it appears that the either the Bauhaus movement doesn’t apply to this term, or that the movement attempted to generally transcend this term completely.