Scientific Phenomenology in Design Pedagogy : The Legacy of Walter Gropius and Gestalt Psychology

This article examines the contribution of scientific phenomenology in design pedagogy through the theoretical relationships between the German art school Staatliches Bauhaus and the most important scientific phenomenological theories of the first half of the twentieth century. After showing the relationships between the Gestalt Theory and the principal teachers of the Bauhaus (Johannes Itten, Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, László Moholy-Nagy, Josef Albers), the pedagogical epistemology of Walter Gropius is critically presented. The epoché, the intersubjective criterion and the anti-psychologism are examined. In conclusion, it is evidenced that Gropius was strongly influenced by Gestalt psychology. This undeclared influence was a necessary consequence of the fact that phenomenological attitude is a crucial operating modality for the concrete practice of design.