on focus
from 06.07.2018 to 19.01.2020

Ulm School of Design (1953-1968)

A retrospective

The Ulm School of Design was modern and visionary, exerting a lasting influence on the way design is understood in Germany and abroad, both through its teaching methods and via its new approaches to design itself. The School’s founding in 1953 after World War II was shaped by politics: on the basis of Ulm’s adult education college, the initiators Inge Aicher-Scholl and Otl Aicher developed a school with a democratic ethos. In the tradition of the Bauhaus, the Ulm School of Design became a major institution that professionalized the vocation of the industrial designer in both scientific and theoretical terms.

In spite of its closure in 1968 due to dwindling political support, the progressive ideas and solution-oriented methods of the Ulm School spread around the world. In memory of its demise 50 years ago, this exhibition uses selected works from the fields of product design, visual communication and photograph to illustrate the School’s programme.