How the Bauhaus Movement Continues to Shape My Design Vision

By Cansu Ariti, Founder & Designer, Goods Istanbul

Beauty doesn’t need to shout; it needs to function, to serve, and to endure

As a designer rooted in Istanbul, I’ve always believed that the spaces we live in deserve honesty—honesty in form, function, and feeling. One of the earliest movements that taught me this truth was Bauhaus.

I first encountered Bauhaus as a design student—intrigued by the clean geometry, the reduction to essentials, and the refusal to separate beauty from utility. But over the years, my relationship with Bauhaus went beyond academic admiration. It became a guiding light.

The Bauhaus movement, born in Germany in 1919, emerged from a need to rebuild—physically and culturally—after the war. It wasn’t just about creating furniture or buildings; it was about rethinking how design could serve life. What resonated most deeply with me was the idea that design wasn’t decoration. It was solution. A well-designed chair or table had to be functional first—but also poetic.

At Goods Istanbul, you can see traces of this Bauhaus DNA in almost everything we create. The sculptural simplicity of our rocking chairs. The exposed honesty of materials like ashwood, iroko, and handwoven cord. The way each product refuses ornament, yet feels like an object of art. I’ve always felt that true beauty lives in clarity, and that’s something Bauhaus has helped me chase—again and again.

Istanbul, too, plays its part. Living and working in a city where East meets West, I find new meaning in the Bauhaus balance of opposites—art and craft, simplicity and complexity, tradition and modernity. When I walk the cobbled backstreets of Galata or sketch in our Sarıyer studio, the Bauhaus spirit is with me: form follows function, yes—but also form reveals soul.

For me, design is not a trend—it’s a language. And Bauhaus taught me how to speak it.

With love from Istanbul,

Cansu