Abstract
This article presents a historical account of how two pioneering figures—Widagdo and Rita Widagdo—shaped the early formation of interior design education in Indonesia through their German Modernist training. Drawing on archival sources and oral histories, the study traces the educational lineage from Bauhaus pedagogy, transmitted through Herbert Hirche at the Staatliche Akademie der Bildenden Künste Stuttgart, to the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) in Indonesia’s independence. Rather than offering a stylistic comparison between European and Indonesian design philosophies, this research reconstructs the chronology and influence of individual educators who translated Bauhaus principles into a new academic culture. It argues that interior design education in Indonesia emerged not as an imitation of Bauhaus Modernism but as an institutional legacy shaped by transnational experiences. Their teaching methods and studio practices established the foundation for a professional discipline that continues to inform Indonesian design pedagogy today.
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