Alma Siedhoff-Buscher (Bauspiel)

Alma Siedhoff-Buscher

Bauspiel

Alma Siedhoff-Buscher was the first Bauhaus practitioner to take children's design seriously. Siedhoff-Buscher saw children's design--including toys, furniture, and utensils--as a way out of the textile department, where she'd been confined with all the other women by Walter Gropius. The critical success of the result--a children's room at the landmark Bauhaus exhibit of 1923--probably helped vindicate Siedhoff-Buscher's view of things a bit.

In 1923, Siedhoff-Buscher designed the boat-like wooden block

set still being produced by Naef, Swiss maker of wooden toys.

The Bauspiel Blocks come in atypical shapes, which makes them a bit more interesting than the standard block sets.

Bauhaus Bauspiel blocks are $150 at kid-o [kidonyc.com]

Bauhaus Archiv Museum for Design [bauhaus.de]