1. The cultivation of inherent faculties

    Rousseau’s Emile argued that education is the cultivation of inherent faculties, rather than the imposition of knowledge. Taking this path, Pestalozzi recast the teacher as a protective figure who follows and stimulates the child’s inherent intelligence.

  2. The basic course

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    The Basic Course was a general introduction to composition, color, materials, and three-dimensional form that familiarized students with techniques, concepts, and formal relationships considered fundamental to all visual expression, whether it be sculpture, metal work, painting, or lettering. The Basic Course developed an abstract and abstracting visual language that would provide a theoretical and practical basis for any artistic endeavor.

  3. It is a little world

    See how many a pretty thing
    I always from the cube can bring:
    Chair and sofa, bench and table,
    Desk to write at when I’m able,
    All the household furniture,
    Even baby’s bed I’m sure;
    Not a few such things I see;
    Stove and sideboard here can be.
    Many things, both old and new,
    My dear cube brings into view;
    So my cube much pleases me,
    Because through it so much I see.
    It is a little world.

    1. ​Cubed​

    I wish I knew the source.

    I can't help but interpret the word "cube" in this poem as referring to a cubicle, which makes it seem a little sad.

  4. A universal correspondence

    In 1923 Kandinsky proposed a universal correspondence between the three elementary shapes and the three primary colors: the dynamic triangle is inherently yellow, the static square is intrinsically red, and the serene circle is naturally blue.

    The series represents Kandinsky’s attempt to prove a universal correlation between color and geometry; it has become one of the most famous icons of the Bauhaus. Kandinsky conceived of these colors and shapes as a series of oppositions: yellow and blue represent the extremes of hot/cold, light/dark, and active/passive, while red is the intermediary between them. The triangle, square, and circle are graphic equivalents of the same polarities.

  5. The arbitrariness of the sign

    A key difference between verbal language and the modernist ideal of a visual “language” is the arbitrariness of a verbal sign, which has no natural, inherent relationship to the concept it represents. The sound of the word “horse”, for example, does not innately resemble the concept of a horse. Ferdinand de Saussure called this arbitrariness the fundamental feature of the verbal sign. The meaning of a sign is generated by its relationship to other signs in the language: the sign’s legibility lies in its difference from other signs.

    1. ​Gods of the Word​

    In Gods of the Word, Margaret Magnus suggests that verbal language is not arbitrary – that sounds do have inherent meaning.

  6. Reduced to an act of selection

    “The more exact and complete the criteria are, the more creative the work becomes. The creative act is reduced to an act of selection.”

    — Karl Gerstner, Designing Programmes (1963)

  7. Separation of surface and structure

    The nineteenth century saw an increasing separation between the treatment of the surface and the structure of designed objects. Mass production and a mobile market economy encouraged the production of heavily ornamented yet cheaply fabricated products. Affordable manufacture allowed the burgeoning middle class to acquire “luxury” goods fashioned after objects formerly reserved for an elite.

    1. ​The drop press​
  8. Gifts and occupations

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    Between 1835 and 1850 Froebel worked on his “Gifts and Occupations” — a set of geometric blocks (Gifts) and basic craft activities (Occupations), that would become the centerpiece of his pedagogical theory. The Gifts and Occupations were introduced in a highly ordered sequence, which began in the child’s second month and concluded in the last year of kindergarten.

    1. ​Inheriting Froebel's Gifts​

    "Gifts and occupations" could be a good name for something.