Taking the Bauhaus experience as a starting point, this research analyses the formation of a figurative culture of Design. The school emerges in 1919, imbued with expressionist ideals and obstinate to promote the union between all arts. However, already in 1923, a process of revision and adaptation of methods and researches of form begins to shift from the art sphere to the technical-scientific one. Although this inflection has undermined the relevance of art within the institution – and influenced the subsequent thinking on modern design –, the belief in form as an educational instrument have remained relevant thanks to the presence of great artist-teachers, such as Josef Albers, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and László Moholy-Nagy. With special reference to the Bauhaus, this dissertation intends to recover the philosophical dimension of the visual culture produced by design, understanding that the form has the capacity to generate reflection ad innovation.