Water Tower, Verviers, Belgium by Bernd and Hilla Becher

German photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher have been instrumental in carrying on the twentieth-century Bauhaus tradition of the geometric aesthetic. Over the course of several decades, the couple photographed European and North American water towers. Their updated portrayal of the Bauhaus aesthetic was both a celebration of the rigidity of form but also commented on the idealistic promise of the Bauhaus with scenes of dilapidation. They developed the “Becher School” style, emphasizing objective, serial imagery, which anticipates the long-form generative art collections of today.