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Modernist Architecture + Graphics

Timeless, beautiful design that demonstrates Modernism is forever.

Rational Modernism from yesterday and today: Architecture and graphic design inspired by the Bauhaus and International-Style design movements of the 20th Century.

03/14/2024

"Fred Troller Design" is the first comprehensive survey of the work of a pioneering graphic designer who brought Swiss modernism to America in the 1960s, via influential projects for clients such as Geigy, American Airlines and IBM. This beautifully-designed book would be an excellent resource for lovers of Modernist design, and can be ordered until March 27 at https://vol.co/collections/fred-troller-design

06/08/2023

Beautiful from every angle, like a sculpture in a field: in 1972, Architect Robert Whitton designed the Engle Residence for a secluded site in Boxborough, Massachusetts. We love these late-modern structures that merge Bauhaus discipline with 1970s spatial experimentation.

01/01/2023

Happy New Year! Here's to all good things in 2023.

12/13/2022

Visionary architect John Pawson designed the beautifully minimalist Giessen House in Giessen, Germany. Finished in 2022, the modernist townhouse is a testament to refined simplicity throughout its courtyard and interior spaces, all of which are bathed in natural light and serenity.

Seventy years after Mies showed us the way, less is still more.

12/03/2022

Marina City is a mixed-use residential-commercial building complex in Chicago, designed by architect Bertrand Goldberg. The multi-building complex opened in 1963 and occupies almost an entire city block on the Chicago River.

When finished, the iconic complex consisted of two 65-story apartment towers, a 10-story office building, a cinema, an ice-skating rink and a marina.

10/23/2022

French furniture designer Pierre Paulin created the innovative Origami seating system in 1970. The square, cushioned platform is subdivided into triangular sections that can be raised or lowered, taking the form of a sofa, chaise, or bed. Part of the system is a circular table element that provides contrast with the square and triangular shapes. Paulin's Origiami sofa is another design success based on pure geometric forms that will never become "dated" and will always feel modern. Photos by Ralph Pucci International.

09/23/2022

"The house appears to have been dropped into the site, a machine-crafted object that has landed in a natural world. The dramatic dialogue between the whiteness of the house and the primary blues and greens of the water, trees, and sky allows the house not only to assert its own presence but to enhance, by contrast, the beauty of its natural environment as well."

– Architect Richard Meier on his modernist masterpiece, the Douglas House, built in 1973 on Lake Michigan.

A beautiful new website tells the story of the iconic house ... its place in the history of modernism and the new steps taken to preserve it for the future.
See more at: www.douglashouse.org/

Photos by James Haefner
www.jameshaefner.com/

07/16/2022

Dieter Rams' design edict "Less But Better" is demonstrated in his 1959 design for the Braun LE1 audio speaker, seen here in a vintage Braun promotional photo. Audio components sit on a bench designed by Harry Bertoia for Knoll in 1952 -- Bertoia's very first furniture design that is still in production today.

06/15/2022

Abid Javed is a research scientist and ceramic artist who lives and works in London. He combines his two passions of science and ceramics to create impressive sculptural forms inspired by molecular biology. These delightfully biomorphic ceramic sculptures remind us of Isamu Noguchi's sculptures or Alexander Calder's mobiles. See more of his superb artwork here: https://www.modernistcollection.com/magazine

06/05/2022

Mies van der Rohe's beautiful Barcelona Pavilion is known for its simple form and skillful use of extravagant materials, such as travertine, marble, and red onyx. Originally designed in the late 1920s, it was a strikingly innovative structure for its time, and still feels absolutely modern today –– almost a century later. Read the full story here: https://www.modernistcollection.com/magazine

05/30/2022

In 1958, engineer-turned-designer Richard Harvey conceived of a lightweight, durable plastic architectural screen that he called Sculpta-Grille. The striking design creates shifting visual patterns as you move around it, and even the shadows it casts are intriguing. Several decades later, it's been skillfully reissued by Modernica and is available in custom-built sizes. Read more about Sculpta-Grille in the premiere issue of Modernist Collection magazine: https://www.modernistcollection.com/magazine

05/27/2022

The best new magazine we've seen in a long time: Modernist Collection is the journal of 20th-century architecture and design, showcasing some of the world's best architectural photography. The first issue includes a special section on the architecture of Mies van der Rohe. Read the premiere issue here (and subscribe for free): https://www.modernistcollection.com/magazine

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