Midcentury-Modern Architecture: Everything You Should Know About the Style

Table Of Content

• Midcentury Modern Living Room Ideas That Explain Why This Retro Style Endures
• Top interiors stories
• Everything You Need To Know About Midcentury Modern Design
• A California home with Italian style
• Mid-century modern dining room ideas from interior design experts
• Soft curves and sharp lines live in harmony

He's written for Creative Bloq on design and branding matters since the site's launch. Interest in the aesthetic is fuelled by the success of cult dramas such as Mad Men, driving demand for mid-century modern items at vintage stores, furniture fairs and online marketplaces such as Etsy. As is always a part of minimalism, these pieces all lack unnecessary decoration. In fact, many pieces even begin to eliminate or minimize existing layers or pieces of a traditional piece of furniture. For example, many chairs are simplified from a seat and a back into one continuous surface that serves as both (think the Eames shell chair). Still, others minimize structural elements so that the piece appears to float, creating a hierarchy between different pieces of the product.

Midcentury Modern Living Room Ideas That Explain Why This Retro Style Endures

George Fred Keck, his brother Willam Keck, Henry P. Glass, Mies van der Rohe, and Edward Humrich created Mid-century modern residences in the Chicago area. Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House is extremely difficult to heat or cool, while Keck and Keck were pioneers in the incorporation of passive solar features in their houses to compensate for their large glass windows. When decorating with midcentury modern style, you will want to let the wooden pieces shine. Make sure the woods you select work together, and do not contrast each other, Arditi explains.

Top interiors stories

When it comes to incorporating mid-century modern design in your home, the first step is to "research and familiarize yourself with the iconic designers, furniture pieces and architectural styles of the era," advises Sims. Understanding the principles that guided mid-century design will not only provide inspiration but also a framework for you to start with. United States architect Frank Lloyd Wright also played a key role in the development and continued evolution of mid-century modern architecture and design, Hoyos adds.

Everything You Need To Know About Midcentury Modern Design

At the core of mid-century modern design lies an unwavering focus on functionality. Every piece, from the smallest accessory to the most significant piece of furniture, is meticulously designed to serve a purpose. “[Mid-century modern design] prioritizes practicality and functionality, with furniture and objects designed to serve a purpose while still being aesthetically pleasing,” says Amanda Sims. “Mid-century modern design makes use of a variety of materials, often highlighting their natural qualities or sleek finishes,” adds Amanda Sims.

Even though the style cropped up all over the U.S. during the middle part of the 20th century, the design vernacular’s emphasis on indoor-outdoor living has always been particularly well-suited to the Southern California climate. Today, the abundance of floor-to-ceiling windows and use of natural materials—like wood paneling and stone fireplaces often seen in such houses—continue to resonate. Below, we’ve selected some of the best midcentury-modern homes to be featured by AD in recent years. As you’ll soon find, each one displays a fresh contemporary take on a now classic style. Midcentury modern living rooms look as current today as they did a century ago.

You may recognize some of the following qualities as things you still see today. Mid-Century Modern architecture is probably the easiest category of the design movement to define. Architects were inspired to reimagine the way we live after the horrors of WWII. Ideas were quickly spreading and being shared; designers were trying to define the perfect way to solve problems, create a new and exciting way to appreciate space, and to give everyone access to good design.

Bass worked for all the greats of the time, including Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese and Alfred Hitchcock. Something of a legend in graphic design circles, Paul Rand is also a pioneer of mid-century modern graphic design, applying the principles of bold geometric shapes, clean lines and graphic symbolism to his logos for the likes of IBM, UPS and ABC. Flat roofs are one example of how important clean lines were in this design style. Since spaces were considered individual and often boxy volumes, the roof was typically a flat plane that simply closed off an interior volume. Though not all projects used flat roofs, they were very common and tended to reinforce the horizontality present through the large windows and the vertically shifted horizontal boxes that composed some Mid-Century Modern buildings.

This means you have a wide range of shades to play with — so go wild mixing them all or pull it back for a minimalist spin by only selecting one or two hues. If you're obsessed with the look — or just starting your design exploration — these are six distinguishing features of mid-century modern to keep stowed away for your next reno project. Today, we take glass doors and floor-to-ceiling windows for granted, but in the early 20th century, these larger glass details were new and exciting. "Accessories that enhance the mid-century style like vintage or reproduction pieces like abstract art, sculptural objects or vases," explains Sims.

Soft curves and sharp lines live in harmony

Video of the property from December 2022 shows a light-filled home that appears to have been well-preserved, with large windows, wood floors and mid-century furniture. A thoughtful selection of materials and finishes, from fun tiles, flooring, and wallpaper, to carefully curated furnishing and art picks imbue each space with character and charm. Upon entering Lark House, one is greeted by a meticulously crafted blend of old and new.

Mid-century modern-inspired style can be found everywhere, whether it's the full-blown theme of a room or a space that simply has hints of it. Though the period itself emerged in the 1940s (and technically ended in the late '60s and early '70s), people are still adorning their homes in furniture, colors, and materials that look like they could be plucked from a home in 1955. Here are some of the defining hallmarks of mid-century modern interior design, according to Hoyos and Kinlaw. “The principles of mid-century modern architecture [and design] are very relevant today—especially the connection to nature, which is very relevant with the wellness trend and the importance of sustainability practices in design,” Hoyos says. Timeless pieces like the Eames Lounge Chair, the Barcelona Chair, and the Tulip Table have become symbols of the mid-century modern style, celebrated for their innovative design and enduring appeal.

"Understanding what inspired and drove the movement is a great place to start with mid-century modern design," says Dave Adams. "Initially, the Bauhaus movement sought to unite fine art with architecture, keeping function ahead of form, and creating designs that could easily be mass produced." “Mid-century modern design is known for its iconic furniture pieces, which are characterized by innovative forms, use of new materials, and a focus on comfort and practicality,” explains Amanda Sims. Mid-century modern spaces often feature bold patterns, and a harmonious balance between form and function. At its core, mid-century modern design represents a departure from the ornate and excessive styles that dominated the early 20th century.

At the covered entry, bright red French doors are illuminated by a Sputnik chandelier. A barista champ, rocket scientist, engineer, designer, and IoT expert came together to design an AI-enhanced coffee system capable of handling everything from grinding to brewing automatically with fine tuned precision. Under a cedar tongue and groove ceiling, the open living room centers around views of the water and the colorful Roche Bobois Mahjong Sofa in Missoni fabrics. The Vitis 5 chandelier from RBW adds a sculptural statement above without overpowering the space. Since 2003, she has covered home design, gardening, parenting, houseplants, even youth sports. Long Beach-based artist and landscape designer Dustin Gimbel will offer a visual tour of Sculptura Botanica, his 2020 solo show at the Sherman Library and Gardens, and will offer tips on incorporating sculptural objects into the home garden.

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At times, designers also played with colors—the earthy hues of the 1950s eventually giving way to brighter, more saturated colors, as the Space Age and Pop Art came into the picture. Located in Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, the house was made famous by a Julius Shulman photograph showing two women sitting in one corner, with an awe-inspiring panoramic view behind them through its floor-to-ceiling glass walls. It has since been used in numerous fashion shoots, films, and advertising campaigns. Many mid-century modern houses were designed as private residences, and Pierre Koenig's iconic Stahl House is one such example. It was built in 1959 as part of the Case Study Houses program – and is also known as Case Study House #22.

Midcentury bathroom ideas: 7 ways to create this retro look - Homes & Gardens

Midcentury bathroom ideas: 7 ways to create this retro look .

Posted: Wed, 22 Nov 2023 08:00:00 GMT [source]

Midcentury modern style defined the mid-20th century—simple, functional wooden pieces made from teak and curved designs reigned supreme. Midcentury modern is a term that’s thrown around a lot these days, but what is it really? Midcentury-modern architecture is not simply anything that was designed and built in the middle of the 20th century, but in fact an architectural style with a defined set of principles and influences. The style continues to influence contemporary architecture in ways big and small, so below, with the help of four industry experts, we’ve broken it all down from you—from the history to the most famous examples that still stand today. If the final aesthetic feels utterly now, it is because midcentury architecture was ahead of its time, says the owner of this Beverly Hills home.