Mid-Century Modern Architecture: What Is It?
Clean lines, soft curves, a lack of ornamentation, large windows, utilitarian interior design, and open floor plans were all hallmarks of mid-century modern buildings, a twentieth-century architectural style that sought to balance indoor and outdoor living areas. Mid-century modern design, which was a component of a broader artistic movement that included product development, graphic design, and architecture, peaked in the post-war 1950s and 1960s. It has recently experienced a resurgence in popularity thanks to the arrival of shows like Mad Men (2007) that portray that era.
Mid-Century Modern Architecture: A Quick History
After World War II, the need for suburban contemporary homes for sale led to the full emergence of mid-century modern design. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius, two German supporters of the Bauhaus school of modern design, emigrated to the United States in the 1930s and 1940s to work as professors at institutions like the Illinois Institute of Technology and Harvard Graduate School of Design.
Along with other notables including Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, and Alvar Aalto, their work helped to establish the global modernist movement. The foundation for a mid-century design movement that would spread from the academy to a larger real estate market was built by the impact of such design luminaries.
This modern style ultimately expanded to include bigger structures and landmarks in East Coast metropolises like New York City and West Coast cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles in California, as well as wide tracts of contemporary residences for middle-class homeowners in the US. Though the history of mid-century modern design began tragically, it ended triumphantly.
Five Foundational Elements of Mid-Century Modern Design
The mid-century modern approach varies from architect to architect, but these fundamental components are constants in every home or structure created in the style:1. Enormous windows: This architectural design requires windows with large, flat panes of glass, which can sometimes extend all the way from the floors to the flat roofs of mid-century modern homes. In order to promote harmony with the outside places they are built in, as if to indicate that they are a natural extension of the environment itself, typical mid-century modern residences also include glass doors.
Minimalist external design: A mid-century modern home avoids an ostentatious appearance in favor of minimalism. Exteriors of mid-century modern homes are boxy and functional. The ranch-style home of the time is a typical illustration of this emphasis on minimalism as opposed to ostentation. It is just one storey tall, has an attached garage, a modest patio, and lots of access to open, outdoor spaces.
Practical interior design: The interior design of mid-century modern homes follows the practical Scandinavian style, with warm, inviting tones paired with flexible furniture and subtle adornment. The purpose of a living room is to provide a space that is easy and conducive to leading a modern lifestyle rather than to impress.
Complementary to nature: Rather than being imposed on the natural order of things, mid-century modern house plans are created to blend in with the surroundings. For instance, your home’s dining room might have a wall or door made completely of glass that opens to your backyard. The importance of having access to nature is widely recognized.
Angular forms: Many mid-century homes and structures are renowned for their slanted roofing and outcroppings, despite the fact that some of them are flat all around. Some of the most recognizable traits connected to the style are these sharp, contrasting lines.
Some Important Examples of Mid-Century Modern Buildings
Although mid-century modern buildings are widely spread, certain of them are recognized as iconic examples of the style. Seven of the most notable are listed below:
1. The Schindler House: This house was built in 1922 and was the creation of architect Rudolph Schindler. Bedrooms, at least in the traditional sense, dining, and living are not present at all. This should be a public area, according to Schindler. At the moment, it serves as a public space.
2. Case Study House Program: In an effort to promote and fund mid-century homes that would work for the modern style, Arts & Architecture magazine created the Case Study House Program. Entry designs for the contest were created by renowned husband-and-wife architects Charles and Ray Eames and USC architecture professor Pierre Koenig. The contest took place from about the middle of the 1940s through the middle of the 1960s.
3. Kaufmann House: The 1946 completion of Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann House, one of many mid-century residences constructed in Palm Springs, a hub of the style, in Southern California. The Kaufmann House is a prime example of mid-century modern features due to its protruding angles, enormous windows, and openness to the desert nature surrounding it. The town included many renowned mansions in the style, including Frank Sinatra’s.
4. Philip Johnson Glass House: Constructed in 1949 in Connecticut, Philip Johnson’s Glass House, with its glass walls, acute angles, minimalist design, maximum practicality, and complete harmony with its natural surroundings, is essentially the Platonic ideal of mid-century modern architecture.
5. Farnsworth House: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created the Farnsworth House in 1951 for Edith Farnsworth, an Illinois physician. The one-story, 1,500 square foot residence has floor to ceiling windows.6. Eichler homes: Designed to make the mid-century modern home accessible to as many people as possible, “Eichler homes” were constructed during the 1950s and into the 1960s and named for real estate entrepreneur Joseph Eichler. More than 10,000 of these homes were built by Eichler, who was instrumental in popularizing the mid-century design.
Mid-Century Modern Architecture: What Is It?
Following World War II, mid-century modern architecture became popular in the United States and is recognized for its simple shapes, sparse ornamentation, and connection to nature. Homes from the mid-20th century are distinguished by their extremely wide, low footprints, spacious, open layouts, floor to ceiling windows, and a focus on bringing the outside in.Despite the fact that mid-century modern architecture experienced a boom from 1945 to 1969, it has recently experienced a significant renaissance. Millions of new homeowners now have access to mid-century style thanks to interior decoration trends like Scandinavian design and Danish Modern.
History
European architects escaping Nazi Germany brought mid-century modern architecture to the United States, drawing inspiration from Bauhaus and American high-prairie style residences. Walter Gropius, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and Marcel Breuer are a few of the original mid-century modern architects and designers. Many mid-century modern architects were schooled by Frank Lloyd Wright, the founder of modern architecture.Americans placed a lot of importance on lifestyle, family time, and time spent in nature after World War II. Wide windows that provided views of the homeowners’ backyards, open living areas where the entire family could entertain, and technological advancements—especially in the kitchen—so homeowners spent less time cleaning and more time with their families—were all features of mid-century modern homes built throughout America’s suburbs.There were three major types of mid-century modern architecture during its initial boom, which lasted from 1945 to 1969:
- International: As the name suggests, this style of mid-century modern architecture was greatly impacted by the Bauhaus movement and was inspired by international architects. Homes were incredibly plain, with little to no adornment, and were frequently stuccoed.
- Contemporary: The mid-century modern design that is most widely used today, contemporary homes have clean lines, floor-to-ceiling windows, and more organic-feeling materials like wood, stone, and brick. A lot of these houses have asymmetrical exteriors with windows that reach the roofline and interiors with exposed beams and ceilings.
- Organic: A smaller group of mid-century modern architects focused on integrating their buildings with their surroundings. They preferred homes with more organic designs rather than ones with straight lines and right angles. Because organic mid-century modern homes were so heavily influenced by their natural surroundings, an organic mid-century modern home in a forest would look entirely different than an organic mid-century modern home in the desert.