Modern architecture
Modernism, inspired by the sleek design of ocean liners, seemed to suggest that humanity could embark on a collective journey away from the political and economic systems that had led to the devastation of trench warfare. The clean lines, functional forms, and futuristic vision of Modernist architecture reflected a desire to break free from the past and chart a new course toward a more hopeful and streamlined future.
Johnson Wax Administration Building, Racine - WI (1939)
There are no traditional windows to gaze out from; instead, light softly filters in through clerestory windows set high around the massive room, filled not with glass but with translucent Pyrex tubes. Enhancing the futuristic atmosphere, the soaring ceiling is supported by a forest of slender, tapering lily-pad columns. Frank Lloyd Wright also designed modernist office furniture, including new typing chairs and sleek, red streamlined steel tables, all in harmony with the space’s aesthetic. Even today, 21st-century furnishings feel equally at home in this innovative environment.
Hoover Dam, USA
It is both a work of art and architecture. The original engineering design was reimagined in a restrained Art Deco style by British-born architect Gordon Kaufman, renowned for his design of the Santa Anita racetrack and lavish Spanish-Colonial-style homes in California. Kaufman’s architectural touch brought a sense of elegance and sophistication to the project, blending form and function in a way that elevated its engineering achievement into an iconic aesthetic statement.
German Pavilion, Barcelona - Spain
One of the 20th century’s most beautiful buildings, the Barcelona Pavilion, demonstrated that the modern architecture emerging from the Bauhaus and elsewhere in Germany was anything but puritanical. Constructed from luxurious materials like marble, onyx, travertine, steel, and glass, the pavilion subtly referenced ancient Japanese traditions while seamlessly connecting architecture with the surrounding landscape. Serving as a tranquil retreat amid a bustling fairground, it offered visitors a space for reflection. From Mies van der Rohe’s elegant Barcelona chairs, they could enjoy views of the city, while shifting patterns of light, reflected from a serene pool, played across the gleaming walls.
Villa Savoye
With its white concrete walls, Villa Savoye evokes an exhilarating sense of freedom, openness, and healthy living. Although its design is ultra-modern, it ingeniously reinterprets the ideal villas crafted by Palladio some four hundred years earlier in Italy. Villa Savoye is both rational and romantic, embodying an idealistic vision. It serves as a bold architectural response against the darkness, devastation, and despair of World War I and the economic depression that followed, offering a hopeful vision for a brighter future.
De La War Pavilion, Bexhill, Sussex - England (1935)
The building was truly exotic, marking a significant milestone as the first major welded steel-framed structure in Britain and the country’s first public building constructed in the Modernist style. Its innovative design and groundbreaking construction techniques represented a bold departure from traditional architectural norms, setting a new precedent for public buildings in the UK.
Lingotto Fiat Factory - Italy
Proclaimed at the time as “the first-built manifestation of Futurism”—an avant-garde art movement obsessed with speed—Fiat’s Lingotto factory was never designed to be an artwork, nor even a standout piece of architecture. Yet, with its monumental scale, unyielding lines, and the race track circling its roof, it captured and embodied the spirit of the era. For many young Italian artists and architects, the factory became a symbol of modernity, defining the Futurist fascination with industry, speed, and progress.