Modern design is a historical aesthetic movement that emerged in the early to mid-twentieth century and continues to inspire contemporary interior designers. It is characterized by a monochromatic color palette, clean lines, minimalism, natural materials, and natural light. Scandinavian design is another modern design school that focuses on creating functional spaces with a delightful aesthetic. The Bauhaus philosophy and architecture inspire this style, highlighting the use of clean lines, geometric form, and natural elements.
Contemporary interiors are distinctly of-the-moment, characterized by clean lines, meaningful pieces, and an edited approach. Modernist design is characterized by simplicity, clean lines, and a neutral color palette, often combining natural materials like wood, leather, and stone with industrial elements like steel and glass. Modernism was a distinct style that focused on ridding itself of adornment and creating objects for functional purposes, where form became secondary.
Modernism became the single most important new style or philosophy of architecture and design of the 20th century. Modernism embraces a home with clean, crisp lines, a simple color palette, and the use of materials that can be used for practicality. Mid-century modern is characteristically simple with clean lines and material choice coming before fussy design elements. Modern interiors embrace simplicity, rejecting the heavy and ornate elements and details of earlier schools of design in favor of a minimalist approach.
📹 let’s chat about mid century modern design
Hi friends! Today I’m yapping all my thoughts about “mid century modern” It’s hard to go anywhere with an interior design project …
What does modern interior design mean?
Modern interior design emphasizes simplicity and clean lines, with minimal adornment. White, beiges, and earth hues are the primary colors used to emphasize natural materials and maintain a clean space. Monochromatic and nude hues are also common in modern interiors. The goal is to create an airy and open space, utilizing natural light to enhance the overall aesthetic. The key to this style is to keep it simple and clean.
What is the modern theory of interior design?
The modern theory of interior design is based on the principle of “form follows function”, which emphasizes that a space should serve its intended purpose. This approach involves open floor plans, practical furniture, and minimal ornamentation. Modern design focuses on functional layouts, with open floor plans and multi-functional furniture. Geometric forms, such as lines and shapes, are crucial in modern design.
Additionally, modern design often incorporates the latest technology, such as smart home devices and advanced lighting solutions. Modern and contemporary interior design are distinct styles, with modern design originating from the early to mid-20th century and focusing on simplicity, minimalism, and functionalism.
What is modernism in short summary?
Modernism is a period of artistic experimentation in literature, visual art, architecture, dance, and music from the late 19th to the mid-20th century, particularly after World War I. This period was marked by industrialization, capitalism, social change, and advances in science and social sciences. Modernists felt alienation from Victorian morality, optimism, and convention, leading to a search for new modes of expression.
The Modernist impulse is fueled by industrialization and urbanization, as well as the search for an authentic response to a changed world. While prewar works by Henry James and Joseph Conrad are considered Modernist, Modernism is typically associated with the period after World War I. The war’s impact on Western society and culture undermined faith, leading to disillusionment and fragmentation in postwar literature. T. S.
Eliot’s The Waste Land is a prime example of Modernism, focusing on redemption and renewal in a spiritually empty landscape. The poem requires the reader to actively interpret the text, reflecting the fragmentary nature of Modernism.
What is modernism in interiors?
Modernism was a design principle that emphasized minimalist, unadorned forms and eschewed ornate embellishments, diverging from the ornate, intricate styles that had prevailed prior to the war. The movement drew inspiration from a number of sources, including technology, factories, practicality, and usefulness. One of the key tenets of modernism was the idea of “form following function,” which emphasized the importance of aligning the design of objects with their intended purpose. This new world was distinguished by its emphasis on functionality.
What are the characteristics of modern interior design?
Modern interior design is a blend of old and contemporary styles, with a focus on functionality and practical solutions for modern living. It is rooted in minimalism and emphasizes simplicity, clean lines, and functionality. The design uses sustainable and natural materials, promoting eco-friendly practices and a connection with nature. The five key features of modern interior design include sleek furniture, neutral color palettes, open floor plans, and creative use of materials.
The hallmark of modern interior design is its clean and minimalist aesthetics, which emphasizes decluttering and simplifying living spaces. This involves eliminating unnecessary decorations and focusing on essential elements. The use of sleek, straight-lined furniture and open spaces creates a sense of airiness and tranquility, promoting a calming atmosphere and visually delighting the senses. By adopting a minimalist approach, you can create a modern interior that promotes a calming atmosphere and visually delights the senses.
What is the key element of modernism?
Modernism is distinguished by a rupture from tradition, individualism, and disillusionment. It is characterized by a proclivity for bold experimentation and the dissolution of established social and behavioral norms, which collectively contribute to the emergence of a more diverse and innovative society.
What are the 5 stages of modernism?
Five Faces of Modernity is a collection of semantic and cultural biographies of words that have gained significant significance in the last century and a half. The concept of modernity, which suggests that we are superior to our predecessors, is a recent Western invention. Calinescu documents the rise of cultural modernity, tracing its shifting senses and illustrating the intricate value judgments, conflicting orientations, and intellectual paradoxes it has given rise to.
The book aims to fill a gap in literary scholarship by examining the foundations of the modernist critical lexicon, similar to how terminological studies have done for complex categories like classicism, baroque, romanticism, realism, or symbolism. Calinescu also addresses the larger issues, dilemmas, ideological tensions, and perplexities brought about by the assertion of modernity.
What is the concept of modernism?
Modernism is a global movement in society and culture that emerged in the early twentieth century, aiming to align with the values of modern industrial life. Artists worldwide used new imagery, materials, and techniques to create artworks that better reflected the realities and hopes of modern societies. Modern art, a succession of movements identified since the realism of Gustav Courbet and culminating in abstract art in the 1960s, is defined by a rejection of history and conservative values, innovation and experimentation with form, a tendency to abstraction, and an emphasis on materials, techniques, and processes. Modernism has been driven by various social and political agendas, often utopian, and associated with ideal visions of human life and society and a belief in progress.
What is the modernism style?
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and subjective experience. It emerged in response to significant changes in Western culture, including secularization and the growing influence of science. Modernism was characterized by a self-conscious rejection of tradition and the search for newer means of cultural expression. It was influenced by widespread technological innovation, industrialization, and urbanization, as well as the cultural and geopolitical shifts after World War I.
Artistic movements associated with modernism include abstract art, literary stream-of-consciousness, cinematic montage, musical atonality and twelve-tonality, modernist architecture, and urban planning. Modernism took a critical stance towards the Enlightenment concept of rationalism and rejected the concept of absolute originality, replacing it with techniques of collage, reprise, incorporation, rewriting, recapitulation, revision, and parody.
Modernism was also reflexive about artistic and social convention, leading to experimentation highlighting how works of art are made and the material from which they are created. Debate about the timeline of modernism continues, with some scholars arguing it evolved into late modernism or high modernism, while postmodernism rejects many of the principles of modernism.
What are the 3 stages of modernism?
Modernity, a term in humanities and social sciences, refers to the historical period and socio-cultural norms that emerged after the Renaissance, including the Age of Reason and Enlightenment. It can be divided into three phases: early modernity ( 1500-1789), classical modernity (1789-1900), and late modernity (1900-1989). The era of modernity may have ended by 1930, with World War II in 1945, or as late as the 1980s and 1990s, often referred to as “postmodernity”.
The term “contemporary history” is also used to refer to the post-1945 timeframe, without assigning it to either the modern or postmodern era. Modernity can refer to different time periods or qualities, with the 16th to 18th centuries usually referred to as early modern, and the long 19th century as modern history proper. It encompasses a wide range of historical processes and cultural phenomena, as well as the subjective or existential experience of these conditions and their ongoing impact on human culture, institutions, and politics.
What is the correct definition of modernism?
Modernism, a movement that emerged in the early 20th century, placed a premium on the individual experience, eschewing traditional values and techniques. In its place, it advanced the notion of individualism.
📹 what people get wrong about modern design
Okay friends grab a coffee and cozy up so we can chat about modern architecture & interior design Today I’m really diving into …
I get the “honesty of structure and material” argument, but frankly, I feel it is just architecture’s attempt to take itself more seriously than it needs to. I’m much more keen of the concept of genius loci, or the sense of place. If a structure engenders a positive sense of place it is successful. That may include Disney world, sure, but the sense of place is usually stronger when something is the real deal. Clean modern architecture can be successful, but when done in the industrial commercial scale it often is not, just like the McMansions. That means the traditionally build modern spaces can have that too if crafted with sense of place in mind. The allergy to decoration from modernism I feel is silly. We are humans and we are drawn to it, and we don’t need to purge imagination and fantasy to live grownup serious sophisticated lives if we don’t want to, in the name of an abstract honesty only architects truly claim to care about. The best examples of architecture show that freedom.
I am in the process of designing a house outside Berlin, and I really appreciate your perspectives on modernism, especially in the context of Europe. A lot of architects and designers on YouTube seem to be very trend forward, where they will praise a trend as it’s happening and then shun it in the next year as it fades out, all while telling you not to follow trends. I find myself trying to read between the lines, looking for which trends are a result of previous poor design, and are now trending because of the need for more practical use (think of the evolution of kitchen design). I’d be interested in more in-depth articles on different architectural styles and design, with an emphasis on how they are used and misused in the present, highlighting why and how these things change. I think that what you touched on in this article could become a very interesting long-form article, but I understand that that is a lot of extra work. Thank you for sharing your thoughts!
I totally understand this and support this viewpoint. The tiny one-bed apartment that I live in was built in 1950, it’s a mid-century modern-style brick build. It was designed in such a way that it has both east and west-facing windows on either side of an open-plan living area separated by a highly functional, built-in solid wooden partition/shelving and breakfast bar unit between the kitchen and lounge. All of this natural sunlight drenches the space at all times of day. Using thoughtfully, well-designed furniture pieces that are suited in proportion to the space makes the apartment desirable for everyone who visits, despite how small it is. Literally, everyone who has visited has said they prefer it to ‘modern’ one-bedroom apartments (i.e the white rectangular cookie-cutter, multi-story apartments circa 2010). There’s so much character in its simplicity.
I really like this article. Good job on it. I find discussions about modernism and modern architecture is lacking an understanding of how beauty and ornementation works. I think a lot of the discussion has focused on over simplistic styles and/or not implementing strong lessons learned from architectural design history. Good modern design (architecture or interior) to me includes ornament and design through texture, use of light, and incorporation of design philosophies whereby the building is built to be lived in. Historic spaces and traditional buildings feel empty without people and normally those environments are filled with people because they are beautiful (at least where I live and have traveled in). In the US I find more modernist areas to not implement lessons of how to build structures that are still visually and emotionally dynamic innately given their architecture. Loved finding this article and your website. I hope you continue to grow and make more articles.
To be honest, I think a lot of people complaining about how cold and sterile modern design is (I know I’m guilty of it!) don’t know what good modern design can really look like. We’re so saturated with examples of bad modern design I think it has become a stand in for all of it – some of the photos you showed of amazing, warm modern spaces I previously wouldn’t have realized were modern! Anyway really loving your website, I feel like I’m learning so much (plus I love your design sense)!
While I’m sure there are crazy foam light medalions, plaster ones are still made. Just because it’s mass produced doesn’t make it bad. Plenty of things are not trying to look hand made, they are just ornate. I was with him until he went from defending modernism to denagrating traditional embelishments. While I’m ranting, porch columns are still structural. Technically over hangs can be cantilevered, but that’s more expensive and not standard. The problem with Mcmansions isn’t that they have ornate porch columns. Yes ornamentation should be intentional, but that doesn’t mean it has to be simple. I like good modern design and he is right about the difference between good and bad modern design. Where he gets it wrong is tradional design. If you want Roman columns on your front porch fine, but the whole should be intentionally cohesive with that choice. It’s when you throw together disperate styles without much thought that you get Mcmansions.
Personally I love both. But to me, doing any type of traditional architecture shouldn’t be considered gauche. Like, yes, when it’s too much it can easily be deemed faux and mega tacky. But I feel if someone does it right we can have neo movement again that lasts more than 5 years. Same with modernism, personally, I hate the soulless of some buildings here in NYC, but I love others. I love the style of some 70s house with their weird angles and wood. But, and I know it’s not what you are saying, classifying any type of traditional architecture as faux because it’s old is not the way to go. I like the idea of implementing architecture to the history of the place in a globalist society, as their history and culture shines through more. So, I think, if we can open ourselves to different ideas of traditional architecture and implement them into our cities, I personally, think could be a wonder. Idk if I’m expressing myself correctly hahah but with the whole array of buildings we have, to only look to buildings built since the 50s seems like a waste of potential. Again, ik it’s not what you are saying but I just wanted to share my point of view on the issue.
I see a lot of American DIY websites that “style” each room, but in a totally artificial way. Especially DIYers who have turned into house flippers. I’m not going to go out and buy 3 vases, 2 fake plants, a milk jug and a straw hat just to “style” my shelves. Don’t get me started on those bookcases where everything is organized by colour and not one of the books has probably been read. I much prefer this natural, authentic approach to design. But I have to do it on a budget. I want affordable Scandinavian style and function, but no cardboard furniture. My family is Danish, and I’m wildly jealous of their homes every time I go there. Trying to bring authentic hygge to my Canadian home is tough. I saw your switched outlet and wondered if you were in Denmark 😉 those are so cool, why can’t we have them here!
I’m loving all your articles so far! I really agree with what you said here. I think you explained this concept really well, and gave great examples to illustrate it. It was also really fun to watch! I’d like to add that I do think you can find and incorporate modern pieces that are more highly ornamented and have them feel good as long as they are made with authentic materials and craftmanship. Like a piece of wooden furniture that has been hand carved by a skilled crafts person.
noah, I’ve been waiting for a website like yours to show up no my feed! Immediately hit subscribe. from a fellow designer, I so appreciate your well thought-out articulation of design theory and am amazed at how concise you’re able to be with your language. I echo so much of these perspectives when I work with my clients, but obviously I have a lot to learn from you !! really looking forward to perusal this website grow. xo
2:40 what I also think is that we (we being humans generally speaking lol) like a look that is intentional. When a doorway is arched with brick, I believe that we innately, if not consciously, realize it took time and effort and thus was an intentional choice, executed with craftsmanship. So it’s impressive and you appreciate it more. Modern design can give that too, but you’re right I think (some) people only think of modern as cold lol 4:21 ok I see what you’re saying and agree 100% I feel the same about cheap rendition of farmhouse in a suburban home. I’m always like… ok farmhouse style is great if you’re …. Yknow what I’m sorry but I smoked a little pot and I am over typing on my phone lmao but great article enjoyed it 🙂
Have you considered that people like detail and design and artistry and aren’t that concerned about whether they are ‘synthetic’? If we can find modern ways to do that, with modern materials, that’s a good thing. I’m not sure how styrofoam is going to hold up but I’m not opposed to other materials that do the same thing well. It doesn’t matter to me if a good building was built in 1800 or 2000. The date of it is irrelevant if its done well. That’s the key. The Wayfair chairs aren’t bad because they aren’t ‘genuine’ old things, they are bad because they won’t have the craft of the old thing. If you went to a joiner, you could get something just as good as the old chair made today. The problem is the mass market, same as the McMansions. Not the design. What is ‘unnecessary ornament’. Well, it seems to come down to ornament you like and ornament you don’t.
this has actually made me change my general “fuck minimalism” criticism and add nuance. i still love ornament but very much because of the history and meaning behind it, so i definitely agree that trying to replicate that with styrofoam and pretend it’s the same is tacky. loving the content and the aesthetics so far! <3
you’re killing it. I found you just today, instantly subscribed and am now perusal though all of the articles you have up so far, waiting for more. you literally put to words the feelings I’ve had most of my life. no need for the self doubt, this is YouTube interior design articles at their absolute best! <3
The pieces from wayfair you’ve shown are perfectly valid pieces of furniture. Their quality of construction is almost certainly lower than the antique originals you compared them to, and their durability as well is significantly lower I’m sure. That said, I’d much rather have the beautiful traditional style pieces of furniture in my home than some equally poorly made and short lived piece of streamlined, modernist furniture without any decoration or beauty.
I agree that we don’t need unnecessary ornament, but I do think a lot of humans, myself included, love some ornament. For example: I could wear all plain linen clothes and be comfortable, but I so enjoy colour and pattern in my clothes! The same goes for our house. I am looking into getting a trellis door installed in our house, so we can ventilate naturally at night when the summer days get hot, without stray cats coming to sleep on our sofa (function), but I also want it to be pretty, so I’m working with a craftsman blacksmith to design and make doors that fit our village house (form). It’s not easy, because in traditional Belgian architecture we don’t use this kind of door, but then again, fifty years ago summers weren’t as hot as they are now, so we need to adapt to changing circumstances…
Well said. I have gone and watched all your articles, didn’t take long cause you’re such a new youtuber, and I really like your idea or concept of honesty and integrity of design. I am currently in a phase of positive transition and overhauling of all things in my life, but ESPECIALLY design and my wardrobe, deriving from a shift in thought and an intentional restructuring of life style…..the old me was all about the excess ornamentation and form before function, as well as everything being dark or black or “” Gothic” in the older, truer definition of the word(think castles and Edgar Allen Poe)……but, as someone prone to deression naturally, I got tired of depressive decor that was “shallow” for no real reason and required unnecessary work to maintain….life’s too short…..now I want things light, airy, uncluttered, honest, and beautifully practical(I’m definitely the “use the fine China every day” type of person); I want a CURATED space, not an “aesthetic”; a space filled with pieces I love
I agreee with this yeah. I’m no architect, but I am an artist, and knowing how much is too much, and how little is too little, is really important! It’s also subjective a lot of the time as well! In art there’s a sort of theory known as “Illusion of detail.” It states that one shouldn’t try to draw or paint every single tiny detail, because that’s not what art is about, it’s about interpretting what you see, or think, onto a page. I feel like this is similar, you’re interpretting your intentions for a space, into something physical, something real. For my house, we use a lot of asian inspired minimalism. A kotatsu, with a simple clean black futon underneath, and some simple lamps, etc etc. It’s simple, but it feels comfortable, which is important. Don’t fear ornament, or beauty, but don’t add detail if it doesn’t serve the feeling of the space you want! Bonus: I HATE spackled cielings. Imo, they serve only to break up a cieling to hide imperfections, and instead make an unruly mess of light and shadow, leaving the space feeling chaotic and disconnected. Assymetry can look nice, but chaos just leaves me upset. That might be because I’m autistic though lol.
Wait, you live in Copenhagen? I’m a newer subscriber with a ever growing love for design and architecture and have happily stumbled across your website, which has been a delightful find! I too live in Copenhagen (Amager), in the most charming old apartment with beautiful wooden floors and decorated ceilings with medallions. Each day, I cherish these unique and beautifully crafted elements. I love your casual chats that feel more genuine, cozy and educational compared to other interior design experts here on YouTube that often places entertainment above providing informative content. Keep doing what you’re doing because it’s a delight.
I’m loving your website! Not sure if you’re taking suggestions, but I’d love your thoughts on implementing the principles of modernism if you live in an older house. I commented on your lighting article too, but my house was built in the 1920s and has some architectural ornamentation that I love. We have a lot of vintage furniture in the same style, which is great, but I don’t want to feel like I’m living in a time capsule. I’m struggling to create a space that’s appropriate for the home, but without feeling too traditional or “themed,” if that makes sense. I feel like I could incorporate more minimal or modern touches to help with this, but I’m afraid they might feel out of place in my house. So I’m struggling to find that balance!
First of all, thank you so much for your contribution, I love your content! I have a question for you if you don’t mind. How do you make a cohesive home when the home design changed over time? For example, I bought a house from the 40s and I really love the original part of the house, but my house had multiple owners and they added multiple sections to the house with different structures, for example : the windows, the original part have windows with subdivisions but the room that was added have the big windows with no subdivisions. Is there a way to still make it cohesive ?
as an European I have to say that it’s not common to use faux materials like foam and hollow ornaments ect. I personally have a love/hate relationship with modernism, as a Scandinavian I love function, I love light lots of windows, nice big balconies ect. that is typical for modernism, I also like a lot of modern furniture especially Danish modern furniture, however I hate hate hate more than hate the 95% ugly soulless modern buildings that have been build and in part destroyed the old Scandinavian cities, it makes me want to cry, some of the old buildings most loved is actually simple like Nyhavn in Copenhagen, it does not have to be complicated just nice materials, colors, different levels, slanted roofs, flat roofs is not only not pretty especially seen from above, it’s not practical due to water issues
In the 1960s and 1970s in the UK Le Corbusier style modern tower blocks were common as major cities were partially flattened by bombs in WW2 but these towers were slapped up to house working class/underclass people with no thought of context or how the occupants would live in them. This often led to catastrophic results. Idiotic architecture at its finest. It’s funny how the architects who designed these homes didn’t live in them.
I agree with most of the things, but if we use that logic, most of the materials can’t be used anymore. For example, if the leather is not done like it was in the 18th century, we should not buy new Chesterfield sofas, talking about real leather, not faux, but using modern techniques to create some old design furniture.
Selfishly I’d love a article about selecting interior paint colors and lighting – no idea if that’s in your wheelhouse! Would definitely love to see you react to more home tours and to submissions from your audience, it’s genuinely so informative to hear your opinion on why things do or don’t work, and ways to fix them!
Hi Noah, I am so glad to have stumbled upon your website. You articulate your thoughts very clearly, and it’s evident that you are well-versed in the subject! That being said, I *respectfully disagree* with parts of your article. My disagreement might be rooted more in semantics than in anything you’ve said. Personally, I differentiate between the Modernist movement of the 20th century and contemporary ‘modern’ architecture. The Modernist movement aimed to create functional, efficient designs that embodied the “modern” spirit, rejecting historical styles and unnecessary decoration in favor of clean lines, minimalist forms, and honest use of materials. This is very different from what people colloquially call modern architecture today, which, while it may follow certain modernist design trends, almost entirely abandons the modernist philosophy. Modernist architects such as Le Corbusier, Adolf Loos, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and perhaps even Frank Lloyd Wright, to an extent, would likely disagree with your interpretation of “form follows function.” That’s not to say that you’re wrong – I personally agree with you and think you explained the phrase in a **very** refreshing way. However, since we are discussing some of the ideas proposed by these thinkers, I feel this is an important distinction to make. Most modernists adhered strictly and puritanically to ‘form follows function,’ and most, if not all, of the examples you listed (such as the one at 5:22) wouldn’t qualify because they would be considered too superfluous and are, in fact, highly ornamental.
Loooove this new website! You’ve helped me and my partner come together in designing our space. Can we please get a article about applying modernism to a classic suburban home? I know there’s no one-size fit, but most of your examples are super gorgeous spaces that had an immense budget and perfect bones. How do we work with a home that’s just a bunch of walls, carpet, and some wood floors?
Your inspiration images remind me so much of my grandfather’s house when I was growing up. He had this beautiful home that was very modernist and inviting and cozy. It was registered as a historical site in his neighborhood. He sold the house years ago and I’ve never been in another like it, but have always wanted to recreate the feeling.
American design is at its best when it’s not trying to be some “Old World” awful copy of great European architecture. That just ends up looking like Mickey Mouse silliness. Las Vegas at its worst, tacky, vulgar bling 🤑 For this reason, I love American Mid-Century Modernism and companies like Herman-Miller, Knoll and other high-end design. It’s honest and casual yet elegant: plain excellent work! Once the U.S. stopped trying to be like Europe, it began to develop its own design vocabulary and style, which has resulted in quite a few outstanding buildings and interiors.