Mid-Century Modern: a 70 Years-Long Success Story - Chapter One
A brief history of the style we all love.
Though we’re not professional architects or historians, our passion for the essence of Mid-Century Modern led us on a journey to learn about the architects and ideas that shaped this admired architectural style. So, we decided to bring these findings together in a pamphlet, which we will share with you in chapters exclusively on Substack.
This pamphlet brings together key takeaways from our research, driven by our love for architecture and design, to explore the moments that most contributed to the timeless post-war aesthetic. Today, we present the first part of this brief exploration, an overview spanning from the Arts and Crafts movement to the International Style.
Our goal is to provide an accessible overview—highlighting important milestones in 20th-century architecture—rather than an exhaustive paper. We’ve chosen pivotal moments that showcase how evolving lifestyles ultimately influenced modern living as we know it.
These moments link the past with the present, demonstrating how the aesthetics and values that defined the mid-century modern era are deeply rooted, still relevant, and adaptable to today's architectural and design landscape.
We hope this pamphlet will initiate deeper conversations about mid-century modern architecture. Join us on this journey as we explore the legacy of Modernism and Mid-Century Modern design and their power to inspire how we live today.
(Marco Guagliardo - Mid-Century Home’s Editor in Chief)
Overview - From the Arts and Crafts Movement to the International Style
We decided to begin our journey in the late 1800s with the Arts and Crafts movement, a response to the Industrial Revolution’s mass production disrupting traditional craftsmanship.
The Arts and Craft Movement
In Great Britain, critics like John Ruskin, Augustus W.N. Pugin, and Owen Jones called for aesthetic integrity, drawing inspiration from Medieval and Gothic art.
A pivotal figure in this movement was William Morris, a British designer, writer, and socialist activist who turned these ideals into practice. In 1861, he founded Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Company in London, emphasizing handmade production and rejecting industrial methods introducting the concept of Gesamtkunstwerk (total art work), defining the distinctive English Arts & Crafts style with its handcrafted approach.
From the Bauhaus to the International Style
As the 20th century approached, these principles evolved into the modernist movement, which aimed to break away from traditional design norms established by the Arts and Crafts movement.
Modernism embraced a minimalist approach centered on ‘form follows function,’ with the Bauhaus school, founded in 1919 in Germany, quickly becoming its heart.
From its early days, the school became a hub for modernist ideas, merging art, craft, and technology. It played a significant role in shaping Modernism and the International Style, a subset that emerged in the 1920s-1930s and was championed by architects like Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe, who later directed the Bauhaus in 1930.
The International Style sought a universal design language, emphasizing geometric forms and materials like glass, steel, and reinforced concrete.
Due to its characteristics, this functional and simple style spread across Europe and North America, influencing architects who applied its values to homes, particularly on the West Coast of the United States from the post-war years until the mid-1960s.
A New Era
After World War II, society sought a fresh start and embraced new ideas and technologies. This shift created the perfect environment for new design approaches. In the U.S., designers and architects like Charles and Ray Eames and Harry Bertoia started to experiment with materials like plywood, fiberglass, and steel, trying to balance mass production with accessible, functional, and aesthetic pieces. These innovations laid the groundwork for the Mid-Century Modern aesthetic.
Mid-Century Modern rapidly became more than just a style; it reflected a society that valued progress, simplicity, and harmony with nature. Its clean lines, organic forms, and seamless indoor-outdoor integration resonated with a society eager for change.
In the next chapter, we’ll explore how the evolution of previous styles influenced this unique aesthetic and examine its lasting impact on design today. Keep reading!