Mid-Century Modern Architecture and Design: Origins, Styles, and the Prominent Figures

The aftermath of the Second World War paved the way for creative geniuses to craft a new vision, resulting in timeless designs fit for the modern world

Mid-Century Modern architecture, popular in the United States, marks the birth of living spaces defined by geometric lines and expansive glass windows, integrated with the natural environment that surrounds the house. A resurgence of some architectural elements from the modernism style popularised by the revered architect Frank Lloyd Wright, Mid-Century Modern was a refreshing rendition after the bleak episodes of the Second World War.

The beginnings of this iconic architectural and design movement of the Sixties may be credited to the Bauhaus school of design. This German design philosophy is grounded on the concept of “form following function” and inspired by the Industrial Revolution at the turn of the 20th century. Back when flamboyance and geometric perfection in architecture, art, design and fashion ruled one side of the Western World, there was also the German response where clean lines, bold and masculine materials and primary colours were deemed superior for factories, warehouses and eventually offices and residences. The Bauhaus style embraced technological advances and mass production, maximised the usage of open spaces, steel frames for furnishings and sleek materials like leather and plastic.

Above Richard Neutra, the Viennesse architect who moved to America in the Twenties, built a glass house for his family after securing a no-interest loan from the Dutch philanthropist Dr CH Van Der Leeuw. Today, the iconic house is known as the Neutra VDL Studio and Residence, distinct with its series of modern lines and planes made of off-the-shelf and purely industrial materials

Bauhaus eventually influenced the modern Scandinavian design movement in the Fifties and continued its legacy in the rest of Europe and the US after the war. But instead of simply functioning as an optimum playing ground for mass production, it opened its spaces further to capture nature—literally “a breath of fresh air” after the Second World War.

Pioneers of this American movement include distinguished modernist architects like Walter Gropius, Florence Knoll, Le Corbusier and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Its fundamental characteristics of clean simplicity and integration with nature were infused by architects with distinct style elements and material choices from the Modernist period. With the needs of the average American family in mind, the residential homes evoking Mid-Century Modern design are more spacious, inviting and devoid of maximalist decor.

Above The Farnsworth House designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

American real-estate developer Joseph Eichler was instrumental in bringing this rising design philosophy to the residential subdivisions in California. His company, Eichler Homes which was actively constructing houses between 1949 to 1966 in the said state, became one of America’s most influential builders of modern homes. With the expansion of cities and suburbanisation, the demand for quickly built modern homes was aggressively met.

Most examples of Mid-Century Modern homes can be found in Palm Springs, thus the moniker “California Modern” the movement earned. But the most iconic ones include the Philip Johnson Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut; the Neutra VDL Studio and Residence in Los Angeles, California, designed by Richard Neutra; the Farnsworth House by van der Rohe in Plano, Illinois; and Pierre Koenig’s Case Study Houses 21 and 22, both in Los Angeles.

Above Richard Neutra also designed the furniture that goes with the Neutra VDL House, like the 1940s Boomerang chairs and the low organic table made of pine

One of the most iconic features of a Mid-Century Modern house is the flat-planed roof. Deviating from the more common gabled roofs, a post-modern house takes influence from ranch-style houses but interpreted as rigorously geometric, uncluttered and sleek. Materials like wood, metal, glass, vinyl and mass-produced ones like plywood, Plexiglass and Lucite are commonly used. This allows designers to add texture and contrast into the homes. When viewed from outside, it would seem like the house has only one level, like a glass box with multiple access points. However, another distinguishing element of a Mid-Century Modern house is the changes in elevation inside, creating it a split-level space with partial walls or cabinets, raised platform for the flooring, or open-layout mezzanine.

When it comes to furnishings, again the needs of the owner take precedence. Vintage furniture in blocks of colour, rather than patterns, different finishes of wood and a contrast of black and white are the norms. By integrating the architecture with nature, we see plants and trees either landscaped as ornaments or as functional parts of the house. Creative waterworks or infinity pools are also sometimes parts of the design.

Even decades since its conception, Mid-Century Modern lingers today. It is an architectural legacy that has continued to influence designers of the 21st-century. Its juxtaposition of technology and cutting-edge technique with natural elements makes for a very bold statement: that man and his evolution can still be one with nature.

This story was originally published in Tatler Homes Philippines Vol. 28. Download it for free on Magzter

Tatler Asia

Why is Mid-Century Modern Design Still Popular to This Day?