Explaining the enduring popularity of midcentury modern design
fastcodesign.com
fastcodesign.com
The canonical International and Bauhaus movements---represented by iconic designers/architects like Gropius, Le Corbusier, and Eames---were (in some sense) a response to the ornamental style of the previous century. These privileged clean lines over ornament, modern materials over patina, and function over decoration. These principles produced beautiful objects that are modular, uncluttered, and easy to move and maintain. They endure because they still reflect the values of our time.
I say this owning nothing in that style, except perhaps a Vitsoe standing desk. Most of my interiors are industrial / rustic, which clashes with midcentury.
Just to raise a point on your comment - though 'midcentury modern' is a slippery term i dont think your references quite capture it. When i see the term it is generally less canonical modernism (architecture-focussed, pre-wwii, Corbusier/bauhaus, france/germany-led) and more something different (furniture focussed, post wwii, influenced by modernism but also arts and craft/frank lloyd wright/etc., scandinavian led with notable american examples).
I think theres a reason it has appeared as a term - because many things described by this term are quite definitely not 'moderism'
Am I missing something? I didn't really find any real explanation as-to why "midcentury modern design" is so popular...
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/06/style/why-wont-midcentury-... [2] http://fuckyournoguchicoffeetable.tumblr.com
I was unaware that "midcentury modern" was a relatively new term. My neighborhood was built up between around 1955 - 1963, and there are a lot of "modern" houses, including a couple attributed to Frank Lloyd Wright.
My family's house is a plain rectangular box with practically no decorations. Of course we bought it because of location, condition, price, etc. Inside, it's mostly "Scandinavian." The walls are white.
One thing I like about this style is that it works in a relatively small house. Things are actually smaller.
The alternative when this house was built, was orange plush carpet, grotesque wallpaper, and huge stuffed sofas.
Hear hear. I also grew up in (mostly) "midcentury modern" interior design (thanks, Mom and Dad!) and I find that it... just looks nice.
I was trying to explain to someone why I wanted white gadgets (iPad, Kindle, etc.) and wound up realizing that they are closer to the Braun aesthetic than the black ones, which I associate with the black-on-black-with-black-and-did-we-mention-black design of the Panisonics, Technics, etc. stereo equipment of the 70's.
1. This is assuming you are living in a house built in the last 100 years and not a palace.