Modern Architectural Elements
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.
2010s European Modern Architectural Elements
Ceramic
Early 20th Century Italian Modern Architectural Elements
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Architectural Elements
Marble
2010s European Modern Architectural Elements
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Architectural Elements
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Architectural Elements
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Architectural Elements
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Architectural Elements
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Architectural Elements
Marble
1950s Spanish Vintage Modern Architectural Elements
Plaster
2010s European Modern Architectural Elements
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Canadian Modern Architectural Elements
Blown Glass
2010s European Modern Architectural Elements
Ceramic
Early 20th Century English Modern Architectural Elements
Brass
20th Century Modern Architectural Elements
Cement
1920s French Vintage Modern Architectural Elements
Ceramic
19th Century Dutch Antique Modern Architectural Elements
Ceramic
20th Century French Modern Architectural Elements
Plaster
20th Century French Modern Architectural Elements
Concrete
Early 20th Century Modern Architectural Elements
Cement
20th Century Modern Architectural Elements
Cement
1870s Dutch Antique Modern Architectural Elements
Carrara Marble
2010s African Modern Architectural Elements
Terracotta
Early 20th Century Indian Modern Architectural Elements
Stone
Early 20th Century Spanish Modern Architectural Elements
Wood
20th Century Moroccan Modern Architectural Elements
Cement
Late 20th Century Italian Modern Architectural Elements
Travertine, Marble
Late 20th Century American Modern Architectural Elements
Brass
20th Century American Modern Architectural Elements
Metal, Iron
20th Century Unknown Modern Architectural Elements
1990s Italian Modern Architectural Elements
Plastic, Rubber