Modern Building and Garden 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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
20th Century Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Carrara Marble
20th Century British Modern Building and Garden Elements
Wrought Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Leather, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble, Stainless Steel
20th Century Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble
20th Century Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble
2010s Danish Modern Building and Garden Elements
Steel
Early 20th Century Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Leather, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Fabric, Leather
2010s Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Travertine, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Leather, Fabric
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble
2010s Danish Modern Building and Garden Elements
Steel
20th Century French Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble
2010s Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary English Modern Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Steel
2010s Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble, Stainless Steel
1980s English Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Iron
2010s British Modern Building and Garden Elements
Travertine
2010s British Modern Building and Garden Elements
Sandstone
Early 20th Century Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Carrara Marble
2010s British Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble, Carrara Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Building and Garden Elements
Straw
21st Century and Contemporary Dutch Modern Building and Garden Elements
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble, Stainless Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Building and Garden Elements
Polystyrene
Early 2000s Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Stainless Steel
2010s Spanish Modern Building and Garden Elements
Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Fabric, Wenge, Wood, Faux Leather
21st Century and Contemporary Northern Irish Modern Building and Garden Elements
Limestone
2010s English Modern Building and Garden Elements
Glass
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Metal
2010s Spanish Modern Building and Garden Elements
Aluminum
2010s Spanish Modern Building and Garden Elements
Iron
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Building and Garden Elements
Stainless Steel
2010s German Modern Building and Garden Elements
PVC
2010s Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble
21st Century and Contemporary Swiss Modern Building and Garden Elements
Stainless Steel
2010s Belgian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Stone, Bronze
2010s Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble
2010s German Modern Building and Garden Elements
PVC
2010s French Modern Building and Garden Elements
Brass
Mid-20th Century English Modern Building and Garden Elements
Glass, Stained Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble, Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Modern Building and Garden Elements
Stainless Steel
2010s Italian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble