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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Mid-20th Century American Modern Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
Mid-20th Century American Modern Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
Mid-20th Century American Modern Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
Mid-20th Century American Modern Building and Garden Elements
Steel
1950s French Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble
1950s French Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete, Iron
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete, Steel
1940s French Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Brass, Wrought Iron
Mid-20th Century American Modern Building and Garden Elements
Pottery
1950s French Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
Mid-20th Century Modern Building and Garden Elements
Nickel
Mid-20th Century North American Modern Building and Garden Elements
Chrome
Mid-20th Century Brazilian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Cement
1950s French Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1960s French Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Cement
Mid-20th Century Modern Building and Garden Elements
Wrought Iron
1960s Belgian Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Cement
1950s French Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1960s French Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete, Steel
Mid-20th Century Modern Building and Garden Elements
Wrought Iron
1940s American Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Bronze, Copper
1930s Chinese Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Pottery
1930s French Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
Mid-20th Century American Modern Building and Garden Elements
Pottery
1930s American Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
Mid-20th Century English Modern Building and Garden Elements
Glass, Stained Glass
Mid-20th Century American Modern Building and Garden Elements
Bronze
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1960s American Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Steel, Stainless Steel, Lead, Aluminum
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1950s American Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Iron
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1950s French Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Steel
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
Mid-20th Century Asian Modern Building and Garden Elements
Bamboo, Wicker
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1950s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
Mid-20th Century Modern Building and Garden Elements
Acrylic
1940s Belgian Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
Mid-20th Century American Modern Building and Garden Elements
Iron
Mid-20th Century Modern Building and Garden Elements
Marble, Chrome
1950s Spanish Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Plaster
Mid-20th Century American Modern Building and Garden Elements
Iron
1960s Swiss Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Concrete
Mid-20th Century Modern Building and Garden Elements
Mirror
Mid-20th Century Modern Building and Garden Elements
Acrylic, Shell, Lucite
Mid-20th Century Unknown Modern Building and Garden Elements
Lucite
1960s American Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Ceramic
1930s Italian Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Brass
1930s American Vintage Modern Building and Garden Elements
Wood