Modern Architectural Models
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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
Late 20th Century Modern Architectural Models
Oak
20th Century Italian Modern Architectural Models
Carrara Marble
Mid-20th Century French Modern Architectural Models
Wood
Late 20th Century Modern Architectural Models
Fiberglass, Rubber, Paint
Early 2000s Modern Architectural Models
Wood
Early 2000s Spanish Modern Architectural Models
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Architectural Models
Aluminum
Late 20th Century French Modern Architectural Models
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Modern Architectural Models
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary American Modern Architectural Models
Iron
1950s Unknown Vintage Modern Architectural Models
Metal
Late 20th Century Mexican Modern Architectural Models
Aluminum
Late 18th Century English Antique Modern Architectural Models
Steel
19th Century French Antique Modern Architectural Models
Wood, Walnut
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Architectural Models
Oak
Late 19th Century English Antique Modern Architectural Models
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Architectural Models
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Architectural Models
Metal
21st Century and Contemporary Spanish Modern Architectural Models
Porcelain
1940s Israeli Vintage Modern Architectural Models
Brass
Late 19th Century English Antique Modern Architectural Models
Oak
1920s American Vintage Modern Architectural Models
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary Modern Architectural Models
Paper
Early 20th Century Italian Modern Architectural Models
Bronze
1970s Spanish Vintage Modern Architectural Models
Plastic
Early 2000s Spanish Modern Architectural Models
Porcelain
20th Century North American Modern Architectural Models
Metal
1960s European Vintage Modern Architectural Models
Foam, Paper
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Architectural Models
Laminate
1980s French Vintage Modern Architectural Models
1970s French Vintage Modern Architectural Models
1980s French Vintage Modern Architectural Models
20th Century French Modern Architectural Models
Mahogany
1970s Czech Vintage Modern Architectural Models
Metal