Modern and contemporary
'Modern' here refers to the historic Modernist movement — not a synonym for 'current'. Emerging between the 1920s and 1960s, tied to the German Bauhaus and the so-called International Style, it deliberately broke with classical ornament in the name of function, exposed structure and new materials like steel and reinforced concrete. It's worth not confusing this dated movement with the Contemporary style, which describes present-day architectural production without a single founding moment.
Architectural Modernism took shape in interwar Europe, with the German Bauhaus school (founded by Walter Gropius in 1919) and architects such as Le Corbusier, who in 1927 formulated his five points of modern architecture, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, author of the maxim 'less is more'. The term 'International Style' was coined in 1932 by Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson for an exhibition at MoMA in New York, cementing the movement as a global reference.
Modernism is recognized by flat roofs, an almost total absence of decorative ornament, straight-lined façades of concrete, steel and glass, horizontal ribbon windows, free plans made possible by independent structure (pilotis), and pure volumes, often white or in neutral tones.
Modernist interiors prioritize the free plan, with no internal load-bearing walls, functional furniture designed by architects — such as pieces by Mies van der Rohe and Marcel Breuer —, an absence of pattern and ornament, and industrial materials (tubular steel, glass, leather) handled with refinement.
In Modernism, coherence between façade and interior comes from the same structural logic: non-load-bearing enclosure walls allow both continuous glass façades and free internal plans. Façade and interiors should be read as two expressions of the same constructive principle, adaptable to different programs and sites.
Modernism starts from the belief that form should follow function and that new industrial materials allow an honest architecture, free of historical disguise. It is a project of rupture with the past, not a search for immediate aesthetic comfort — which sets it apart from later, more eclectic styles.
Applying Modernism today means keeping its discipline: clean volumes, no superfluous ornament, expressed structure and large glass panels, adapted to building codes, energy performance and the specific site — without flattening Modernist purity into generic contemporary minimalism.
No. Modern names a historic movement with a date and founding figures (Bauhaus, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, 1920s–1960s). Contemporary names current architectural production, with no single founding moment, incorporating diverse influences — including Modernism itself.
Not necessarily. Many current straight-lined houses belong to the Contemporary style, which converses with Modernism but folds in other references and technologies without strictly following its original manifesto.
FROM INSPIRATION TO PROJECT
This is a development approach. The scope of each stage is defined in the contracted proposal.
Understand routines, preferences, the site and the planned investment.
Define the concept and relationship between architecture and interiors.
Adapt siting, spaces, materials and openings to local conditions.
Develop and detail the project according to the contracted scope.
Modernism's postwar offshoot, with warmer materials and a domestic scale.
Explore this styleSucceeds Modernism and converses with its principles without repeating its historic manifesto.
Explore this stylePrecedes European Modernism in its pursuit of open plans and a break from classical ornament.
Explore this style