architecture blog

Defining Modernism

Posted by Derek Leavitt on Wed, Feb 6, 2008 @ 16:02 PM

So, last weekend I finally* started reading The Perfect $100,000 House by Karrie Jacobs, and already I discovered a great little blurb on "modernism" in the introduction. It's a definition that is very appropriate in explaining the type of modernism we strive for here at Modative. She also manages to define it such an eloquent way that I've never been able to. This, however, may have to do with the fact that she is she's a professional writer and I am, well... not. Anyways, here it is:

- "The modernism that I love, that I care about, isn't a historical movement that peaked in the  mid-twentieth century and is currently enjoying a major revival but is rather a frame of mind. It's a way of thinking that involves an ongoing investigation of methods and materials. It's a design philosophy that values comfort but doesn't confuse it with excess. It's a strategy that views the most important elements of design as space, daylight, and the surfaces with which we routinely come into contact."

- Although I'm a painfully slow reader, and it may take awhile, I'm hoping the rest of the book is this insightful.



- * I say finally because I talked about this book last April in our news section.

Tags: Modernism