7 Examples of Mid-Century Modern Architecture

Mid-century modern architecture was a twentieth-century architectural style characterized by clean lines, muted curves, a lack of ornamentation, large windows, interior design based in functionality, and open floor plans intent on making indoor and outdoor living spaces complement each other. Part of a wider artistic movement encompassing architecture, graphic design, and product development, mid-century modern design had its heyday in the post-war period of the 1950s and ’60s and enjoyed a recent resurgence of popularity with the advent of shows like Mad Men (2007) depicting that period.

Mid-century modern design emerged in full force after World War II in response to the need for suburban modern homes for sale. During the 1930s and ’40s, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius—German devotees of the Bauhaus school of modern design—had fled the advent of Nazism to teach at schools in the United States, like the Illinois Institute of Technology and Harvard Graduate School of Design. Their work pioneered the international style of modernism, alongside other luminaries like Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, and Alvar Aalto.

The influence of such giants of design laid the groundwork for a mid-century design movement that would expand from the academy to the wider real estate market. This modern movement eventually grew to include the design of wide swaths of contemporary homes for middle-class homeowners in the US, as well as taller buildings and landmarks in East Coast metropolitan centers like New York City and West Coast cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles in California. Although the history of the mid-century modern style began in tragedy, it culminated in triumph.

The mid-century modern approach varies from one architect to another, but these central elements remain mainstays for each house or building designed in the style:

1. 1. Oversized windows: When it comes to windows, this architectural style dictates a need for large, flat panes of glass, sometimes stretching all the way from the floors to the flat roofs of mid-century modern houses. Typical mid-century modern homes with these floor-to-ceiling windows also feature glass doors to encourage a sense of harmony with the outdoor spaces they are built in, as if to suggest they are a natural outgrowth of the scenery itself.
2. 2. Minimalist exterior design: A house built in the mid-century period shirks an ornate outer structure for the sake of minimalism. Mid-century modern houses feature exteriors that are boxy and utilitarian. The ranch-style house of the era—only a single-story tall and featuring an attached garage, small patio, and plenty of access to open, outdoor spaces—is a typical example of this emphasis on minimalism as opposed to ostentation.
3. 3. Functional interior spaces: Mid-century modern homes decorate their interior spaces according to the practical Scandinavian approach—warm, inviting tones accompanied by accommodating furniture and understated decoration. A living room isn’t meant to impress so much as to do just what its name suggests: provide a space convenient and conducive to living a modern lifestyle.
4. 4. Complementary to nature: The house plans for mid-century modern homes are drawn up to exist as parts of the environment surrounding them, rather than as impositions on the natural order of things. For instance, your home’s dining room could feature an entirely glass wall or door looking out on your backyard. Access to the outdoors is considered to be paramount.
5. 5. Angular shapes: Although some mid-century homes and buildings are flat all around, many are known for their angled roofing and outcroppings. These sharp, contrasting lines make for some of the most identifiable characteristics associated with the movement.

Mid-century modern architecture is known for its ubiquity, but certain buildings stand as signature examples of the movement. Here are seven of the most notable:

1. 1. Schindler House: Architect Rudolph Schindler designed this home, completed in 1922, with a certain set of unique parameters. Dining, living, and bedrooms—at least in the conventional sense—are totally absent. Schindler hoped for this to be a communal space. It is currently used as a public venue.
2. 2. Case Study House Program: The Case Study House Program was an attempt by Arts & Architecture magazine to promote and subsidize mid-century homes that would fit the modern style’s bill. Famous husband-and-wife architectural team Charles and Ray Eames and USC architecture professor Pierre Koenig designed entries for the program, which ran roughly from the mid-1940s through the mid-1960s.
3. 3. Kaufmann House: Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann House, completed in 1946, was one of many mid-century homes built in an epicenter of the movement—the Southern California city of Palm Springs. While the town featured many notable houses in the style (including Frank Sinatra’s), the Kaufmann House is an exemplary expression of mid-century modern traits due to its jutting angles, massive windows, and openness to the desert landscape surrounding it.
4. 4. Philip Johnson Glass House: Philip Johnson’s Glass House in Connecticut, completed in 1949, is practically the Platonic form of mid-century modern architecture because of its glass walls, sharp angles, minimalist style, maximum functionality, and total unity with its natural surroundings.
5. 5. Farnsworth House: The Farnsworth House, finished in 1951, was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe for Illinois doctor Edith Farnsworth. The 1,500 square feet, one-story house features floor-to-ceiling windows.
6. 6. Eichler homes: Named for real estate developer Joseph Eichler, “Eichler homes” were built throughout the 1950s and into the 1960s, designed to make the mid-century modern home available to as many people as possible. Eichler developed more than 10,000 of these homes and was a key player in bringing the mid-century style to the masses.
7. 7. TWA Flight Terminal: Architect Eero Saarinen’s TWA Flight Terminal, finished in 1962, resembles an airplane or bird and possesses the expansive windows typical of this architectural style. It was initially a terminal in New York City’s John F. Kennedy Airport, but in 2017, it was refurbished into a hotel.

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