minimumjoe Nothing is so much the enemy of modern as "clutter." We -- each of us -- seem to have a tendency to let our personal past heap up until our homes are a mausoleum of stuff we no longer use or prize ... except for the echoes of memory which we've attached to them.

I love traditional architecture and own a Victorian bungalow. The exterior is a simple rectangle; it is the outermost limit of modern energy-efficient renovation; the interior is minimalist and comfortable, in the spirit of Sarah Susanka's emphasis on craftsmanship and efficient design.

Thanks for this ideabook, Eric Spry. It's probably not going to convince anyone, but that's okay, too. Modern design likes to stand out from the crowd and its lack of mass popularity serves the purpose.

dmoran0 I think this is why there has been such an attraction to mid century modern architecture since it is far more modern than most being done today. Our own era has failed to establish any sort of identity and instead imitates others. I think the new eco friendly houses will be the only ones true to our time.

Jay Sifford Garden Design Eric, your articles are always thought provoking. Clean and honest are two great adjectives to describe modern design. I try my best to not subscribe to trends, which, in my profession, are lawnless spaces, drought tolerant plants.. on and on. I personally don't own any "turf", but I didn't do it because someone told me I should. I did it because the style of my home and the lay of the land spoke to me. Apparently they didn't feel the need to be clothed in fescue!

Jean Corey I wouldn't call this modern design, as it is shown in the pictures. I would call it a very ancient concept. Once people moved out of caves their homes probably contained many of these same elements of large support beams enclosing open spaces. In warm climates the windows would have been replaced by some open sides, and in cooler climates they might have had removable walls or hangings for the summer.

Roots and Rafters I find it interesting that modernists think that modernism somehow bucks the trend or is unpopular with the majority of people. As a fan of "traditional" architecture with its small, enclosed rooms, I find myself in a very tiny minority, while partisans of modernistic airplane hangar-like "open-concept" spaces (which, contrary to the statement in this ideabook, I find to be highly impractical) are in the vast majority. While I agree with you and Howard Roark that houses should have integrity and be suitable for modern living, I disagree that the only way to achieve that end is to build steel and concrete modernistic structures. Sometimes traditional or vernacular architecture is more suited to an individual's way of life or locality, and modernism for modernism's sake is as silly as building a pueblo house in the middle of New York City.

midmodfan I support the notion that 'modern' is and has always been, even in the most modernist times, unpopular with the majority of people. Modern is about trying something new (ideas, materials, building techniques - the last paragraph sums it up well), and most rather stick to what they are used to. Modern times feel somewhat scary, and people seek comfort in traditions and safety within their homes, locking out the potential 'danger' or the ominous stranger who could peep into their 27th floor bathroom window from the next highrise three miles away.

A modern home, open to the outdoors, lacks that 'safe haven' feel and makes most people uncomfortable. Others, me included, need openness to breathe.

The greatest architectural divide, to me, is between authentic and fake. A turn of the century Craftsman, an old Victorian, ... vs. all those phony 'old world charm' buildings that seem to be so popular today. Authentic traditional was modern when it was built, and both, traditional and modern, have their own right to exist.

kellystevens The current business model of builders catering to popular taste when building developments has created a lot of new homes that aren't at all modern, but are certainly trendy and frequently faux-Tuscan. Modern building tends to only be utilized in custom homes, where feats of engineering and new thought are supported both in creativity and cost.

Spry Architecture Great comments!

@kellystevens, a tremendously insightful comment...I wish I had thought / written it. I could not possibly agree more, too much home building is driven by builders and not architects, and they absolutely cater to popular taste building the trendy equivalent of bell-bottoms.

@midmodfan, love your last paragraph, right on. The divide is authentic vs. fake, too many homes are stage props, skins of some extinct style, built for curb-appeal only.

@ Roots and Rafters, I'm afraid you may have missed the point of the article. Although I will concede that modern can become a trend or a style just like any other. Sort of the equivalent to a teenager who wants to be different so he or she dresses in unusual attire and ends up looking just like his or her friends. That is not authentic or very original.

However, the point in the article is that what we call modern can evolve because it is about the current, it represents the moment. Not a moment from 200 years ago, but now.

I don't see a need, nor do I see the benefit, to design in another moments style, in other words, a style that represents a previous period of history.

Roots and Rafters I think that you've missed the point of my comment as well. I was not suggesting that all architecture adhere slavishly to past forms. I was merely saying that there is no one single style that is uniquely "of the moment" or uniquely suited to modern life.

Just as there are many family types and age groups who possess houses, so there are many different architectural needs, and saying that new buildings should be built in one style alone because that style is "of the moment" is to completely discount the needs of clients.

Perhaps you only take on one kind of client that requires the kind of house that you personally prefer to build -- but you cannot extrapolate that client or that set of needs to all clients and all newly built homes, and you cannot say that there is no benefit to building new structures in styles other than modernism.

Or, rather, you can say it -- but it will be arrogant, and it will not be true.

Spry Architecture Well, being that I am an architect, arguing that I'm not arrogant is like Bugs Bunny arguing that he's not a cartoon...tough argument to make...

You say "I was merely saying that there is no one single style that is uniquely "of the moment" or uniquely suited to modern life." you also say, "and saying that new buildings should be built in one style alone because that style is "of the moment" is to completely discount the needs of clients."

Again, the point of the article is to suggest that modern is NOT a style in the sense that we normally think of styles (Tuscan, Old World, Santa Barbara), which tend, at times, to be dated, trendy and inauthentic. Modern requires a broader definition and should transcend style. I think I make the point quite clearly as to why I believe that, you are welcome to re-read the article.

Roots and Rafters You are right that I found your definition of "style" unclear from the article, and subsequent readings have neither clarified your meaning nor convinced me that the examples of the modern aesthetic you give (multi-use, open-plan spaces being the poster child example) are "uniquely suited" to modern life or desirable parts that ought to be be incorporated into each new building (because single-use rooms like the parlor are stuffy and old-fashioned, natch). I suppose we will have to agree to disagree.

Spry Architecture ...about modern architecture, yes...

But, we do both agree that architects tend to be arrogant...so that's something...

steinmancindy @Spry Architecture. In the image shown of a modern floor plan. "Note the great room — kitchen, dining area and living area all in one space. No formal dining area, no extra fat. Trim. Lean." What about the cow? You made no mention of the cow? The cow? There is a cow in the garage?

Spry Architecture How could I forget about the cow? Here it is:

Spry Architecture Read all about the cow @ http://spryarch.com/blog/?p=563

steinmancindy @Spry. Wow an architect with a sense of humor?! What a breath of fresh air. I am still chuckling over this cow in the garage. Article made sense to me. I was curious though about the home done by Balance Associates Architects. That home would really blend right into a desert landscape. Understated in the desert with natural pristine desert swirling around it. I know I am a little off the subject, but that home really caught my eye. Are you familiar with working with that type of material on the outside of the house? It looks like rusted steel panels?

jedimarkus I love the open look of glass but always wonder how do you keep it clean!

deleve I am seeing a lot of matte and glossy white floors on Houzz, e.g. in one of the examples of modern architecture above. These are not painted wood, marble or terrazzo. What are they?

Spry Architecture @ steinmancindy, rusty metal is a terrific desert material, couldn't do it in Michigan (unless you used Corten). If you walk thry the desert you'll always find rusty scraps, also the color blends well in a desert landscape. Love it.

Spry Architecture @ jedimarkus, I suggest using teenagers if you have any available :)...I have two, not sure what I'll do once they leave...
Maintenance and Privacy are issues that need to be addressed when using a lot of glass. Both issues can be overcome with some thought and creativity (and some teenagers).
@ deleve, the floors may be integral color concrete, sealed and polished.

izzymandias This seems like an attempt at buy-one-get-one-free reasoning. Because modern architecture does a few things right, we should, then, accept everything it does wrong and it's awful appearance.

TIM Contracting and Design Modern? Like listening to atonal music written in the early 1900's by Schoenberg, Bartok and Stravinsky and realising how completely out of the mainstream it still is today, looking at 'modern' architecture evokes the same sense of lost time - this stuff has been around for 100 years!! One day, maybe, more people will start listening and looking.

Shawna Waller I enjoyed your article, Eric. I blame two groups for the lack of real progress in modern design.

I agree with the one commenter that too often our new neighbourhoods' styles and design are controlled by what I term the "home builder machine". For this group it is all about making money by marketing a lifestyle, often without regard for the location and definitely without regard for truly useful features, either. For example, "soaring vaulted ceilings" sounds awe inspiring in the brochure, but it is often uncomfortable to live, not to mention the energy costs of heating or cooling that unused volume of space! I'm not saying there isn't a place for vaulted ceilings in design, but that place is unlikely to be in the average 2500 sq ft house.

It depresses me to see these cookie cutter neighbourhoods with little to distinguish one from another. And here I blame the urban planners. Architectural controls seem to be the urban planners attempt to prevent chaos, but it backfires, resulting in a boring repetition of forms and a reworking of past design styles. Of course the home builder machine loves this, too, as they market the neighbourhood as part of the lifestyle they are selling. There needs to be a loosening up of these controls if we are to see innovation.

What we really need are more architects looking at each lot and each buyer, examining their clients real lifestyles and personalities and combining this information with current technologies. I think this would lead to much more imaginative, useful and modern designs for now and the future.

sefac Modern architecture is an acquired taste. Just like whiskey.

Tim Walker - sales rep at R&K Building Supplies @Spry, I loved reading about the cow. Anyone who has dealt with a government entity of any kind can appreciate the exchange with the planner.

@izzymandias, Modern architecture isn't going to appeal to everyone just as Tuscan, Mediterranean or Traditional styles don't. Imagine a world where everything was the same. I'd be bored to tears.

Spry Architecture @ izzymandias, please elaborate on what modern architecture does wrong and its awful appearance. Are those thoughts based on past experience of living in an unlivable modern home etc.? Just curious.
@ sefac, perhaps the two can go well together...
@ shawna, great insight, thank you.
@ tim, great analogy (music).

Spry Architecture @ Tim Walker, the cow article was therapeutic...

dschrader From the illustrations I see in this article, the author is combining "Modern" with "Contemporary." I majored in fine arts, and so get the difference in style from that art history perspective, which included architecture. I'd like to be better educated . Just by simple searches on Houzz in either category generates results that are all over the place, and so often not even close to either Modern or Contemporary. I'd love to see more respect and distinction given to these two classes of architecture and interior design. I personally don't see that there's an understanding between these styles. Some articles dedicated to that?

izzymandias It seems to me that the most important aspect to modern design is a feeling of superiority. This, of course, makes it as modern as Persepolis.

steinmancindy Wow. We'll that explains everything!

Spry Architecture @ izzymandias, I was hoping you'd provide some thoughtful exposition on why you feel this way, perhaps that was too much to ask. Frankly what you're saying doesn't make a great deal of sense without further explanation...you just seem like a bitter jilted lover.

It's unfortunate that you and Roots believe that a modern architect must be arrogant or condescending (feeling of superiority). That's just not the truth. Name calling always reduces meaningful discussion to a Jerry Springer show.

So much I could say but I've already said it in this article and my previous article...perhaps you should read that one also.

Shawna Waller Perhaps people are mixing up Modern and modern? There is the capitalized "Modern", as in the Midcentury Modern movement and such, then there is the not capitalized modern, as in "as of our current times"..... Just a thought.

izzymandias What is there to say that the proponents of modern architecture haven't already said? The feelings of superiority are positively dripping off the page... er, screen. But, if you want examples, you can see it everywhere here. It's not shown in an explicit way, but in the assumptions - ie that there's no need to explain why an open floor plan (which I also happen to prefer) is better, it's self-evident, and those who don't like it are just clinging to the past or irrationally fearful (as midmodfan intones).

In this forum, there's no need to be explicit about the biases, because it's mostly safe to assume that everyone shares them.

Try reading the comments from the view of someone who isn't already enamoured of modern architect, and you may see the posts take on a different hue (or shade of white, if you must).

sefac One point to be remembered. Those who commission a modern architectural style home are getting exactly what they want. Their taste is their business. What we may think of it is irrelevant. I see the same small petty comments directed at those who order a Bentley, Ferrari or Lamborghini. When they take delivery whether it is a home, automobile or jet. It is they who must be satisfied.

Spry Architecture @ izzymandias, as much as I appreciate your psychological analysis of those who appreciate modern architecture and design, the question I asked was in regards to your disdain for modern architecture, not the people who enjoy it. So, after three attempts, I suppose the question must remain unanswered as it is time to move on.

@ sefac, agreed. However, what is the best brand of whiskey to drink while in a modern home? Difficult question...

@ shawna and dschrader, the point I had hoped to make in the article is that modern is not a style the way we think of styles, but more of an evolving idea (or mindset) that meets the needs of it's time; a way to address current issues with imaginative solutions producing a look (style) that is original, unique.

CJG Designs Many moons ago, I was taught that Modern was a style (glass, steel, minimal) born back in the 50's & 60's. If you were to build in that style today, it would be Modern because it fits that style, not because it was designed today. Styles "of the day" are usually called Contemporary. They are usually a mish mosh of various styles (some good, some not so good), so we don't know what else to call them (ie: McMansions). Opinion alert: guys like Modern, girls don't. Most guys end up with a girl, and the rest is contemporary history. If you are looking for a Modern fixx, Residential Architect is a good mag. to check out.

TIM Contracting and Design Great back and forth. Hate to keep going back to music, but the similarities are striking. Why does 'modern' architecture still evoke such passionate opinions? Why do a quarter of the audience walk out of a symphony concert if they dare to play something 'new'? Don't have answers, but it gets to the core of the thing. Both are challenging centuries of ordered and classical thinking? Both strike a tone of dissonance that rub people the wrong way? Both are boldly and unavoidably different? We went to the moon and then stopped! The times are not daring, it seems, they are conservative and retrenched.

judlittle A truly off the wall comment. It seems to me that modern residential architecture often seems to show elements in tension whereas traditional architecture uses elements in compression. I think many people find the tension elements uncomfortable and find more comfort (important in a home as opposed to a work place) with elements in compression.

Dana Veach I think you have stated it well, Eric with your reply to shawna and dschrader: "modern is not a style the way we think of styles, but more of an evolving idea (or mindset) that meets the needs of it's time; a way to address current issues with imaginative solutions producing a look (style) that is original, unique." To paraphrase another often used thought: (George Satayana, 1863-1952, "The Life of Reason, Vol 1") "He who fails to learn from history is condemned to repeat it."...the "modern" thinker extracts the best of the past, expands, experiments, and adapts to build on it and innovate. The familiar seems safe and comfortable. It may or may not be, depending on context. judlittle touched on a larger truth with his observation concerning the "tensions" involved in innovation. In theology and philosophy, I've learned that truth is generally found at the balance point between two opposing tensions. So, in good design, we search for the balance between need, aesthetic, and function. Thanks for an informative article and lively discussion.

Paradigm Wood Designs couldn't live in it

baon Beautiful article. Your observations are poignant. Modern reflects the time. Architectually diverse neighborhoods that allow lots to be purchased and then divided, resulting in twins of 'builder homes' seem to decrease the values of these very neighborhoods. And yes, these 'homes' seem to be built for key words for listing purposes. 'Claw foot tub', 'soaring ceiling', 'granite'. etc. and lack any intelligence of design. My one comfort is that these home often sell for less $per sq foot than the 1904 victorian gutted to the studs and modernized for today's use and energy effeciency with integrity and character. The taxes earned on these cookie houses are less too... why don't the urban planners take that into account?

Sorry about that tangent. The point is.. you are right. Archectecture should reflect the times and the technological advancements and posess authenticity. Thank you for your thoughtful article.

oh for want of a smart house. Grout free, wall mounted toilets, in floor heating (no furnace, less to no dusting), flush or wall mounted cupboards (or tall enough for the roomba to clean under), stairs that are dog/kid/elderly friendly, solar, rain barrels, windows on all four sides, insulation. I know, I ask too much. Smart and energy effecient homes will indeed be the 'modern' keepers of 2013-2023... and none will have a parlor.

Anthony Great article Eric, I like your inclusive and theoretically correct definition of "modern" but the way I look at it is that the moment you go square, you've got modern. (circles not included, too space inefficient)

Izzymandias above is absolutely correct, modern architecture is an expression of superiority but not against ones neighbour but against ones surrounding, nature. This is why modern residential architecture is such a divisive style.....we are products of our environment, familiar with a theme of curving and flowing lines; straight/square lines are sure hard to find in our environment.

The most daunting challenge in architecture is making sharp corners feel soft and comfortable and this is one of the major reasons why modern residential architecture has not taken off (other than the communist condo). Residential architects are not getting it - they don't know how to make their interiors comfortable. The other major reason is construction costs - everything is so seamless that there is very little room for error, most of the trim we all love and adore in "heritage", Craftsman or Victorian architecture actually originate to cover up unsightly gaps or seams.

In short, Eric's definition is correct :)

rsazima @Spry, great article! Not every opinion is fundamented, but you did a nice job in expressing your view of what is modern architecture.

A bit off topic, but here it goes: Brazilian modern architecture is somewhat similar, but stems directly from Brazilian modernist architecture leaded by Lucio Costa, Rino Levi, Lina Bo Bardi, Oscar Niemeyer, Paulo Mendes da Rocha (this one still alive & kicking and probably the best in the country today), Vilanova Artigas, Zanine Caldas, Carlos Millan, João Filgueiras Lima (Lelé), etc. It is rooted in the following principles: 1) Pilotis; 2) Garden terraces; 3) Open floorplans; 4) Wide glass windows; e 5) Clean façades.

Finally, a couple pics of the local favorites are attached (most are public building by Niemeyer).

P.S.: @judlittle, your comment was so thoughtful that I subscribed just beacuse of it.

Cheers, Ricardo

rsazima Some more...:-)

rsazima A lot of concrete too. Just realized that the translation of pilotis is stilts. Cheers

TIM Contracting and Design 100 years ago, there was a volcanic explosion of new ideas: the theory of relativity, cubism, Isadore Duncan, atonal music and modern architecture poured over us like a tsunami. We were to see things in a new light, an opening up. Of course, the depression and the war came. A bit of time spent today at the Museum of Modern Art in the Smithsonian listening to people look at the exhibits tells the sad truth, and it really is too bad. What should have been great leaps forward, including the spaces we chose to live in, spaces that said open and forward things, slowed to a crawl. Everything (except the science, and only because the darn math keeps working - the ideas seem as incredibly bizarre today as they did then) was basically rejected by the masses.
It seems to me that today’s modern architecture is still being ruled by ‘open’ ideas, bold ideas that came near the time of its birth. With today’s climate, real modern architecture, sadly, might have bars across the windows and turrets with machine guns on them.

Spry Architecture @ rsazima, thank you for the pics, beautiful architecture.

izzymandias Personally, I'll put "modern" architecture in with cubism, the depression, and war. The populace's rejection of it proves that even the "masses" (almost always used as a pejorative) can't be wrong all the time.

scizoeffective Nice work here.
I just love the way you explain this 'little' concept to all of us because, you know, some people tend to forget way to much the... uhmm... wait... what? I just couldn't resist to notice there is a cow in the garage!
Anyways, great post! I already bookmarked it just in case :)
Thanks.

diamondhill As a layperson in the world of design, this fascinating post and discussion has helped to clarified for me how modern residential architecture can actually serve to increase our connection to honesty, integrity, and even cows. If we start by compressing modern residential architecture into a category of its own, and use its' model of simplicity, we would be able to hone our focus to a few salient points: Does the design reflect a harmonious respect to its site and climate? Does the creative use of materials (including natural and industrial tension) further our connection to modern day reality? And does the use of renewable/ recycled resources and energy conservation hold us accountable to our past while inspiring us to do more for our future?