Modernism

Brazil's legendary artist, who spanned the 20th century's major architectural movements with a timeless style that infused the geography and culture of his native country with European modernism died Wednesday at the age of 104.

December 6, 2012 - The Wall Street Journal

Alex Ulam discusses the challenges of redesigning mid-century urban landscapes to accommodate contemporary tastes and social activities, drawing on examples like Dan Kiley's North Court at Lincoln Center and Boston City Hall Plaza.

November 25, 2012 - The Architects Newspaper

The preservation and meticulous restoration of historic brownstones in Manhattan, and especially Brooklyn, over the last half-century has revived whole swaths of the city. A new generation of homeowners are exploring radical alterations to the form.

November 12, 2012 - The New York Times

Montreal architect Vedanta Balbahadur writes about his hometown's fall from its status as Canada's premier city through the lenses of baseball and the built environment.

September 26, 2012 - Satellite Magazine

Perhaps no American city is as defined by a single architectural style as Washington D.C. is by classically inspired architecture. Roger K. Lewis argues why the nation's capital needs to break from its historical antecedents.

May 30, 2012 - The Washington Post

The implosion of the Pruitt-Igoe housing projects is recognized as the moment when modernism died. Sam Jacob is taking university students to the site to observe what has become of the location.

October 26, 2011 - Strange Harvest

Le Corbusier's modernist city, long a target of criticism from urban planners, is reportedly being sold off piece by piece. Preservationists are incensed and are leading an effort to preserve the city's signature style.

March 21, 2011 - domus

A new book of photography compares the legacies of two modernist cities: Brasilia and Chandigarh.

March 10, 2011 - Azure

Minimalism, long declared dead, rises from the grave to lumber on, writes Sam Jacob. Can it be stopped?

January 10, 2011 - Strange Harvest

Capitalism and bourgeois values built the city of Tel Aviv, which stands today as an outlier in Israel, according to this article.

December 22, 2010 - City Journal

Chandigarh, the modernist city designed by Le Corbusier in India, is becoming increasingly popular among scholars, critics and a rising residential population. But some of the best parts of the city are closed to the public.

August 20, 2010 - Change Observer

PRAIRIEFORM argues that the central problem of modernist architecture is the way the buildings erase the sense of place inherent in the location where they are built.

June 11, 2010 - PRAIRIEFORM

Essayist and photographer Aisha Sloan revisits the Los Angeles neighborhood of her childhood to examine Modernist architecture and its correlation to segregation.

June 1, 2010 - Terrain.org: A Journal of the Built & Natural Environments

Nikos Salingaros presents the case for demolishing a modernist eyesore in Rome and replacing it with a high-density, mixed-use New Urbanist neighborhood.

May 24, 2010 - Nikos Salingaros

Palm Springs is seen as a haven for Modernist architecture, but so far no local buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.

April 19, 2010 - American Institute of Architects

“Not that I condone fascism, or any -ism for that matter: -isms in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an -ism; he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon: ‘I don’t believe in Beatles, I just believe in me.’ A good point there. After all, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus. I'd still have to bum rides off of people.” —Ferris Bueller

January 5, 2010 - Jeffrey Barg

With the emergence of new traditional design patterns among contemporary architects, the standards and rules that have defined historic preservation are becoming obsolete. Steven W. Semes calls on planners and designers to create a new ethic of harmonious intervention into historic settings.

October 22, 2009 - Steven W. Semes

The Nakagin Capsule Tower, designed in Tokyo in 1972 as part of the Japanese Metabolism movement in architecture, is facing destruction. Residents of the building have voted to demolish it and replace it with a modern structure.

July 8, 2009 - The New York Times

On my way to work this morning, I was listening to an interview with the band Blitzen Trapper on my iPod. They’ve got a beautiful song called ‘Furr’; the sound echoes 1970s folk rock- and roots influences like English folk, country and bluegrass.  Anyway, Eric Early, the main songwriter, got my attention with his answer to this question: INTERVIEWER: Obviously ‘American music’ means different things to different people. What does it mean to you?

June 18, 2009 - Tim Halbur

Owen Hatherley presents his case for a revival of modernism, particularly in its original intent as a social reform movement, in his new book, Militant Modernism.

May 31, 2009 - Icon Eye