Modernist architecture

Modernism meets industry at Friche de l’Escalette, a French art dealer’s sculpture park

Images of the Southern French countryside conjure up images of green, rolling hills and picturesque little villages, bathed in the Mediterranean light; and sure enough, the landscape around Marseille fits the bill. Yet, hidden amongst the leafy nature, are the industrial remnants...

André Lurçat-designed school in France scoops 2018 WMF/Knoll Modernism Prize

The striking modernist Karl Marx Middle School by architect André Lurçat in France has just been announced as winner of the 2018 World Monuments Fund/Knoll Modernism Prize. The building, which was originally inaugurated in 1933 and once described as ‘the...

Eileen Gray’s E-1027 launches crowdfunding campaign for restoration of original interiors

A crowd-funding campaign has been launched to raise money for important restorations to Eileen Gray’s modernist villa E-1027 in the south of France. The house, which reopened in 2015 after crucial structural restoration saved it from falling into complete disrepair...

Land Rover design director Gerry McGovern’s Warwickshire home is a dazzling slice of LA modernism

Designing houses for designers can be a thankless task, a fertile ground for clashing egos and creative disagreements. Happily, this radically reworked 1960s bungalow was completed without too many traumas and is now home to Gerry McGovern, design director at...

Langlands & Bell’s modernist box in rural Kent is a work of art

The rural studio-house of Turner Prize 2004 nominees Nikki Bell and Ben Langlands is some 320 sq m of meticulous craftsmanship and canny details, a modernist box in the quintessentially English countryside, couched in a meadow that is mown for...

‘The Barbican Estate’ by Stefi Orazi celebrates 50 years of modernist living

London’s Barbican Estate is revealed through a social lens by writer Stefi Orazi and photographer Christoffer Rudquist on the advent of the 50-year anniversary of when residents first arrived. Uncovering all the eccentricities of living inside a modernist experiment, The...

Marcio Kogan’s modernist rooftop gym in São Paulo

Close to Ibirapuera Park, in São Paulo’s affluent Jardins neighbourhood, Cobogó House sits in a tranquil plot. Designed by celebrated local architect Marcio Kogan, the house features his signature long, low yet dramatic volumes and tastefully appointed rich, warm materials...

David Chipperfield’s Nationalgalerie renovation in Berlin gathers speed

David Chipperfield’s office is pretty busy in the landmark department at present. Hot on the heels of the completion of a new entrance and accessories hall for the historic Selfridges building in Duke Street, London and with their new James-Simon-Galerie...

A. Quincy Jones’ The Cooper House is a midcentury modern design triumph

The walls and windows don’t seem to be there. From carpet to concrete to plants and trees, rooms are just part of the gradient. They don’t as much end as fade away. Certainly, walls and windows do exist here in...

From Vertigo to Psycho, how Hitchcock changed the role of architecture in film

Tour West Vancouver’s considerable cache of midcentury modernist homes

As Vancouver’s real estate wars ravage the city’s heritage housing, including its considerable cache of midcentury modernism, the West Vancouver Museum’s West Coast Modern Home tour offers a beacon of hope on the architectural horizon. Coinciding with the close of...

Jean Prouvé architecture goes on show at Marseille sculpture park

This summer sees the third open-air exhibition of lightweight architecture and sculpture at the Friche d’Escalette in Marseille. The park (a former lead mine) and its exhibits are privately owned by Éric Touchaleaume, a collector and dealer of the Fab...