A Look Back on Modernism
BDES 1201 — Week 7
by: Antonio Cicchetti
In this week's reading, we take another look at Jonathan M. Woodham’s “Twentieth — Century Design” specifically his chapter titled “Design and Modernism”. In this chapter, we get an in-depth look into the history of modernism.
Modernism was a design movement that started to take shape in the late nineteenth century and gained mass popularity by the twentieth century. Woodham states that one of the reasons modernism had been popular was due to the fact that many of the parties that opposed modernism were infamous repressive groups such as National Socialist Germany and Stalinist Russia. Woodham explains that many followers of modernism saw themselves as the creators of the machine age due to the fact that modernism’s design principles paired so well with the development of mass production and industrialism with its use of smooth surfaces and new materials.
Woodham goes on to describe several organizations that supported modernism throughout this era such as the Bauhaus, a German design school, the Deutscher Werkbund, the Swedish Society of Industrial Design and Design and Industries Association (Woodham, 110) all taught design principles of modernism in their own rights with varying degrees of success.
According to Woodham “The Modern Movement” developed within two main phases, the first taking place in the late 19th century and the second taking place post World War I in the 1920s. Modernism has spread from forms of architecture to appliances, ceramics, glassware, furniture, carpets, textiles, typography, posters, and wallpaper.
A great example of modernism which is apparent in our everyday lives outside of architecture is in our own appliances. Modern kitchens of today feature sleek stainless-steel appliances that capture all the same modernism characteristics, smooth surfaces and the use of chrome plated steel and glass. Taking a look at a kitchen appliance and furniture catalog today we can find many of the appliances showcased follow this design aesthetic, sleek and somewhat minimal. This testament to the impact modernism has had on today’s world of design.
Questions:
- Do you think modernism was ahead of its time considering we can still see remnants of it in today’s design?
2. Why do you think modernism had such an impact culturally and politically?
WORK CITED
Woodham, Jonathan M. Twentieth Century Design. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1997, Chapter 2.
