What is the International Style?
The International Style is a modern architectural style that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s and spread across the world. The name became established after an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1932. It is characterised by plain, functional buildings without needless ornament, in which form follows function.
Characteristics
The International Style can be recognised by a number of recurring features:
- No ornament — smooth, plain facades without decoration; the beauty lies in the proportions.
- Volume rather than mass — the building reads as a light, thin skin around a space, not as a heavy solid block.
- Horizontal lines and glass — ribbon windows, flat roofs and lots of glass.
- New materials — steel and concrete frames allow open floor plans and large window areas.
- White or light — often light, even colours.
Background and significance
The style grows out of modernism and has roots in the Bauhaus, De Stijl and the work of architects such as Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Walter Gropius. The idea was a universal, timeless architecture that could be applied anywhere in the world, independent of local traditions — hence “international”. After the Second World War the style shaped office towers and housing blocks. Later it was criticised because the buildings were felt to be cold and monotonous, which helped give rise to postmodernism.
Related terms
- Bauhaus
- Le Corbusier
- Expressionism
- Brutalism
- High-tech
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