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Finally, you'll want to strike the right balance when it comes to incorporating MCM pieces into your space. Color was also a major component of midcentury style and was used in ways we had never seen before, often either as a bold accent or as a way to make a piece of furniture stand out singularly in a room, Thompson says.
Mono-material metal furniture
Take in the city’s most famous architectural landmarks from the top of a double-decker bus as the guided tour drives past William Krisel’s House of Tomorrow, Neutra’s Kaufmann Desert House, pictured above, E. Stewart Williams’ legendary “Twin Palms” estate and the Tramway Gas Station, now the Palm Springs Visitors Center. Rachel Silva, the Assistant Digital Editor at ELLE DECOR, covers design, architecture, trends, and anything to do with haute couture. This midcentury Palm Springs house is going way beyond the design playbook, and we’re not complaining. Give that retro look a contemporary spin with chic all-black seating and juxtaposing loud-and-proud wall bling—red triptych by artist Ko Kirk Yamahira—that anchors the fireplace wall.
It Turned Designers Into Icons.
Like Lucienne Day, he combined distinctive colour palettes with simple geometric shapes to communicate a message in a stylised, graphic way. Danish architect and designer Poul Henningsen is perhaps best-known for his contribution to lighting design, with one standout example in the mid-century modern style being the PH Artichoke Pendant. American pottery designer Edith Heath founded Heath Ceramics in 1948, which went on to produce an extensive range of mid-century modern ceramic tableware, as well as architectural tiles. His work encompassed architecture, furniture, textiles and glassware, as well as sculptures and paintings. Perhaps the most famous example of mid-century modern furniture is the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman, designed for Herman Miller in 1956, which combine curved outer shells in moulded, veneered plywood with soft leather.
Eight chocolate-brown interiors that look good enough to eat
In this living room, a pair of lounge chairs by Milo Baughman surround an Eames cocktail table covered in gold leaf. The walls and hearth are painted in a subtle Green Ground by Farrow & Ball, and the ceiling is lined with Douglas fir. Perhaps the ultimate example of mid-century modern design, designer couple Ray and Charles Eames' eponymous house is filled with the couple's own creations. Here, we have gathered images of 10 projects where mid-century modern design has been used to create interiors that are elegant without feeling cold or stark.
Skinny Japanese house
A sense of openness and flow that is synonymous with mid-century modern design. “Mid-century modern design often includes open floor plans, creating a seamless flow between different areas of the home and allowing natural light to fill the space,” says Amanda Sims. This approach can not only enhances the overall aesthetic but also creates a more functional and versatile living environment. Many mid-century modern designers opted for a deliberately artificial aesthetic, rather than trying to imitate wood grain or other more traditional materials. As is obvious from much of the furniture of the time, this design style used natural or pure materials.
Mid-century modern dining room ideas from interior design experts
Geometric and abstract patterns are commonly found in mid-century modern interiors. These bold patterns inject a playful and dynamic element into the design, breaking away from the monotony of solid colors. Whether it's a vibrant geometric rug or an abstract wallpaper, these patterns become focal points in the space, adding visual interest and creating a sense of energy and movement. His book cover designs for McGraw-Hill Paperbacks are standout examples of this style, communicating diverse and complex topics. His illustrations for Modern Nuclear Technology, for example, and Personality and Psychotherapy, use simple, graphic, overlapping shapes – a characteristically mid-century modern technique.
So whether you’re committed to a full midcentury home renovation or looking to infuse the look into your living room with a few simple tweaks, we’ve pulled our favorite looks from the pages of ELLE DECOR to help sway you. Read on for 48 midcentury modern living rooms that will take you back in time. “I was in my late teens when I first came across John Lautner’s work in a coffee table book, and it completely fascinated me,” Rønning says. The fireside composition in the living room encompasses an Oscar Niemeyer Alta lounge chair and ottoman, a Ciuingam sofa by De Pas D’Urbino Lomazzi, a Ribbon chair by Cesare Leonardi and Franca Stagi, and a Jean Claude Dresse cocktail table. Artworks include a Lillian Florsheim sculpture (left) and a Lucio Fontana print above the fireplace.
Newly Listed Midcentury Modern Home Was Designed by Ron Molen - buildingsaltlake.com
Newly Listed Midcentury Modern Home Was Designed by Ron Molen.
Posted: Sat, 09 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Combine these rich tones with crisp whites and neutrals to create a balanced and inviting space. Don't be afraid to experiment with bold pops of color in your accessories and artwork. Eero Saarinen's design for the non-denominational chapel on the campus of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) can be found next to the Kresge Auditorium and Kresge Oval – which Saarinen also designed.
Linen Type postcards
Sculptural furniture is displayed against a backdrop of walnut panelling that wraps the apartment. A black and white Akari light by Isamu Noguchi for Vitra peeps into the living space from an adjacent room. This two-storey residence in San Francisco's Diamond Heights neighbourhood features post-and-beam structures, an open floor plan and glass walls.
Tour this classic William Krisel home in the Vista las Palmas neighborhood that has been brought back to life courtesy of interior designer Michelle Boudreau. This São Paulo apartment features vintage furniture and colourful patterned surfaces in a clever broken-plan interior. Pieces such as the wood-and-leather Boomerang chair by American architect Richard Neutra perfectly suit the style of the 1946 Louveira building. "Choose two or three pieces that work well for your taste and combine them with more contemporary pieces or other complementary styles like Art Deco," says Hodges.
“It’s a beautiful symphony of interwoven diagonals, verticals, and horizontals,” the artist says of the experimental structure, built in 1948 by architects A. Quincy Jones and Whitney R. Smith in collaboration with structural engineer Edgardo Contini and landscape designer Theodore Payne. We had to figure out which piece of wood is which color, the elaborate interplay between the posts and beams with the floor and ceiling, how certain volumes and forms interact.
One of the most unique of the midcentury-modern homes, Lautner’s Elrod House was immortalized in the 1971 James Bond movie Diamonds Are Forever. Cavelike but not dark thanks to some well-placed large skylights, the Elrod Home is almost verging on UFO territory. As KAA Design’s Grant Kirkpatrick told us, “Palm Springs is a bastion of classic midcentury architecture,” and this is probably among the desert town’s most imaginative structures. The Los Angeles Conservancy, a non-profit that seeks to save and protect historic buildings, warned of the impending demolition in January and said that the residence appeared “to be highly intact and a noteworthy example of modernist design from this era”. The single-story home and its grounds have since been cleared and in its place will be a massive home in the modern farmhouse style that has come to dominate US suburbs. It was most recently home to the late Hilda Rolfe, the widow of Sam Rolfe, co-creator of the series The Man from Uncle.
Like Paul Rand, Saul Bass is an undisputed icon of mid-century modernism in graphic design – and his corporate identity work for clients such as Bell System and Continental Airlines was some of the most memorable of the era. His movie title sequences and film posters were arguably even more groundbreaking, however, using simple, graphic visuals to evoke the essence of the subject. Rudolph de Harak was another leading exponent of mid-century modernism in graphic design.
But it takes only a few minutes of conversation with the actor to realize he has an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the movement’s design philosophies, major architects, and—most importantly—where to buy houses that fit the description. “There’s just something really appealing about the symmetry and openness of things,” he says of the homes. The Los Angeles home of interior designer Giampiero Tagliaferri is an object lesson in the wonders of 20th-century Italian furniture and the affinities between Italian modernism and the midcentury-modern movement incubated in Southern California. Lastly, understanding the philosophy that underlies the mid-century modern movement is crucial.
But, generally, you can look for the obvious clues such as peg legs or hardware. Another great tip is to search for the country of manufacture—Denmark, Yugoslavia, Japan, Italy, and the U.S. are often authentic midcentury.” To put it simply, do your homework before you make any investments. Nearly anything — beds, dressers, consoles, desks — can get the mid-century modern treatment, says Fragali, because the designs themselves were incredibly efficient, minimal, and angular. A combination of higher home loan limits during this time period—and a desire to simply spread out a bit more—led to big, ranch-style floor plans. “Residences could sprawl out within a single story, spanning the width of the lot,” Garcia explains.
The jewel-like custom tiled bar cabinet, which provides an ornamental focal point for the living room—and proof that both tile and wood don’t belong only on the floor. Built in the 1950s, this Johannesburg gem was designed by Eyvind Finsen, a South African architect who was inspired by Richard Neutra. The homeowners (architects themselves), Silvio Rech and Lesley Carstens, designed this with one question in mind. “We asked ourselves, ‘What would the natural progression of a Palm Springs bungalow be today? This living room flaunts a leather sofa by Flexform, a vintage black leather chair (bottom left) by Joe Colombo, and a custom angular cocktail table. In Mary Weatherford’s landmark midcentury-modern home in Los Angeles, art and architecture work hand in glove.
