Essential Modernism ― Design Between the World Wars

A beautiful and expansive look at Modernist design, representing iconic works including architecture, interiors, graphic design, and product design

This sweeping survey showcases the work of dozens of Modernist designers, from those who established the International Style in the 1920s and 30s through the groundbreaking practitioners of the mid-1940s. Modernism, with its powerful aesthetic and philosophical framework, is the 20th century’s most defining movement in design and the applied arts. Architects and designers such as Alvar Aalto, Marcel Breuer, Eileen Gray, Le Corbusier, Bruno Mathsson, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, László Moholy-Nagy, and Frank Lloyd Wright revolutionized the built world and how we live in it. Their work rejected historical precedents, prioritizing function over tradition, and their experimentation with new forms, materials, and techniques transformed our living spaces and lifestyles and fundamentally changed the way we think about design.

This authoritative volume includes sections on furniture, lighting, glass, ceramics, textiles, industrial and product design, graphic design and posters, as well as architecture and interiors. The encyclopedic scope facilitates unexpected connections and offers new insights. Complete with essays by accomplished scholars and specialists, over 600 illustrations, and an A to Z of designers, this book is unparalleled in scope. Essential Modernism is an indispensable resource for scholars and students as well as for the designer’s studio, the collector’s desk, and the enthusiast’s library.

Dominic Bradbury is a design and architecture writer who contributes regularly to House & Garden, the Daily Telegraph, the Sunday Times, and Wallpaper*. He is the author of Mid-Century Modern Complete.