Saturday, July 2, 2011

Why is Modernism Still Cool?

I just stumbled across a web site called "The Cool Hunter" which has a section devoted to architecture. Their idea of cools is very 1953.

Consider this class Bauhaus glass and steel rectangle. This was cool in, like, 1937.

There are some buildings that have a post-modern twist to them, like this weird construction, but overall the aesthetic is still "modern" -- stark, clean lines, undecorated surfaces, exposed structural elements, lots of concrete and steel. Since 1950 we have seen dramatic changes in the kind of painting and music that the average art lover considers "cool," but in architecture change seems to come much more slowly.

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