Documenting, Preserving, and Promoting Modernist Residential Architecture Throughout the U.S.
You cannot save something valuable without knowing where it is or why it is important. America’s brilliant mid-century Modernist houses are frequently endangered and torn down, largely because buyers, sellers, and realtors do not realize the importance of what they have or how to preserve, repair, and protect these livable works of art. With documentation on over 20,000 iconic houses and 120 important architects, and over 4.1 million pages of architecture and design magazines, USModernist is America’s largest open digital archive of Modernist houses, an award-winning nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational archive for the documentation, preservation, and promotion of residential Modernist architecture.
What is a Modernist house? Modernist design is characterized by features such as combining traditionally separate common areas (like the living room and the dining room, for example), open interior floor plans with vaulted ceilings, large and numerous windows, flat or low pitch roofs, long exposed beams, extensive use of glass to bring in natural light, and unusual geometric forms. Early Modernist architects wanted to change the way people lived by making houses and objects more affordable through better materials, streamlined building, and family connectivity. Gone were formal living and dining rooms—instead, there was a large family space where kitchen, dining, and living rooms flow into each other–and smaller private bedrooms.
More than anything, Modernism creates feelings of optimism—a better, brighter future than the past.
The Mod Squad is a thriving community of people dedicated to the love of Modernist residential design. Mod Squad members are into design, architecture, art, food, travel, furniture, fashion, and fun. Membership connects you with like–minded people, building new and meaningful relationships. Learn more.
Your gift assures that millions of page of documents, tens of thousands of photos, and hundreds of architect biographies have a continuous protected, maintained home and stay available to the public without charge. Your contribution insures people continue to access primary sources of Modernist information and inspiration for the architecture they love. All donations are tax-deductible. Learn more.
