Okuzeka
Architecture vocabulary · Styles, History and Conservation

Modernism

Meaning in architecture, with examples

/ˈmɑːdərnɪzəm/nounCore term

In architecture, Modernism means: The early to mid-20th-century movement that rejected historical decoration and favoured function, simple forms, open plans and new materials like steel, glass and concrete.

In Turkish: modernizm, modern mimarlık

How it is used

Central in history and theory courses. Key names include Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius and the Bauhaus; slogans such as 'form follows function' and 'less is more' are linked to it. The adjective is modernist.

Example sentences

  1. The housing estate is a classic example of post-war Modernism.

  2. Early Modernism rejected ornament in favour of clean lines and flat roofs.

Common collocations

  • Modernist architecture
  • post-war Modernism
  • International Style
  • Modern Movement
  • BrutalismA style from the 1950s to the 1970s known for heavy, bold forms and raw, exposed concrete, often used for housing, universities and public buildings.
  • open planA layout with few or no internal walls, so that functions such as cooking, eating and living, or many desks in an office, share one large space.
  • steel frameA structure of steel columns and beams joined together, which carries the floors and roof and makes large open spaces and tall buildings possible.
  • curtain wallA thin outer wall, usually of glass and aluminium, that hangs from the building's structure and keeps out the weather but carries no floor or roof loads.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Styles, History and Conservation

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: