Some have commented to me that they don’t know why it has taken modern architecture, which they see as being beautiful in architectural magazines, so long to “catch on” or specifically change the design of the average 21st century resident in the western world. It has greatly changed our homes; around us we see typical 50’s to 80’s style homes, that we don’t really have a name for. For the most part this is a boxed home style with hipped roofs and punched windows, and it is a direct result of the “modern architectural model.” So why hasn’t the average home builder attained the design rationale to produce beautiful modern architecture? Because revolutionary architects rebelled against the standards of past centuries, to break free from styles and respond directly to the modern man. Therefore unless you understand the design rationale they opened up to architecture in all its forms, only by fluke would you achieve the essence of modern architecture for your home. Let’s examine briefly the progression of recent architecture that got us to this point.

The western part of North American grew largely due to the gold rush in the mid-1800’s. The architectural style of the day was the Victorian style; historic San Francisco homes are the best sample of this. The rest of western civilization—Europe and the eastern U.S.A.—influenced from its native European residences, were based primarily from the industrial revolution home mold. Gable roofs, very few windows and brick façades with cookie cutter floor plans that served fast construction. Farmers were forced off their farms to work in factories at such a fast rate that architecture was forced to respond to cover the basic need for shelter in as short a time as possible. Homes were cramped in new or booming metropolises and the idea of character and individuality was thrown out the window with their sewage into the street. Fast forward a bit to the early 1900’s revolutionary architects like Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier and Miles van der Rohe—who came onto the scene, looked into the future and saw the home or building that would respond to the dramatically changing lifestyle of the modern man.

Wright’s philosophies

Frank Lloyd Wright created the philosophy of “organic architecture,” the central principle of which maintains that the building should develop out of its natural surroundings. The Japanese aesthetic, which stressed the interrelationship of landscape and architecture, and the planning of landscape, was of great importance to Wright’s work. Specific forms, such as the asymmetrical geometric forms of the simple Japanese domestic interior, and the deep overhanging eves of Japanese roofs, became characteristic features of Wright’s designs.

One principle design rationale to learn: If you want something unique—which is the principle of modern architecture—there are no two same responses to any site. Try not to pick your house plan before you buy the lot. Consider the natural landscape of your site; which faces of the home will need privacy from the streets, how does the sun travel across your lot, where are your best views from the site, etc. Then design your own home accordingly, hire a designer or choose a house plan from a book that responds to your lot investigations. If you choose to pick a plan from a house plan from a book or magazine, look at my next blog to see how you can make the exterior unique.