Looking Back Toward the Left.

Victorian To Modern

Please, indulge my pleasure for interior design. Here, I have taken a very Victorian room and turned it into a mid-century modern space. With interior design, the principles generally stay the same regardless of the period in history. In fact, the dictums of the use of symmetry, asymmetry, color, spatial arrangements, and any other principle…Continue reading Victorian To Modern

International Style Design Elements

Through all the “ism” in art and architecture, modernist design in architecture refers to the mid-century of the 20th century. So many buildings and residences set the stage for contemporary modern designs of today. Many of the iconic places so familiar to us have exerted incredible influences on current design to such a degree, that…Continue reading International Style Design Elements

Windows Open Simultaneously (First Part, Third Motif), oil on canvas,

Judgmentalism and Modern Art

After reading an article on www.spiked-online.com, the question of using the term judgmentalism when exploring art criticism piqued my interest. The article on this website, “Modern Art is Not Rubbish,” engaged in the typical tortured intellectual gymnastics that has been around since the Cubists, which I will examine a little later. Nevertheless, I have heard…Continue reading Judgmentalism and Modern Art

Wormley Brass Leg Sofa for Dunbar, 1950.

Edward Wormley: Mid Century Mainstream

  Edward Wormley (1907-95) was born and grew up near Chicago, Illinois. He spent his high-school years enrolled in interior design courses through correspondence courses, having a keen interest in design. After attending the Art Institute of Chicago and running out of money to continue, in 1928 he obtained employment at Marshall Fields where he…Continue reading Edward Wormley: Mid Century Mainstream

Featherston Book Cover

Writing About Featherston

Mid Century Modern Groovy received an email from someone writing about the mid-century Australian designer Featherston which is featured in an article on this website, in the series, “Lessor Known Designers”.  As a side note, lessor known here simply means that a designer is not commonly know by the general public, not necessarily by those…Continue reading Writing About Featherston

Side Table.

A Mid-Century Modern DIY Project

I love designing furniture and have created many pieces in my house. I have a bar table that is a little worse for wear and devoid of storage possibilities.     Instead, I have taken the challenge to create, using simple materials and techniques, a sophisticated sideboard in mid-century modern style. In doing so, sharing…Continue reading A Mid-Century Modern DIY Project

The Binotto House.

The Binotto or Circular House

Since an article just appeared in MCM Groovy covering the Aluminaire House, which is a modernist prefab house meant to be assembled from manufactured parts, the Circular House of Serge Binotto comes readily to mind. Serge Binotto was an assistant to the French designer, Jean Prouve, who, if one is familiar with mid century modern…Continue reading The Binotto or Circular House

Visiting the Aluminaire House

Early on in my post secondary education I studied architecture. The notion that one can, in artistic fulfillment, create a work that not only others see, but also encapsulates them usefully for work, endeavors or domestic desires, brings a different sort of satisfaction over the embellishments that painting or other two-dimensional productions provide. In my…Continue reading Visiting the Aluminaire House

The Anderson House by Al Beadle.

Al Beadle: Modern Master

I have included information about the architect, Al Beadle, in other articles. He has the distinction of not only an Internationalist style, but also the designer of the only Case Study structure outside the State of California, this being the Case Study Apartments #1, also known as Triad. Beadle is very familiar to me, in…Continue reading Al Beadle: Modern Master

Entrance to General Electric Showcase House.

General Electric Showcase House

Some of us may have heard of Ronald Reagan. He was not only President of the United States, but also before a downgrade in working positions, he did some acting in Hollywood and also as a spokesperson for some commercial interests. One of those spokesperson jobs included General Electric. In fact, Reagan hosted General Electric…Continue reading General Electric Showcase House

Minimalist Interior

Minimalism Revisited

This article is largely a response regarding another article that I produced, mostly as an amusement. The original article was an example of minimalism in itself. Perhaps an apology to the readers might be appropriate, but I have refrained from doing so simply because of my self-indulgent attitude toward humor whether anyone else sees any…Continue reading Minimalism Revisited

Seattle's Century 21 Exposition.

The Century 21 Exposition

The Seattle Century 21 Exposition held a unique position among the World Fairs in that the exposition actually drew a profit. Perhaps this encouraged those in New York which held its own exposition just two years later.  Although the one in New York left considerable influence on the ideas of modernism in America, the Seattle…Continue reading The Century 21 Exposition

The Ball Chair by Eero Aarnio

Aarnio, Finnish Designer

A friend of mine just returned from Finland and brought back one of those tourist magazines placed in hotel rooms to inform one of the local goings on. Knowing I have a keen interest in modernism and particularly furniture design from the mid-century, he brought back an issue from a hotel in Helsinki on Eerno…Continue reading Aarnio, Finnish Designer

General Motors Building, New York City.

Edward Durell Stone: From Inside Out

Edward Durell Stone, best known as the architect of Radio City Music Hall and the iconic John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, does not get a lot of mention these days, even though his structures had tremendous influence on architecture in the United States, and though many in the arts community might be…Continue reading Edward Durell Stone: From Inside Out