Modernism in design and architecture emerged in the aftermath of the First World War and the Russian Revolution – a period when the artistic avant-garde dreamed of a new world free of conflict, greed and social inequality. It was not a style but a loose collection of ideas. Many different styles can be characterised as Modernist, but they shared certain underlying principles: a rejection of history and applied ornament; a preference for abstraction; and a belief that design and technology could transform society.
Room 74: 20th Century, Internationalism & Modernism
This room is divided into three bays. The first includes objects made between 1900 and 1920, a time when appropriate uses for mechanised production were fiercely debated. I…
Read article
Modernism: Searching for Utopia
At the beginning of the twenty-first century our relationship to Modernism is complex. The built environment that we live in today was largely shaped by Modernism.
Read article
'The Machine'
Central to the Modernist dreams of a new utopia was the idea of technology, represented in word and image by ‘the machine’.
Read article
Modernism: Building Utopia
In the mid 1920s, as the post-war economy improved, Modernists utopian desire to create a better world began to take shape.
Read article
Modernism and Nature
During the 1930s many designers and architects, especially the more avant-garde, turned away from mainstream Modernism. Eschewing objectivity, geometry and machine imagery,…
Read article
Biographies of Modernist Designers
Read the biographies of some of the key Modernist designers.
Read article
Kitchen Clock, by Max Bill, 1956
This kitchen clock, which incorporates a mechanical timer, was designed by Max Bill whilst director of the Hochschule für Gestaltung (HfG Ulm), the experimental design scho…
Read article
Penguin Donkey Bookcase by Egon Riss and Isokon, 1939
This bookcase was was made by Isokon, probably the most forward-thinking British furniture manufacturer of the 1930s. In the late 30s this little bookcase was set to be a b…
Read article
Drinks Trolley by Zsuzsa Kozma, 1938-9
This Kozma drinks trolley, designed by Zsuzsa Kozma in Budapest was given to the V&A in 1997. It is associated with immigration at the end of the Second World War. In 1947 …
Read article
Designs for Prefabricated House Fronts, by Berthold Lubetkin, 1949
Modernist architect Berthold Lubetkin created these theoretical designs for the 100 Houses Scheme, Thorntree Gill Housing, Peterlee, County Durham, drawing by Peter Yates, …
Read article
Archives of Sir Hugh Casson and Margaret Macdonald Casson
The archives of Sir Hugh Casson (1910–1999) and Margaret Macdonald Casson (1913–1999) are important additions to the Museum’s collection of papers of twentieth-century Brit…
Read article
Marcel Breuer and Motley
Marcel Breuer met the designers behind the Motley Theatre Design Group in 1936, during the London Theatre Studio project in Islington, London. When the Motleys ventured int…
Read article
Become a V&A Member
V&A Members enjoy a wealth of benefits, including free entry to exhibitions, previews, exciting events and the V&A Members’ Room. In addition, you will be supporting the vital work of the V&A.
Buy or Renew Membership OnlineShop online
The Modern Ideal: The Rise and Collapse of Idealism in the Visual Arts from the Enlightenment to Postmodernism
Over the last three centuries the world has been modernized. From the first stirrings of industrialism to the definitive arrival of globalization, art…
Buy now
