Modernism, Mid Century Modern, Contemporary...Is not all the same?

Not really, but in the world of Interior Design, the terms “Modern”, “Mid Century Modern” and “Contemporary” are many times used indistinctly to refer to the same pieces or designs. For example, Ludwig Mies van Der Rohe is mentioned sometimes as a figure of Modernism, and some other as a figure of Mid Century Modern.

But this is not a good practice, because there are different movements and while sharing some principles, they still have differences you might not notice yet.

Modernism: The Beginnings.

By “Modern” we refer to pieces of furniture developed in the first half of XX Century by the founders of Modernism, a revolutionary movement in Design, Architecture, and Arts. Great names as Le Corbusier, Charles and Ray, The Bauhaus movement, and even the first period of L. Mies van der Rohe. In this period were established the principles of all renovation movements that came later in the s XX, and masterworks from that time, such as the Barcelona Chair . This works were relabeled latter in the 1980s, as we'll see.

Remarkable products of this period: the LC5 Sofa Bed (Le Corbusier), the Barcelona Chair by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe.

Mid Century Modern: The Golden Age of Design

Mid Century Modern is the moment in the XXth Century when several great designers collide in the creation of a solid creative collective. The principles of Modernism of 30 and 40 years ago were taken and updated with the new developments and findings of engineering, architecture and scientific progress.

In furniture we can mention remarkable products of this period, such as the Tulip Table (Eero Sarinen), or the Freedom Chair (Neils Diffrient). The Barcelona Chair was re released in America an that time in the 1950s. However, is convenient to clarify that the label Mid Century Modern was created very much later on, in the 1980s in a book called: "Mid Century Modern: Furniture of the 1950s", by Cara Greenberg , an art Author. Prior to these decades (1950s and 1960s) group of creatives see theirselves still as modernists.

Contemporary Design

More than a homogenous category, Contemporary encloses the works of any remarkable live creator, so there aren’t any fixed set of rules or principles. Some names of living and remarkable designers are Stefan Diez or Sato Oki. In consequence, you can find any style in Contemporary. As is expected, Mid Century Modern has a huge influence in Contemporary and lots of items will reflect it, in its minimalism, clean cut surfaces, or use of industrial materials. By definition any contemporary movement will have something eclectic, because it will nurture from the advances from the past.

According to The Spruce, a very well established publishing in Interior Design, Contemporary Design is: " Fundamentally, a contemporary style of decorating is defined by simplicity, subtle sophistication, deliberate use of texture, and clean lines. Interiors tend to showcase space rather than things". As we can see, the core principles of Mid Century Modern are quite present here. And beyond that, we can state that the Barcelona Chair is a timeless piece of design, because we can label it as Modern, Mid Century Modern and Contemporary, at the same time.

For inspo, info and great offers in furniture, don't miss the oportunity in Manhattan Home Design, the alternative for Mid Century Modern style furniture, with masterpieces like the

Barcelona Chair or the Barcelona Daybed .