Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Houses

Product Description

A groundbreaking global survey of the finest mid-20th-century homes - one of the most popular styles of our time

A fascinating collection of more than 400 of the world's most glamorous homes from more than 290 architects, the Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Houses showcases work by such icons as Marcel Breuer, Richard Neutra, Alvar Aalto, and Oscar Niemeyer alongside extraordinary but virtually unknown houses in Australia, Africa, and Asia. A thoroughly researched, comprehensive appraisal, this book is a must-have for all design aficionados, Mid-Century Modern collectors, and readers looking for inspiration for their own homes.

Top Reviews

Architecturally Offensive
by M. Mayberry (1 out of 5 stars)
November 25, 2019

If you're a designer in any field this book might be visually interesting to you. The cover is beautiful, with interesting embossing techniques and the graphic design is fairly clear and communicative. However, if you're an architect like myself this atlas is a travesty.

There are 400+ projects, with roughly a paragraph of text and 1-3 photos of said projects. Not remotely enough to give anyone even the faintest idea of what the work was really about. Even more offensive....there is not a single drawing in this entire volume...adding no depth or clarity to these projects. This offense renders this book basically useless in terms of understanding mid century modern design. Very disappointed in the editors at Phaidon who generally publish excellent works in the architecture genre.

No disrespect to Mr. Bradbury, but this publication seems like nothing more than money-grab wrapped in a pretty package.
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Great international summary of homes built between 1945 and 1974
by Curtis Tom (4 out of 5 stars)
October 18, 2019

This is an impressive collection of MCM houses. It is an atlas, as the title states, so it covers a lot of houses broadly, sometimes more than one to a page, with a short summary and a photo or two. If you want more photos of interiors, you'll need to get other books like "Case Study Houses" or "Neutra". What is most unique though is both the international coverage (I'd not seen houses except for a few in the UK and western Europe), and the cool timeline of houses. Definitely a fun book for fans; but more of a reference for you to introduce you to architects that you might like to research more.
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Comprehensive & informative yes. Pretty, not so much.
by K. C. (1 out of 5 stars)
October 18, 2019

Disappointing visually unless you're an architect and like looking at what seems to be more of a college history textbook.
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enjoyable
by Malaise Lindenfeld (5 out of 5 stars)
November 19, 2019

great coffee table book
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good book.
by Diane V. (5 out of 5 stars)
November 2, 2019

great pricing. great photographs.
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The leading style of the century
by Robin (5 out of 5 stars)
October 19, 2019

The book is a remarkable visual record of over four hundred houses that accurately convey the feel and scope of mid-century modern around the globe. Predictably the US has the most examples, one hundred and fifty (Canada has ten) and the mid-century style could be said to have originated there, especially in California where creative architects, including several Europeans, designed houses that took advantage of the pleasant climate and featured open-plan living like the well known Case Study Houses, several are included. The next largest collection is the UK with forty-one houses.

The book divides the world into nine regions with Europe in two sections and 151 homes, Africa and the Middle East have fourteen and the Far East thirteen, Central and South America fifty-one. Australia and New Zealand twenty. Each house has one exterior photo and sometimes the addition of one or more interiors. The captions include the structures name, architect, location and date followed by the author's very comprehensive background detail about the property and designer. The back pages have a Timeline, Glossary, Bibliography and Index.

I thought the Timeline (1945 to 1974) over twenty pages, was quite fascinating. Each page has twenty largeish thumbnails and it's possible to see and compare how architects created individual homes with the mid-century chracteristics of a horizontal look and large windows. There are nine or more circular houses, a style favoured by John Lautner, several architects broke away from the format and designed roofs that curved over a property or looked like wings. A couple of oddities are included, Finnish designer Matti Suuronen and his 1968 Futuro House looking remarkably like a science fiction space ship and Charles Deaton's 1965 Sculptured House near Denver, Colorado. (The caption says the design was vaguely based on a clam shell with a final coating of synthetic rubber mixed with crushed walnut shells and white pigment.)

This is a lavishly produced book with seven hundred large photos and printed on a good matt art paper. It could well became the standard reference for this important and influencial house style.

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