Are you in the market to find a professional to help with Modern Home Architecture? We can already see your confused face when searching online. There are so many different types of homes when browsing online, from traditional, contemporary, to modern.
The fact is you see homeowners to real estate agents using it interchangeably. No wonder you get mixed up with the design and styles. While there are similarities between them, there are plenty of differences. We are going to help you understand each of them by providing you with their differences.
You might think that modern home design was the latest creation in the 20th century! Believe it or not, a modern house is not so current at all. Modern design started in the late 19th to early 20th century as the rise of the Modernism movement started taking place.
Modern Home Architecture
After World War I came modern thinking with the development of modern industrial societies with religious beliefs. People became self-conscious and pushing the boundaries creatively and culturally. Of course, this also started reflecting in the architecture designs.
The home started looking distinct with the lack of flair and ornament found in the Edwardian and Victorian styles of the time. The Art Deco period was born creating modern houses with a horizontal composition, intentional asymmetry shown in the large open floor plans and windows.
Architects focused on creating a simple home with loads of emphasis on function by removing all the frills and details. Therefore, homeowners became more connected to nature resulting in buildings blurring out boundaries from indoors and outdoors.
Modern Home Exterior
With the surrounding areas, they enhanced the features of the modern home décor. They used the roof or the cantilever lines to continue those lines with the landscape surrounding the house. However, with the sharp lines and the lack of flair, these modern homes may look cold. Still, they actually have inviting entrances with outstanding interior designs.
Modern Home Interior
You find the modern home interior with rich woods, warm accent colors, and marble. Many of the mid-century modern home decors are in a square. The modern homes comprise a monochromatic color palette, flat roofs, and low-key furnishings while avoiding the cold and stark feeling.
But to get back to the question, what is modern home architecture? The short answer is a residence with a defined exterior with clean straight lines, large windows, and a flat roof. For explaining the interior, the designer will use neutral colors with the open floor plan to make it well lit.
On the inside, you get straight lines with furniture lifted from the floor filled with either concrete, plastic, wood, or steel furnishings.
Examples of Modern Homes Designers
Some distinguished modern home designers include:
Charles Eames
A famous and National Historic Landmark is the Case Study House No. 8, also known as the Eames House. The spatially modern residence was created by Charles Eames found in the Pacific Palisades of Los Angeles. The modern home became Charles and Ray Eames’s home. The project started in 1945 with prefabricated fabric that did not interrupt the site.
Ludwig Mie’s van der Rohe
Another modern home architect is Ludwig Mie’s van der Rohe who designed another National Historic Landmark, the Farnsworth House. You find this modern house in Plano, Illinois. The residence was built between 1945-1951 for Dr. E Farnsworth as a weekend retreat on a secluded wooded site. The design is exceptional standing as a glass pavilion to enjoy the natural surroundings.
Philip Johnson
Another prominent place with a modern design is the Glass House, located in New Canaan, Connecticut. It has the same design as the Farnsworth House and designed by Johnson. If you live in the vicinity, you can explore this home, another National Historic Landmark, to see the natural landscapes. Phillip Johnson lived in the house from 1949 until 2005.
Now that you understand modern home architecture let’s find out what a traditional home is.
What is a Traditional Home?
Traditional is a broad spectrum of home-building styles. Each home-style has features influenced by Colonial, Craftsman, Neoclassical, or Victorian architecture. While the origin and type differ, the traditional house has standard components.
Traditional Home Architecture
The traditional home design dates back to the 19th to 20th century, comprising large open porches with overhanging beams with rafters. The traditional home exterior has dormers with tall pointed roofs with more than one gable. It has a brick, plaster, wood, stone, and stucco structure. The residence is adorned with elegant detail, and you find them in city centers or older neighborhoods.
Traditional Home Interior
When you enter the traditional home, you see a large floor plan divided into smaller single-purpose rooms made for large families. You find smaller yet symmetrical placed windows with the same shape and size. For this reason, it needs more lighting as it lacks natural light. The traditional home designer uses charming details with hand-carved woodwork, stained glass, and antique lighting on the inside.
Examples of Traditional Home Designers
Some of the traditionally styled homes you can still see today throughout the USA:
Marcus Grunford
This renowned architect from San Francisco designed the Standrod Mansion in Idaho for Judge Drew and his wife in 1902. The home has a renaissance meet Queen Anne traditional house style. He built it using local materials from stones found in the McCammon quarry. It has 16 rooms registered as a National Historic Place.
Maximillian Allardt
The traditional home architect designed the Brucemore home in Iowa for Caroline Sinclair in 1884. It is a Queen Ann-style mansion found in Cedar Rapids and preserved by the National Trust. You can still find a 1930 Tahitian theme room with a 1929 organ and 1925 sleeping porch available.
Samuel Sloan
Last on our traditional house examples is the Longwood Mississippi Natches mansion built-in 1859. Sloan created an octagonal structure for Haller Nut, a cotton planter. The design comprised of a Byzantine-style dome with Southern Verandas and neoclassical details. The facility is now a historic house museum.
As you can see, the traditional home you can find in different shapes and sizes. What about the contemporary home. Let’s find out.
What is a Contemporary Home?
The meaning of contemporary architecture is now with innovative yet forward-looking designs. The design is more complex than the modern home architecture. The contemporary home is artistic and only gained popularity in the 1970s.
Contemporary Home Architecture
Contemporary vs. modern homes are difficult to distinguish the differences. The most remarkable fact is that contemporary home architecture got its influence by different styles before it. Today’s contemporary houses are mainly craftsman-style homes. It is based on the exterior with large spacious open floor plans seen in your modern home. However, with a contemporary style home, you find no dominant flair over the other. However, architects create a residence that fits their client’s needs when it comes to style.
Contemporary Home Exterior
One thing that does stand out is that they build homes with eco-friendly and energy-efficient sustainability. Similar to houses made out of shipping containers using repurposed material. Sometimes the building offers a mixed space, such as the Belzberg Architects Skyline Residence. They use materials in their construction locally sourced and environmental-friendly.
Contemporary Home Interior
The contemporary house interior architects incorporate solar cells for cooling and heating. You can see these buildings with high-end green features to make your living space energy efficient. The contemporary style is softened with rounded lines compared to the stark line found in modern designs. You see neutral elements with a mix of bold colors focusing on the basics of form, lines, and shapes. Gardens are built around the outside of the home to use as an outdoor relaxing space. These types of styles are popular at the moment.
Examples of Traditional Homes
Some remarkable contemporary homes include:
The Tubac House
The house is designed by Rick Joy using modernist elements with an energy-efficient structure sourced from locally provided rustic fabrics. Once you enter the gravel drive, you find glazed ends with two different forms, from a garden to seeing barrel cactuses. The residence provides the owners with a protected courtyard with cool areas, trickling water, and the smell of fresh air with flowers and sage.
The Gehry Residence
This contemporary house was designed by Frank Gehry built around the existing Dutch colonial home. You find it in Santa Monica, California. The re-invention spanned over decades from 1991, adding additions to his growing family.
The Pennoyer Residence
The contemporary styled home was designed by Peter Pennoyer. It has a Greek Revival style, and he used modernist with Tuscan elements. You find the residence in Millbrook, New York, on a six-acre estate with farmland surrounding it. This was the first home he completed for himself and is a weekend house.
Contemporary vs. Modern Home
While there are visual differences between the two architectural styles, MODLUST noted the main difference is when the properties are listed. The residence with the description modern is sold faster than their counterparts. Even if the home is more expensive than the listing described as contemporary.
The main reason we think is that the majority of new homeowners think that contemporary actually means dated. The fact is that the term means popular right now. Therefore, as macramé and shag carpeting was considered contemporary many believe it is related to the past.
As a homeowner, you must agree when shopping for a new home, you want a modern design with contemporary needs providing you with modern influences.
Traditional vs. Contemporary vs. Modern Home Architecture
So what will it be contemporary vs. modern home or modern home vs. traditional homes? No matter what, if you’re in the market and unsure what you’re looking for, remember that modern is a home built in a specific period while contemporary is what is popular right now.
So instead of feeling confused, why not look for an architect here at MODLUST and create a home with a traditional look comprising a modern style with the contemporary design worked into it. You never know you may start a new architect design craze.
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