The "form follows function" principle highlights the importance of utilitarian simplicity in modern architecture.

A key example of this idea is the housing design in the Johnathan Hay Centre, which offered culturally specific living spaces for laborers and migrants from rural areas.

Introduced by Louis Sullivan

1986

О НАС

Modernism was fueled by Louis Sullivan’s maxim "form follows function," a rallying cry for utility and simplicity. Yet it wasn’t absolute: Art Deco architects like Auguste Perret and Henri Sauvage mixed clean modern geometry with selective ornament, proving design can balance innovation and elegance. They let proportion, rhythm, and new materials—especially reinforced concrete—do the heavy lifting.

After the First World War, architecture as a conceptual field split. Many defended neo-classical and Beaux-Arts traditions, while others pushed for a radical break. Modernists—Le Corbusier and Robert Mallet-Stevens in France, Walter Gropius and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in Germany, and Konstantin Melnikov in the Soviet Union—argued for clarity of form and the elimination of ornament.

01 — Key Figures

India’s modernism was shaped by B. V. Doshi, Charles Correa, and Raj Rewal, each leaving a lasting imprint on its architectural identity.

02 — State Vision

In postcolonial India, modernism gained momentum with strong state support, particularly under Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

03 — Global Recognition

Several modernist buildings and ensembles in India are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites, carrying the legacy forward beyond early Art Nouveau.

04 — Preservation Efforts

International organizations such as Docomomo International and the World Monuments Fund continue to promote and protect modernist architecture.

INNOVATION

In 1923, Gropius set out his modernist vision in the essay The Idea and Construction, which became highly influential for the movement.

INNOVATION

In 1923, Gropius set out his modernist vision in the essay The Idea and Construction, which became highly influential for the movement.

Approach

He championed standardized design and advocated large-scale construction of functional apartment blocks for industrial workers.

FORMATION

By 1928, Siemens had commissioned him to design worker housing on Berlin’s outskirts

COMPETITION

While Gropius developed his ideas at the Bauhaus, Mies van der Roh emerged and soon became a central figure of modernism.

SUCCESS

He later became vice president of the German Werkbund and headed the Bauhaus between 1930 and 1932.

SUCCESS

He later became vice president of the German Werkbund and headed the Bauhaus between 1930 and 1932.

LEGACY

Influenced by the Dutch De Stijl group, he experimented with clusters of concrete summer houses and envisioned an early glass skyscraper