The husband and wife design team of Charles and Ray Eames began their joint career designing stretchers and leg splints from molded wood laminate during World War II. They continued to experiment with laminates and fiberglass in their postwar designing years, and exhibited the results at the San Fran

Abstract expressionism, Arts & crafts design, International style, Post-war american design

Alvar Aalto was one of Finland's first Modernists. His unique architectural style is characterized by asymmetry, curved lines, and contrasting natural materials. His early works were flavored with a "heroic functionalism" that was based around the idea that a structure's use should determine its form

Biomorphic, Clean, Intimate, Modernist architecture, Nordic sensibilities, Post-war scandinavian design, Round, Tranquil

Even architecture is not immune to the compelling momentum created by our information-age society. This postindustrial mood is expressed in the designs of Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas. Koolhaas has always had different ways of engaging the modern than his colleagues -- most of whom (he feels) att

Deconstructivism, High tech architecture, Organic, Urban

In his heyday, Robert Venturi was more theorist than architect. With a grasp of subtle architectural concepts, Venturi sought to define a Pop architecture for an American society that he claimed was bored by orthodox Modernist architecture. His building designs during the 1960s and 1970s exhibited a

Absurd, Deconstructive, Pioneering, Postmodern architecture, Wise assy, Witty