Blog Post 11 - Modernism

Design is almost always looking forward. Unless the obvious is that it's looking back. But, at the beginning of the 20th century, there was a brand new push to be modern. We as a people wanted to be looking forward rather than back. There were some calls to the past with the designs that were being made, but for the most part, as technology improved especially, we were looking forward.

I was recently in Long Beach, California for a conference, and while I was there, we were in the Long Beach Convention Center. It is a building that really does take a stab at a "Modern" look. However, it was a modern look when it was first designed however many years ago. As you look at it now, it is a little less modern looking... But, this is because as we have come into the 21st century, the push to be modern has remained, thus putting us into a postmodern look, making the modern look classical.

This need to be modern stems from our need to always outdo our previous generation - and is something that we can say that we are doing well. But, in our need to be modern, we are promptly forgetting the classical, and even some of the modern - something that we as designers especially need to be careful of.