A look at warm modernism and how to design a modernist interior with soul.
When architect Celeste Robbins opened up her home for a neighborhood tour, she was struck by a theme in the compliments she overheard. “They were transfixed by the wall of windows, stretching end to end across the rear façade, that showcased the sloping ravine in all its seasonal glory and brought the intoxicating beauty of a Midwest spring landscape into focus,” she recounts. “To my delight, there was a kind of a buzz, a sense of enchantment and surprise. The visitors, making their way through the house’s open plan, expressed the same reactions again and again: ‘This home is so warm!’ and ‘I didn’t think that I was modern, but I could live here!’ That’s when I understood that I had captured something special, and that this vision of warm modernism—my own definition of modernism—would be my signature.”
In her new book, Meaningful Modern Home: Soulful Architecture and Interiors, Robbins culls a tour of nine homes—including a couple of her own—that exemplify this approach to design, which prioritizes softness and livability while staying true to historical modernism with elements like open floor plans, a connection to the landscape and what Robbins calls “a clean aesthetic that emphasizes function and serenity over drama.”
Trained at Cornell University and a devotee of the work of Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright and Rudolph Schindler, Robbins cultivated a personal style that homes in on the artful and emotional side of design. Her process follows these philosophies:
Warmth Comes through Proportion, Balance and Light
For Robbins, the long, low-slung roofs of modern homes are best complemented by layers of experiences—considering the ways in which you experience a room or a space. Whether it’s through emphasizing the depth of built-ins or crafting vistas from every window or courtyard, paying attention to and being intentional about the many views a person encounters as they walk through a house is one way to ensure that the home feels warm and cradling rather than stark and too expansive. “A graceful dialogue between indoors and outdoors nurtures a feeling of being utterly surrounded by the landscape,” Robbins writes.
Don’t Overlook Details
Part of that comes from what you choose to decorate and furnish with, but also where you decide to get them from. “Artistry doesn’t only come with such grand moves. Small-scale touches foster an appreciation for the talented hands that bring these expressions to life,” the author explains. “Extraordinary craftspeople were commissioned to create custom design elements in metal, glass and stone.”
Recalling one stone-heavy new build in the Midwest she helped to design, Robbins says: “These specially crafted details bring intimate moments to counterbalance the broad expanses of glass and the monolithic exterior walls clad in Ramon Gray limestone that define the house’s envelope. The fossil-imprinted stone, for example, infuses a layer of time and scale between the modern glass walls, but I took the human connection even further by introducing hand-chiseled vertical recesses to the façade. This is not a ‘form follows function’ moment; it’s a soulful, personal touch that brings to life what modernism is to me.”
If you love warm modernism, read on about the work of George Nakashima. And of course, don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube for more Atomic Ranch articles, house tours, and ideas!
