Discover the Most Iconic 20th-Century Homes by Top Architects
To understand today, you have to look back. The new book Inside Utopia ( Gestalten , $69) does just that, diving into iconic interiors by forward-thinking designers from the past 75 years. “We wanted to track the history of modern interiors to look at the changing points that got us to today,” says the book’s co-editor Sally Fuls. “Where and why were the ideas born, and who was behind them?” Inside Utopia begins with the midcentury-modern movement of the ’40s (which, Fuls notes, has seen a resurgence of late and will continue to be relevant in design to come), and continues through the 21st century, highlighting different influential styles, from a space-age futurism to Brutalism to postmodernism. “In the end, it was all about creating a vibrant, coherent mix,” says Fuls. Here, AD looks at five of the legendary houses from Inside Utopia .
Stahl House
The Pierre Koenig–designed Stahl House, also known as Case Study House #22, is one of the most iconic homes in Los Angeles. Perched high above Sunset Boulevard, the open-plan structure defined California modernism in the 1950s.
Stahl House
Photographer Julius Shulman immortalized the home, now a national landmark, in a series of images that capture the glamour of the era. Today the Stahl House is open to the public.
Elrod House
If you’re a James Bond fan, you’re likely familiar with John Lautner’s Elrod House from Diamonds Are Forever . Lautner crafted this Palm Springs home in 1968 for Arthur Elrod, himself a designer famous for establishing the town’s midcentury-modern aesthetic.
Elrod House
The circular home sits beneath a conical concrete dome, and opposite the walls shown here are retracting floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook the valley.
Karl Lagerfeld Apartment, Monaco
Design group Memphis Milano, headed by Ettore Sottsass, pushed forward into postmodernism for Karl Lagerfeld’s Monaco penthouse in the ’80s. The quirky home featured strikingly colorful artworks and furniture by Sottsass, Michael Graves, and George Sowden set between dove and slate-gray walls on a black rubber floor.
Karl Lagerfeld Apartment, Monaco
The home looked wildly impractical—and that was the point. Memphis Milano eschewed the notion of form-follows-function in Lagerfeld’s home.
Palais Bulles
In 1960s France the maison bulle trend led to the proliferation of these concrete bubble houses that could easily be mistaken for a Hollywood set of a spaceship. Antti Lovag’s 13,000-square-foot Palais Bulles was completed decades later in 1989.
Palais Bulles
Commissioned by industrialist Pierre Bernard, the French Riviera home was purchased by fashion designer Pierre Cardin only three years after it was built. In 2016 the home was listed at a reported $335 million.
Leme House
Pritzker Prize–winning architect Paulo Mendes da Rocha led the tropical Brutalist movement in São Paulo, completing the Leme House there in 1970. There are no windows in this starkly geometric concrete home—only skylights.
Leme House
The art gallery–style house was fittingly purchased by collector and gallerist Eduardo Leme, who filled the space with his collection.