The minimalist design it is an influential visual style with an established history in the fields of architecture, interiors, art, graphics, fashion, and virtually every other facet of design.
minimalism it has become a modern lifestyle buzzword, with its own media gurus promising that decluttering our homes and simplifying our lives will help us cope with an overwhelming world.
what is minimalism
Minimalist design is about prioritizing the essentials. A minimalist building, object, or interior design is stripped back to its primary function, made using limited materials, neutral colors, simple forms, and avoiding excess ornamentation for a pure form of elegance.
While the final expression of a minimalist design may seem simple and effortless, as spare as a poem and as clear as a bell, achieving this kind of powerful simplicity is no easy feat.
Minimalist design has continued to grow in popularity over the last century, but for every aficionado there is a maximalist critic who dismisses it as boring or sterile, lacking in imagination and heart.
Although the minimalist architecture and product design can sometimes be profitable, eco-friendly and can ultimately contribute to the democratization and accessibility of good design, it has also become synonymous with a rarefied search for the perfect object, a luxury that only the privileged few they can afford it and that can lead to its own form of perpetual excess.
How the minimalist style in decoration arose
Minimalist design emerged in the 20th century as a reaction and rejection of the highly decorative styles of the past, from frilly Victorian architecture to abstract expressionist art.
Some design historians trace the origins of minimalism to the simplified forms epitomized by the Dutch De Stijl movement of 1917 in the early 1930s and it is widely recognized to have been influenced by the Zen simplicity of traditional Japanese gardens and interiors and the clean aesthetic of Scandinavian designs.
The “less is more” mantra of minimalist design is a quote from the legendary German architect Mies Van Der Rohe, who in post-war Europe and the US.
He was one of the notable architects associated with the Bauhaus and modernism who responded to the availability of new materials such as glass, steel, and concrete combined with the construction processes brought about by mass production to create minimalist structures that often seem so cool. and current as decades ago.
Minimalist design shares DNA with Modern architecture, Bauhaus architecture, Brutalist architecture, and Mid-Century Modern design.
Graphic design, art, theater and minimalist fashion came true in the 1960s. In the realm of product design, legendary figures such as the German industrial designer Dieter Rams, whose mantra “less but better” guided the design of everyday objects such as desk radios, calculators and lacquerware, ushered in a whole new world of design. of minimalist products. in the mid-20th century that he laid the groundwork for the kind of streamlined objects we live with today and continue to design for tomorrow, from the iPhone to the self-driving car.
Today, the minimalist interior design and home decoration (minimalist bedrooms, minimalist kitchens, minimalist living roomsminimalist nurseries and more) offer an alternative to the overstuffed interiors that first became popular in the Victorian era and grew in popularity thanks to 20th-century consumer culture.
Key features of minimalist design
- Less is more.
- Focus on functionality.
- Clean and simple lines.
- sculptural forms.
- Lack of superfluous ornamentation and decoration.
- Monochromatic and limited color palette, with colors sometimes used as accents to create a relaxing environment.
- Use of limited and well-chosen materials, such as concrete, steel, glass and wood.
- Everything has a place and a purpose.
- Use of space and natural light.
- Focus on crafts.
- Interior design that is airy and uncluttered, often with open-play layouts and perfect built-in storage.
Famous quotes about minimalist design
“Less is more” –Mies Van Der Rohe, architect
“Minimalism is not an architecture of abnegation, deprivation or absence: it is not defined by what is not there, but by the rectitude of what is there and by the richness with which it is experienced.” –John Pawson, architect
“In pure architecture, the smallest detail must have a meaning or have a purpose.” –Augustus W. N. Pugin, architect
“The way we live and the way we are, simplicity, with a capital “S”, is hard to fathom today. We are no longer truly simple. We no longer live in simple terms or places. Life is a more complex struggle now. Now it’s brave to be simple: a brave thing to even want to be simple. It is something spiritual to understand what simplicity means. –Frank Lloyd Wright, architect
“I believe that architecture is a pragmatic art. To become art, it must be built on a foundation of necessity.” –IM Pei, architect
“An interesting clarity is the most difficult and precious thing to achieve.” –Mies Van Der Rohe, architect