15 Curiosities of Modernism: Origins & Untold Secrets
Roger Tarrats Balet
Modernism (or Art Nouveau) isn't just undulating facades, wrought-iron dragons, and stained glass. Behind this exuberant style lie stories, rivalries, forgotten geniuses, and details so surprising they will change the way you look at these buildings. Here are 15 real fun facts that few people know… and that make modernism much more fascinating than it seems.
1. The origins of modernism: Why did this movement emerge?
To understand the origins of modernism, we have to travel to Europe in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The continent was boiling over due to the Industrial Revolution. Cities were growing at a frantic pace, often in a disorganized way, and the new factories were spitting out identical, gray, soulless objects. As a direct reaction against this dehumanization and the boring academic historicism of the past (which was limited to copying old styles), a new generation of creators said enough was enough. They wanted to bring beauty back to everyday life, reclaim traditional craftsmanship, and create art that was completely new and free.
Support this Project
If you buy through these links, you contribute to our technical costs while paying exactly the same.
12. The most famous Tiffany lamps weren't designed by Tiffany
Many of the iconic lamps from Tiffany Studios (including the legendary Wisteria) were designed by Clara Driscoll, head of the women's glass-cutting department. She created over thirty flagship models… and for decades her name remained almost invisible.
3. What was modernism called in other countries?
One of the most common searches is trying to figure out the differences between Modernism and Art Nouveau. The reality is that there are no fundamental differences; they are the same international movement. They shared the same philosophy, but each country adapted the trend to its own cultural identity and gave it a different name:
2. The perfect setting: The bourgeoisie and urban growth
In cities like Barcelona, this creative explosion found the ideal breeding ground. The demolition of the old city walls and the approval of major urban development projects, like the famous Cerdà Plan, opened up a massive blank canvas: the Eixample. At the same time, a new industrial bourgeoisie, enriched by the textile industry and trade, saw architecture as the perfect way to flaunt their power and status. These wealthy families began to compete with one another to see who could commission the most spectacular and original facade, thereby financing the brilliant eccentricities of the designers of the era.
4. The name “Art Nouveau” was born from a store
The term didn't emerge from an artistic manifesto or a group of rebel architects. It was born in 1895 from a Paris gallery called La Maison de l'Art Nouveau, opened by art dealer Siegfried Bing. The name caught on so well that it ended up defining the entire movement.
5. The cruelest nicknames in art history
Not everyone loved the sinuous lines. Detractors invented derogatory names depending on the country:
In France, they called it Style Nouille (Noodle style)
In Belgium, Paling stijl (Eel style)
In Germany, Bandwurmstil (Tapeworm style) Yes, they literally compared it to noodles, eels, and intestinal parasites.
6. Main characteristics of architectural modernism
If you want to learn how to identify this style while strolling through your city, here are the foolproof characteristics of modernism in architecture and art:
Inspiration from nature: It is its greatest muse. Organic shapes, plant motifs (flowers, leaves, twisted stems), and animal silhouettes take priority.
The realm of the curve and asymmetry: Mathematical rigidity is shunned. The so-called "whiplash line" stands out, meandering and giving a sense of living movement to facades and interiors.
The total work of art (Gesamtkunstwerk): Creators didn't just design the building's structure, but absolutely everything inside: the stained-glass designs, the hydraulic floor tiles, the wrought-iron balconies, and even the door handles.
Use of new materials: New industrial technology was harnessed to give an aesthetic and decorative use to wrought iron, glass, and steel, masterfully combining them with carved stone and traditional brick.
7. In what fields, apart from architecture, did modernism appear?
The ultimate goal was for beauty to envelop every aspect of daily life. That is why this aesthetic revolution invaded many other fields:
Painting and sculpture: Ramon Casas immortalized bohemian life and the Catalan bourgeoisie, while Enric Clarassó broke with classical rigidity, endowing his sculptures with great fluidity and emotion.
Graphic arts and posters: Alfons Mucha is the ultimate icon. His lithographic posters of ethereal women, wavy hair, and flower crowns turned the streets of Paris into open-air art galleries.
Jewelry and product design: Creators like René Lalique left heavy, classic jewelry behind to design exquisite pieces imitating dragonflies, beetles, or roots, using glass, enamel, and precious stones.
Literature: In the Spanish-speaking world, "literary modernism" had its own distinct identity. Led by Rubén Darío (who popularized the term), writers sought to escape vulgarity through the extreme musicality of words and exoticism, breaking with the prevailing realism.
8. The first modernist building is not what everyone thinks
If you ask what the first modernist building in the world was, almost everyone will answer Victor Horta's Hôtel Tassel in Brussels (1892-1893). But that answer is incomplete.
Five years earlier, in 1887-1888, Lluís Domènech i Montaner built the Castell dels Tres Dragons in Barcelona for the Universal Exhibition. With exposed brick, iron, and ceramics, it already brought together the key elements of the new style: a fusion of tradition and industry, innovative ornamentation, and a clear desire to create a modern architecture. On a European level, another major precursor had been William Morris's Red House from 1859 in the United Kingdom.
When Horta hadn't yet built his masterpiece, Domènech and Morris had already planted the movement's most important seeds.
The Hôtel Tassel was the first fully bloomed flower of international Art Nouveau. The English and Catalan buildings were the seeds.
9. Gaudí designed a skyscraper for New York… that was never built
In 1908, Antoni Gaudí designed the Hotel Attraction, a 360-meter-tall (approx. 1,180 ft) building destined for New York. It included five large stacked halls (one for each continent), a theater, several restaurants, and a star-shaped observation tower. It was never built. Today, only sketches exist… and AI-generated reconstructions that allow us to imagine what could have been.
10. Gaudí hid altars in closets
In several of his bourgeois houses, Gaudí designed folding altars hidden inside closets. This way, the owners could hear mass at home without needing to go out into the street. A detail that speaks to both his deep religious devotion and his obsession with controlling every last aspect of daily life.
11. The architect who designed the most windows
According to recent research, Gaudí designed more than 270 windows throughout his career. He treated them almost like furniture: some opened in ingenious ways, others regulated light and ventilation in a surprisingly advanced manner for the time.
15. Why does modernism continue to fascinate us?
Because it wasn't just a decorative style. It was a radical way of understanding architecture, design, and daily life. It united craftsmanship and industry, nature and the city, art and function in a way that is still surprising today. The next time you walk past a modernist facade, take a closer look. It's very likely hiding one of these stories.
13. The nature the modernists saw came from botanical books
Much of the flora appearing on vases, reliefs, and stained glass wasn't inspired directly by gardens, but by 19th-century botanical illustrations. Particularly important were Pierre-Joseph Redouté and German naturalist Ernst Haeckel, whose drawings of microscopic organisms deeply influenced the Jugendstil.
14. Modernism almost disappeared
After World War I, the style was considered "old-fashioned" and "excessive." Many buildings were on the verge of being torn down or were left abandoned for decades. It was only from the 60s and 70s onward, and especially with the UNESCO declaration in 2000, that they were fully recovered and appreciated. Today, there are still architectural gems in an almost ruinous state, such as the Casa Tosquella in Barcelona or the Vila Joiosa of famous composer Sebastià Rafart in Vallromanes.
Map of walled 19th-century Barcelona
Map of the Cerdà Plan for Barcelona
Sociedad Española de Electricidad by Domènec Balet
Bandwurmstil (tapeworm parasite style)
> Thomé, O.W., Flora of Germany, Austria, and Switzerland (1885)