The mid-century modern style has long conquered interior designers and finally splashed out onto the street – into landscape design. We look at the work of designers and adopt their ideas for the design of their own garden

“Glass House” is a project of the founder of the international style architect Philip Johnson, which he built for himself.

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elek

The midcentury modern style was born in America in the mid-1940s, at the end of the 2010s it unexpectedly received a rebirth, becoming almost the main global trend in interior design, and was naturally reflected in innovative landscape projects. To meet the new trend fully armed, we study the best historical examples. What unites the gardens in the style of “midsenchuri modern”? First of all, one thing — ease of care. “These are gardens not just for contemplation, but for everyday life,” says Ethne Clarke, author of the book The Mid—Century Modern Garden, in which she talks about the world’s best gardens of 1920-1970.

Of course, the book was not without mention of Frank Lloyd Wright (Frank Lloyd Wright). The American architect, the creator of “organic architecture”, proclaimed the idea of merging the house and garden. “Before Frank Lloyd Wright,” writes Etne Clark, “windows were made, it seemed, solely in order to shade them and isolate the inhabitants of the house from the outside world: now their main task is to launch nature into the house. Of course, this approach required an appropriate style of gardens.”

Palm Springs, Southern California. Landscape architect Steve Martino created such an unpretentious but stylish “desert garden” in response to the architecture of the house in the style of mid-century modern. One of the main ideas of architecture in the middle of the last century is simplicity, this is one of the reasons why the architect used only local plants that do not require special care in arid climates.

This house in Palm Springs, Southern California, is surrounded by desert, the garden design and the selected plants fully correspond to the desert surrounding landscape. The house itself is built of the same materials as the open spaces near it, so that it seems to merge with the surrounding nature. To enhance the effect, verandas in modernist houses were often made recessed.

Simple geometric shapes and lines, tempered glass, stainless steel, concrete began to appear on the sites to match the architecture. As for the palette, preference was given to white and green colors — “hello” to the buildings of Le Corbusier (Le Corbusier). “But it wasn’t limited to that,” continues Etne Clark. — Very soon, the palette was diluted with glossy pink, scarlet, mint green, aquamarine and turquoise colors, inspired by post-war optimism, as bright as caramels.”

The renovated Eichler house by Joseph Eichler demonstrates a smooth transition from interior to exterior and the importance of relaxation areas by the pool. Roofs over terraces and patios spread in American modernist architecture thanks to Frank Lloyd Wright, who actively popularized this idea in his projects.

Even for the most stubborn modernists, natural materials were of paramount importance. In this California project, huge slabs of natural limestone are laid on a grassy slope to create a rustic-style staircase going up the hillside to the house

For those who are going to update their own plot in the mid-century modern style, Clark advises to be puzzled by the arrangement of the pool — even decorative, all kinds of decking, screens and the selection of garden furniture. Ideally, these should be original vintage items of mid-century American design classics that are worth looking for at auctions, in particular on eBay. After all, these gardens are best suited for furniture made of bent metal tubes — like Walter Lamb chaise lounges or Diamond mesh chair, created in 1952 by designer Harry Bertoya for Knoll and instantly became a bestseller.

An elegant minimalist-style terrace surrounds the swimming pool at the Alexander Steel Frame House in Palm Springs built in 1960-1962.

A project in Palm Springs by Steve Martino, a landscape designer from Arizona. Here he pays homage to Mexican artist Luis Barragan, using bright colors and sculptural flowerbeds next to a turquoise pool.

Another key point of the garden in the mid-century modern style is the almost identical finishing materials of architecture and landscape. Stone from the facade often passes to paths and bridges. Even better, if this stone is of local breeds. After all, the house and the garden are nothing but a single whole. We remember that! And finally, a few more gardens in the style of mid-century modern, which Etn Clark recommends visiting immediately.

Villa Mairea, project by Alvar Aalto.

Villa Mairea

The project of the Finnish architect Alvar Aalto for Harry and Myra Gullichsen in Noormarku, Finland. The building was built in 1938-1939, is open to the public, www.villamairea.fi

The Homewood, Surrey

The project of architect Patrick Gwynn in 1938 was created under the impression of the works of Le Corbusier. The house and the garden are connected by stone blind areas, stairs, transparent screens-partitions and panoramic windows.

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Sussex Prairies Garden

The “Naturalistic Prairie Garden” in West Sussex opened to the public in 2009, just a year after planting. It is worth coming here to enjoy the “wild” grassy thickets, skillfully created by man, www.sussexprairies.co.uk

Villa Savoye, Poissy

Villa Savoy is a country house in the Paris suburb of Poissy, designed by Le Corbusier for industrialist Pierre Savoy in 1929-30. The living room is raised above ground level on a number of concrete supports. Due to this, the lower tier of the building seems to be a natural extension of the garden, www.villa-savoye.fr

Beth Chatto Gardens

Beth Shatto’s private garden in the vicinity of Colchester (Essex), laid out in 1960. Initially, it was a wasteland overgrown with weeds, which the famous Beth Chatto turned into a luxurious garden with five reservoirs and different thematic zones: a swampy lowland, a wooded slope and a dry hill. The garden is open all year round, except for Christmas and New Year, there is also a plant nursery, a tea pavilion and a tempting gift shop, www.bethchatto.co.uk

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