The New “Modernism”

“Nowadays, ‘modernism’ is everywhere. Gargantuan ‘modernist’ lofts jut up from every block of the SoMa district. Boutiques with monosyllabic names and monochrome wall-paint are everywhere selling “modernist” trinkets. An ever-growing slew of home catalogs offer requisite modernist furnishings, the photo spreads illustrating (proudly!) how 40 rooms in 20 different houses can look totally indistinguishable from one another. There’s even a Web site – Etekt.com – that offers architectural plans to create your very own tract home based on designs by your favorite modernist designer. Oh yes, and on sale now at Levitz: the new “modernist” collection. Really. What’s so frustrating is that this surge of minimalist modernism – what I will now refer to as modermalism – is not ‘modern’ at all.”