Untitled (architectural model of house) c. 1950

This small, undated architectural model of a house by Robert Burian, now held at the Harvard Art Museums, embodies some of the key ambitions of modernist architecture. Note the flat roof, clean lines and functional design. These features emerged from early 20th-century Europe, but they were exported and transformed by American architects in the post-war years. The model represents an ideal type of suburban home, one that emerged as America’s economy prospered, populations urbanized, and building technology advanced. The image offers us an opportunity to think about the aspirations of a generation in the context of institutions such as architectural schools and museums. Original blueprints, publications in architecture journals, and archival materials from the period, all help us understand the social and institutional context in which the design emerged, and what the images meant to those who commissioned, built, and lived in these houses.