Rural Modern: Rural Residential Architecture

Modernism crashed into the American consciousness right after the Second World War, although it had existed in the minds and works of American and German-born architects for almost 40 years prior. While it offered a new design paradigm that would transform the urban landscape from New York to New Delhi, modernism was a slow burn for residential architects. The sharp edges and simple geometries were a hard sell for the American design psyche. A group of innovative architects in the USA took Bauhaus modernism and gave it a vernacular face. They borrowed forms from the simple utilitarian buildings found in rural environments and created a new strain of modernism. Russell Abraham dubs this style 'rural modernism' — a modern aesthetic with a vernacular palette. The result of several ingenious ideas blended together to create a contemporary, sustainable and highly liveable architecture, these houses respect the past while looking forward to the future. Orienting windows to capture heat in winter and provide sun protection in summer is standard, while other sustainable design features include solar-thermal systems, subterranean heat sinks, geothermal trenches and rainwater collection systems — all of which are incorporated to make the most of the natural resources available in rural settings.