From Brazil to Europe, these iconic projects of modern architecture helped redefine the relationship between form, function, and the city
Submitted at Mar 9, 2026, 3:40 PM
Edifício Copan. (Nelson Kon/Divulgação)
The history of modern architecture is marked by a profound transformation in the way of thinking about spaces. From the beginning of the 20th century, architects began to question the ornate styles of the past and to seek a more direct language, based on function, structure and technology. The result was a new aesthetic that privileges clear lines, industrial materials and a more rational relationship between building and city.
Over the decades, some projects became true milestones of this shift. Spread across different countries and cultural contexts, these buildings help to understand how modern architecture consolidated itself and gained diverse interpretations. Below, ten fundamental works that span time and continue to influence the way we think about architecture.
Designed by Lina Bo Bardi and inaugurated in 1968, the São Paulo Museum of Art became one of the city's most recognizable icons. Suspended by two large red portals, the building creates a 74-meter free span that preserves the view of Avenida Paulista and reinforces the idea of public space.
(Leonardo Finotti/Divulgação)
The project conveys important principles of modern architecture, such as structural honesty and integration with the urban context. The open span at ground level became a meeting point and shows how architecture and public life can intersect naturally.
In the heart of Brasília, the complex designed by Oscar Niemeyer became one of the capital's most emblematic images. The two domes — one convex and the other concave — converse with the administrative towers that rise in the background.
Palácio do Congresso Nacional, por Oscar Niemeyer - Brasília, Brasil (Divulgação/Divulgação)
The project synthesizes the symbolic dimension of modern architecture in Brazil. The simple geometric composition, associated with Lúcio Costa's urban planning, reveals how architecture and urbanism can work together in building a national identity.
Designed by Le Corbusier between 1928 and 1931, in France, the Villa Savoye is often cited as the materialization of the "five points of the new architecture": pilotis, free plan, free facade, ribbon windows and roof garden organize the building.
Villa Savoye, projetada por Le Corbusier em Poissy, França, é um ícone da arquitetura modernista e um marco inicial do conceito aberto. Com planta livre, pilotis e janelas em fita, a casa oferece espaços integrados e circulação fluida, antecipando princípios que influenciam projetos residenciais até hoje. (Chrys Hadrian/Divulgação)
The house represents a decisive moment of modern architecture, by proposing a new way of living based on spatial flexibility and on the integration between architecture and movement.
Designed by Walter Gropius and inaugurated in 1926, in Dessau, the building of the Bauhaus became one of the most emblematic images of modern architecture. The complex is organized in interconnected volumes that accommodated different functions of the school — workshops, classrooms, dormitories and administration — evidencing a clear functional logic.
Bauhaus (A.Savin/Creative Commons/Divulgação)
One of the project's most striking elements is the continuous glass facade of the workshops, supported by an independent structure. This solution reinforces the visual lightness of the building and highlights the separation between structure and enclosure, a fundamental principle of modern architecture.
Located in Illinois, in the United States, the Farnsworth House was designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and completed in 1951. The residence is elevated from the ground and formed essentially by two horizontal slabs supported by metal pillars.
Farnsworth House, 1949, Plano, Illinois, USA - Mies van der Rohe. (Divulgação/Divulgação)
The project became a reference in modern architecture for its radical transparency. The glass walls eliminate the rigid separation between interior and exterior, allowing the landscape to become an integral part of the domestic experience.
With its striking curve in the center of São Paulo, the Copan is one of Oscar Niemeyer's best-known projects. Built between the 1950s and 1960s, the building brings together residences, commerce and communal areas in a single complex.
(Reprodução/Divulgação)
The urban scale of the project reveals an important aspect of Brazilian modern architecture: the pursuit of dense housing solutions integrated with the life of the city.
Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935, in Pennsylvania, Fallingwater became one of the most famous residences of the 20th century. The project is organized in horizontal platforms that extend over the natural landscape.
Casa da Cascata, 1935, Mill Run, Pennsylvania, USA - Frank Lloyd Wright (Divulgação/Divulgação)
Although it engages with nature intensely, the house also reflects principles of modern architecture, especially in formal freedom and in the way structure and space articulate.
Designed by Walter Gropius and Adolf Meyer in 1911, in Germany, the Fagus Factory is considered one of the first examples of the modern movement. The continuous glass facade broke with the heavy industrial model typical of the time.
Fábrica Fagus (Traveler/Creative Commons/Divulgação)
The building anticipated characteristics that would later become central in modern architecture, such as transparency, visual lightness and structural clarity.
The Brazilian Museum of Sculpture and Ecology, in São Paulo, was designed by Paulo Mendes da Rocha and inaugurated in 1995. The building is organized around a large exposed concrete beam that marks the landscape and defines the main space.
MUBE, Museu Brasileiro da Escultura e da Ecologia, assinado por Paulo Mendes da Rocha (Nelson Kon/Divulgação)
The work exemplifies the expressive power of concrete in Brazilian modern architecture. While the structural gesture is monumental, the museum remains open and permeable, integrating exhibition areas with gardens and outdoor spaces.
Inaugurated in 1973 and designed by the Danish architect Jørn Utzon, the Sydney Opera House became one of the most recognized buildings in the world. Its curved roofs evoke sails or shells, creating a singular silhouette in the harbor landscape.
Sydney Opera House, na Austrália. (Reprodução/Divulgação)
Although it presents a sculptural language, the work also dialogues with the principles of modern architecture, by exploring new structural and technological possibilities.
