International Style

American  

noun

1. the general form of architecture developed in the 1920s and 1930s by Gropius, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and others, characterized by simple geometric forms, large untextured, often white, surfaces, large areas of glass, and general use of steel or reinforced concrete construction.

2. (sometimes lowercase) any of various 20th-century styles in art, as cubism or abstract expressionism, that have gained wide currency in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and elsewhere.

3. International Gothic.

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International Style British  

noun

1. a 20th-century architectural style characterized by undecorated rectilinear forms and the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete

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Etymology

Origin of International Style

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

One of its Los Angeles facilities is inside the SAG-Aftra building, a 1949 International Style landmark on Wilshire Boulevard.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 15, 2026

While much of this work may look wild or undisciplined — it certainly did to adherents of the International Style — it in fact required extraordinary craft and skill.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2025

Inside and out, the clean white planes, crisp machined corners and squared geometries are derived from International Style Modernism and recast into a new synthesis.

From New York Times • Dec. 23, 2022

The Historic Colors of America paint-color list, curated by the regional heritage organization Historic New England, includes greens used for decorating homes in every architectural era, from Colonial to International Style.

From Washington Post • Oct. 12, 2020

International Style: generic name attached to the functionalist, anti-ornamental, and geometric tendency of architecture in the second quarter of the 20th century.

From The Civilization of Illiteracy by Nadin, Mihai