Characteristics
The typical characteristics of International Style buildings include rectilinear forms; plane surfaces that are completely devoid of applied ornamentation; and open, even fluid, interior spaces. This early form of minimalism had a distinctively "modern look", reinforced by its use of modern materials, including glass for the facade, steel for exterior support, and concrete for interior supports and floors.
The phrase "International Style" was first coined in 1932 by curators Henry-Russell Hitchcock (1903-1987) and Philip Johnson (1906-2005), in literature for their show "International Exhibition of Modern Architecture" (1932), held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. The aim of the show was to explain and promote what they considered to be an exemplary "modern" style of architecture. As it was, all but two of the buildings showcased were European. The only American structures on display were Lovell House, LA (1929), by Richard Neutra; and the Film Guild Cinema, NYC (1929), designed by Frederick John Kiesler (1890-1965).