The art and crafts movement left historicism behind in favour of simpler, more functional form.
they praised the craftsman's skill,championed the applied art and developed the idea that the design skill of artists and architects could be use for interiors.
true,in Europe, they shunned the machine, but a vital step had been made-the cleaner style of 'fitness for purpose' made the progression towards modernism and Mies van der Rohe's principle of 'less means more' much easier and understandable.