Ready for architectural exploration but spoiled for choice? The Modernist Travel Guide is here to help guide you out of the conundrum of what to visit and where. Even if you know your Le Corbusier from your Frank Lloyd Wright and Alvar Aalto, and your art deco architecture from your 21st-century brutalism, this new publication from Sight Unseen, written by regular Wallpaper* contributor Adam Štěch, is the perfect companion for avid travellers and fans of modernist architecture.
Modernist Travel Guide: around the globe in modernist interiors
A feast of buildings and colour, the pocket-sized reference book lists almost 400 examples of modernist architecture across 30 cities around the world. It is not only a handy guidebook for exploring the world, but also a striking archive of some 150,000 photographs, and more than 10,000 buildings and interiors. Layer on top some fresh book artwork in modernist primary colours, and you've got a vibrant publication to delve into and enjoy.
Maison Marit, Brussels
The book's origins are as organic as they come. Štěch explains: 'People are constantly asking me what to see in particular places. I’m happy to help, but sometimes I don’t have time to answer every request. This guide is perfect because it lets me share my knowledge with anyone who’s interested in architecture and design.'
Fish Building, New York
He continues: 'Also, I simply love architecture guides. I always buy a guide for any place I’m planning to visit – it gives you lots of information in a small package. But that’s also what sets my book apart, because it’s not focused on a single destination, but is rather a universal guide for 369 buildings across 30 major cities. It will really help readers navigate the huge and often intimidating world of modern architecture.'
Villa Kolb, Zurich
The Sight Unseen editors' long-term working relationship and friendship with Štěch helped birth this collaboration – stemming from a real need for him to share his tips and passion for modernism and all its regional expressions.
Wotruba Church, Vienna
The Modernist Travel Guide launches today (8 May 2025) at an event in New York, during the city's annual month of design and in fitting style inside Paul Rudolph’s famed 1990s Modulightor building.
Palazzo Della Civilita Italiana, Rome
'Modernist Travel Guide' by Adam Štěch, Sight Unseen (2025), shop.sightunseen.com
-
The glory years of the Cannes Film Festival are captured in a new photo book‘Cannes’ by Derek Ridgers looks back on the photographer's time at the Cannes Film Festival between 1984 and 1996
-
We are rewind brings back the Boombox with the deliberately retro GB-001 cassette recorderA cassette player, recorder and portable Bluetooth speaker system all-in-one, We are rewind's GB-001 splices classic looks with digital tech and analogue sounds
-
A mesmerising edition of The Dalmore Luminary Series is unveiled in VeniceThe Dalmore Luminary Series sculpture No.3 by Ben Dobbin of Foster + Partners, co-curated by V&A Dundee, launches in Venice during the 2025 Architecture Biennale
-
Discover architect Ico Parisi’s modernist sanctuaries on the banks of Lake ComoA string of sculptural sanctuaries by architect Ico Parisi on the banks of Lake Como helped cement the area as the heartland of Italian modernism; we explore his work in an article from the Wallpaper* archives
-
Wild sauna, anyone? The ultimate guide to exploring deep heat in the UK outdoors‘Wild Sauna’, a new book exploring the finest outdoor establishments for the ultimate deep-heat experience in the UK, has hit the shelves; we find out more about the growing trend
-
Ukrainian Modernism: a timely but bittersweet survey of the country’s best modern buildingsNew book ‘Ukrainian Modernism’ captures the country's vanishing modernist architecture, besieged by bombs, big business and the desire for a break with the past
-
New book 'I-IN' brings together Japanese heritage and minimalist architecture at its finestJapanese architecture studio I-IN flaunts its expert command of 21st-century minimalism in a new book by Frame Publishers
-
Tour the wonderful homes of ‘Casa Mexicana’, an ode to residential architecture in Mexico‘Casa Mexicana’ is a new book celebrating the country’s residential architecture, highlighting its influence across the world
-
Croismare school, Jean Prouvé’s largest demountable structure, could be yoursJean Prouvé’s 1948 Croismare school, the largest demountable structure ever built by the self-taught architect, is up for sale
-
Jump on our tour of modernist architecture in Tashkent, UzbekistanThe legacy of modernist architecture in Uzbekistan and its capital, Tashkent, is explored through research, a new publication, and the country's upcoming pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025; here, we take a tour of its riches
-
At the Institute of Indology, a humble new addition makes all the differenceContinuing the late Balkrishna V Doshi’s legacy, Sangath studio design a new take on the toilet in Gujarat
