Introduction -- Progressions of a style -- Historical context, 1970-2000 -- What's in a name? The several contradictions of modernism -- The heritage of nationalism -- Movements after modernism -- Toward the twenty-first century: transformation and regeneration -- Prelude: reigning modernism, 1950-1970 -- Defining the trends, 1970-2000 -- Relaxing modernism -- Architectural variations -- Loosening the stays -- Cocoons and comets -- The Italian phenomenon -- Studio craft -- Rejecting modernism -- Postmodernism -- Deconstructivism -- High tech -- Avant-garde furniture -- Reassessing modernism -- Toward the millennium -- Minimalism -- Retro design -- Harbingers of change -- Reinventing modernism; the twenty-first century -- Context: the first decade -- The designers -- The architecture -- The interiors -- Furniture: the new face of modernism -- Design as idea -- Taming technology -- Protecting the planet -- Nature-driven design -- Design as art -- Contextual craft -- Interactive objects -- Unaccustomed materials -- Flights of fantasy.