Modernism – Thomas Guignard photography

Exterior of a Modernist university campus showing a four-story rectangular building with a facade of alternating bands of windows and green metal panels. The building is topped with a two-story structure covered with a concrete openwork screen. The same screen is repeated in front of a low building to the right of the main structure, and on either side of its porte cochère, on which the words "Faculté de médecine" can be read. The word "Bibliothèque" is stencilled one letter at a time on the top windows. Students are show exiting the building on a paved plaza in front.

Bibliothèque de santé, Université de Strasbourg

The campus of the Strasbourg faculty of medicine signalled the postwar renaissance of a storied institution.

A courtyard with a large, three-story industrial-style building in the background with a facade of brick and glazing. The courtyard is paved with concrete tiles, and a blue, tube-like structure is placed in the centre. The sky is clear and sunny.

Tweebronnen Library, Leuven

The transformation of this former technical school by one of the early masters of Modernism questions the balance between preservation and reuse.

Lakehead University Library

On an eclectic northern campus, this library was built for growth.

Exterior of a modernist tower surrounded by lower buildings with an arched portico.

Caltech Hall (Millikan Library)

Rising above the campus of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, this library once named for a problematic figure is now dedicated to the college community as a whole.

Interior of a modern university library with rows of wooden shelves surrounded by a mezzanine on which more shelves can be seen. To the left is the blurry figure of a person in motion.

MMLL Library, Cambridge

The Raised Faculty Building at the University of Cambridge's Sidgwick Site offers a glimpse of a modern campus that never was.

Wide-angle exterior shot of a Modernist office block on stilts. A person is walking underneath, next to a sign reading "HEAD Genève".

Swiss industrial history, morally dubious wartime economics, a revolutionary sewing machine and a prime example of Modernism all converge in the new location of the library for the Geneva school of art and design (HEAD).

Interior of a modernist library reading room with a large window to the right opening to a park with trees. To the left is a long bookcase, with globe lights above it. The room is filled with tables topped with work lights.

Biblioteca cantonale di Lugano

Situated in an idyllic lakeside park, this Neues Bauen masterpiece completed in 1942 launched Ticino's architecture towards modernity.

Seeley Historical Library, Cambridge

Plagued by environmental issues and a controversial name, the library of the Cambridge history faculty is indissociable from the evolution of Modernism in the UK.

Interior of a contemporary library. It is a symmetrical room surrounded by a mezzanine and with large work tables in the middle. A person is standing at the back.

Bibliothèque du Centre Canadien d’Architecture, Montréal

Combining modern elements with a respect for classical proportions, the design of the Canadian Centre for Architecture reflects its mission as an universal archive of the art.

Interior of a modern library, with a gently curving ceiling and a large window at the back.

Finsbury Library, London

The reorganization of the London boroughs robbed this library of its ambition as a cultural centre but gifted inhabitants of the nearby housing estates with a spacious library.

Exterior of a modern brick industrial complex.

London Metropolitan Archives

A former print shop in Clerkenwell is now used as the archives of the Corporation of London.

Interior of a modern library with a mezzanine in the centre and light wells illuminating the periphery.

Baubibliothek ETH Zürich

The ETH Zürich's architecture library on the Hönggerberg is a mecca for architecture lovers in Switzerland and abroad.