An austere, anti-ornamental, ultra modernism style of architecture associated with the work of the great European architects of the early twentieth century: Walter Gropius, Le Corbusier, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, among others. The term derives from the title of an exhibition (and accompanying book written by Henry Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson) staged in 1932 to showcase a new style of architecture which emerged after the end of World War I. Characterized by its smooth, balanced, but not necessarily symmetrical lines, its lack of decorative flourishes, and its emphasis on volume and preference for cheap modern materials like steel, glass, and concrete, the international style is highly distinctive. Mies van der Roheâs most famous quote âless is moreâ could serve as a motto for the style aimed at by the entire movement, while Le Corbusierâs description of buildings as âmachines for livingâ perhaps sums up its functionalist attitude---architecture was supposed to change how people act, think, live, and work. In this sense it was utopia.