WHY IS EVERYTHING SO UGLY: The Curse of Modernism

Summary by Krater

An exploration into why gray and beige have dominated modern interior design and architectural aesthetics, tracing this trend from ancient Greek and Roman polychrome statues through neoclassical color theory and modernist minimalism to contemporary real estate practices.

From the video

Answers: Why is modern interior design and architecture so overwhelmingly gray and beige?

• interior design trends
• history of greige and neutral colors
• polychromy in ancient Greek and Roman art
• modernist architecture and purism
• real estate staging and gentrifier-core

What it concludes

• Greige and neutral interiors are popular in modern architecture and real estate because they appeal to the broadest possible pool of buyers and are cheaper to execute.
• The modern aversion to color in architecture and sculpture stems in part from neoclassical misconceptions that ancient Greek and Roman statues were purely white marble, when they were originally polychromatic.
• Historical figures like Winckelmann and Goethe associated vivid colors with uneducated or non-European societies, linking whiteness with sophistication and civilization.
• 20th-century modernist movements, including Purism and fascist architecture, championed industrial efficiency, standardization, and the aesthetic of clean, white, or neutral forms.
• Real estate practices like virtual staging rely heavily on neutral palettes because non-neutral color choices in rendered spaces often look out of place or plastic.
• The ubiquity of gray and beige in modern rentals and new constructions is largely driven by developers seeking to minimize renovation costs and avoid polarizing buyers with distinct design choices.