How did the 1932 Museum of Modern Art exhibition introduce the International Style to Americans?

The 1932 exhibition "Modern Architecture: International Exhibition," held at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, was instrumental in introducing the International Style to the American public.12

Curated by Philip Johnson and architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock, the exhibition served as a platform to demonstrate how contemporary architecture could be effectively presented within a museum setting. To provide a theoretical framework for the show, the curators published an accompanying book titled The International Style: Architecture Since 1922, in which they coined the term "International Style" to describe the emerging European aesthetic.123

The exhibition showcased this new architectural movement—characterized by rectilinear forms, light plane surfaces, an absence of applied ornamentation, and the innovative use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete—by featuring photographs and models of buildings the curators had studied during a 1929 European tour. By framing these designs as a cohesive, modern architectural vocabulary, the exhibition helped establish the International Style as a significant influence on American design and corporate architecture in the following decades.3412