Movements, not just buildings
"Modernist" is shorthand for several distinct movements 1890–1960: Art Nouveau (Horta, Guimard), Catalan Modernisme (Gaudí, Domènech), Vienna Secession (Otto Wagner, Olbrich), Bauhaus, postwar Brutalism. Each had a capital city.
Brussels
Brussels Art Nouveau capital. Horta House, Solvay House, Hotel Tassel, Hotel van Eetvelde. Saint-Gilles and Ixelles districts dense with Horta and Hankar buildings. Less famous than Vienna but architecturally richer per square km.
Barcelona
Barcelona Catalan Modernisme. Sagrada Família, Park Güell, Casa Batlló, Casa Milà — Gaudí dominates but Domènech i Montaner (Palau de la Música) and Puig i Cadafalch matter equally. Eixample the museum-density grid.
Vienna
Vienna Secession. Otto Wagner buildings (Postsparkasse, Karlsplatz Stadtbahn), Joseph Olbrich's Secession Building, Adolf Loos's Looshaus and Café Museum. Innere Stadt base.
Berlin
Berlin Bauhaus + postwar modernism + GDR socialist classical. Bauhaus-Archiv, Hansaviertel housing estate, Le Corbusier's Unité d'Habitation, Mies van der Rohe's Neue Nationalgalerie.
Rotterdam
Rotterdam postwar Dutch modernism — Cube Houses, Markthal, Erasmus Bridge, Centraal Station. Bombed flat in 1940 then rebuilt entirely modern. Architecture-biennale energy permanent.
Glasgow
Glasgow Mackintosh Glasgow Style — Glasgow School of Art (rebuilt), Hill House, Mackintosh House at Hunterian. Distinctive UK contribution to international Art Nouveau.
Strategy
Architecture passes (Brussels, Vienna, Barcelona) bundle interior access. Many privately-owned modernist houses open only on specific days — research before booking flights.