Everyday utopias, technological dystopias and the failed occupation of the global modern: Dwell Magazine meets Unhappy Hipsters

At the turn of the twenty-first century, a new publication appealed to affluent consumers in the United States by combining aesthetics drawn from journals featuring artistic and architectural designs with themes common to popular “shelter” magazines guiding home décor. Dwell: At Home in the Modern World favored modernist urban housing over the traditional suburban homes found in decorating magazines, yet differed from its higher-end architectural counterparts by depicting and describing the residences it featured as overtly occupied spaces. The inaugural issue of Dwell characterized this combination of unique modernist architecture and domestic do-it-yourself (DIY) decorating as “a minor revolution,” insisting that it was “possible to live in a house or apartment by a bold modern architect, to own furniture and products that are exceptionally well designed, and still be a regular human being.