Mid-Century gets used to describe a look — clean lines, teak, tapered legs. But the label was never really about style. It named a set of assumptions about how to live: smaller rooms, informal hosting, furniture built to move with you rather than sit in a corner for show. This piece traces where that instinct came from, tests it against real objects that have passed through our workshop, and asks the question most "what is Mid-Century" guides skip — why it still holds up toda