The modern homes that emerged in California in the mid-20th Century used sleek horizontal lines and glass walls to connect with nature, and to project a glamorous modern lifestyle as defined by the utopian notions of modern Americans. By inspecting both Pierre Koenig’s Stahl House in Los Angeles, and Neil Clerehan and Guilford Bell’s Simon House in Victoria we can observe where Bell and Clerehan have been influenced by the California modern style, and how Koenig’s Stahl House is an exemplary example of it. Both the Stahl House and Simon House uniquely use their glass walls to connect with the landscape, to blur the boundaries and create spaces designed to cater to the modern Californian hopes of a free and glamorous social lifestyle. The Stahl …show more content…
The natural finishes to the timber, concrete and plaster give this home some of the honest textural and organic feel for which the California modern homes were known. Simon House has a timber post-and-beam structural system with the beams expressed throughout the centre of the house, unhidden and continuous from the pool terrace to the lounge and out to the garden terrace, where the beams cantilever and continue beyond the eaves of the flat steel-deck roof (Figure 5). These cantilevering beams, though less dramatic than the steel ones of Stahl House, project towards to hopeful horizon, pushing beyond the sheltered boundaries of the garden terrace and framing pieces of the daring Australian sky. The use of timbers instead of steel tie Simon House to the landscape more solidly, emphasising the low profile of the house. When coupled with the clean horizontal lines of the concrete blockwork and the clad eaves (Figure 5) emphasise the sleek horizontality of this building in the style of the Californian modern home. The clever materiality of Simon House does not end with its external elements, however. The freedom of the open plan of the living-dining wing of the house is interrupted by the single wall of the dining ‘room’. Instead of enclosing the space completely- a stifling of freedom contrary to everything that was the utopian ideal of mid-20th century modern living- the space is elegantly defined by a single wall that displays a change in materiality. The room becomes defined by an invisible threshold with this elegant move- indeed, even the wall does not completely enclose any space as it does not reach the ceiling, only the bottom of the expressed beams, similar to Koenig’s walls in Stahl House. The minimalism in this move comes from Bell’s architectural style, with his penchant for ancient Japanese vernacular, and is one
To appreciate a row house neighborhood, one must first look at the plan as a whole before looking at the individual blocks and houses. The city’s goal to build a neighborhood that can be seen as a singular unit is made clear in plan, at both a larger scale (the entire urban plan) and a smaller scale (the scheme of the individual houses). Around 1850, the city began to carve out blocks and streets, with the idea of orienting them around squares and small residential parks. This Victorian style plan organized rectangular blocks around rounded gardens and squares that separated the row houses from major streets. The emphasis on public spaces and gardens to provide relief from the ene...
She is widely credited with developing the style of interior decoration known as “American Country Style”. Sister never knew her grandmother because she died shortly after she was born, but she recalls her grandparent’s house as “large, dark and musty and full of polar bear rugs, moose heads and antlers everywhere”. Her parents were wealthy and spent a considerable amount of money on trips to Europe, in hope that the exposure of art and architecture would improve their children’s education. Her style has been called baroque and freewheeling.
Gehry draws his inspiration from famous paintings such as the Madonna and Child which he qualifies as a “strategy for architecture” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 42) and which he used as an inspiration for a project in Mexico . Through his interpretation of the paintings and artwork, Gehry looked for a new kind of architecture. His search for a new type of architecture culminated in 1978 with his own house in Santa Monica. What was once a traditional Californian house would be redesigned to become one of the most important and revolutionary designs of the 20th century, giving Gehry international prestige and fame. Frank Gehry’s “Own House” uses a mixture of corrugated metal, plywood, chain link and asphalt to construct a new envelope for an existing typical Californian house. This house has been inspired by Joseph Cornell, Ed Moses and Bob Rauschenberg. Gehry comments on his house by saying that there was something “magical” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 54) about it. He admits having “followed the end of his [my] nose” (Friedman M. , 2003, p. 54) when it came to constructing the “new” house, which led Arthur Drexler, former Director...
Using the quote by Habermas as a starting point, select up to two buildings designed in the twentieth century and examine what ‘sudden, shocking encounters’ they have encountered, or created. Analyse the building’s meanings as a demonstration of an avant-garde, or potentially arriere-garde, position.
Smith, C. Ray. Interior Design in 20th-century America: A History. New York: Harper & Row, 1987. Web. 26 Mar. 2014. .
It will discuss the different types of dwellings throughout recorded human history from the perspective of how art and culture influences building design. This will fulfill my own curiosity to understand the different influences on homebuilding and design over the years and how people have dealt with these changes.
Mies' well known theory of “less is more” is apparent by the spaciousness and functional quality of the Seagram building; everything serves a purpose, either for aesthetic appeal or functionality. “Less is more” is a concept used throughout the architectural world today. “Mies van der Rohe stands as a great moral force of the International Style. The essence of architecture, to Mies, lies in the expression of structure. And his precise, sophisticated, and consistent style of architecture sets an exam...
But these contrived differences give rise to esthetic difficulties too. Because inherent differences—those that come from genuinely differing uses—are lacking among the buildings and their settings, the contrivances repre...
Imagine having to fight in World War II during the Spring of 1944 with a small group of friends but making a big impact on the war. This is the story told in the film Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino. This film follows multiple characters, the main characters are Shosanna Dreyfus who was a Jewish escapee. Lieutenant Aldo Raine, who was the leader of the Basterds that created the group. Another main character who made a big impact on the movie is Hans Landa aka the Jew Hunter.
Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier are two very prominent names in the field of architecture. Both architects had different ideas concerning the relationship between humans and the environment. Their architectural styles were a reflection of how each could facilitate the person and the physical environment. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House, is considered one of the most important buildings in the history of American architecture and Le Corbusier s Villa Savoye helped define the progression that modern architecture was to take in the 20th Century. Both men are very fascinating and have strongly influenced my personal taste for modern architecture. Although Wright and Corbusier each had different views on how to design a house, they also had similar beliefs. This paper is a comparison of Frank Lloyd Wright‘s and Le Corbusier ‘s viewpoints exhibited through their two prominent houses, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House and Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye.
Pastier, John. “Frank O. Gehry House, Santa Monica, California; architect & Owner: Frank O. Gehry” AIA Journal, vol.69, no.6 (Mid-May 1980): 169.
The pavilion is significant figure in the history of modern architecture, regarded to be influential with its open plan and use of exotic material. There is a blurred spatial demarcation where the interior becomes an exterior and exterior becomes the interior. The structure constantly offers new perspectives and experiences, as visitors discover and rediscover in the progress of moving throughout the in’s and out’s, a non directional conforming circulating movement pattern. To facilitate this movement, even though it is a visually simplistic plan, its complexity is derived from the strategic layout of walls with its intimation of an infinite freedom of
Art Deco and Bauhaus are two of the most influential art styles that influenced modern America today. From the avant-garde decorations and design that is still present in Los Angeles, to the flat roof design and simplicity of houses and shops that can be seen almost anywhere, these two designs are still present in our communities. The two movements do have some comparative similarities, but are also very different in design and concept. One should now be able to distinguish the similarities and differences between Art Deco and
The book as a description of modern architecture, its styles and influence succeeds but falls short as a prescriptive methodology. His work is still recalled for the need by modernists to categorize everything into neat little boxes, not necessarily for the sake of uniformity, but for sake of some ambiguity. The ambiguity may be the triumph of this book as post modern architecture era is supposed to create more questions than the answers.
Frank Lloyd Wright has been called “one of the greatest American architect as well as an Art dealer that produced a numerous buildings, including houses, resorts, gardens, office buildings, churches, banks and museums. Wright was the first architect that pursues a philosophy of truly organic architecture that responds to the symphonies and harmonies in human habitats to their natural world. He was the apprentice of “father of Modernism” Louis Sullivan, and he was also one of the most influential architects on 20th century in America, Wright is idealist with the use of elemental theme and nature materials (stone, wood, and water), the use of sky and prairie, as well as the use of geometrical lines in his buildings planning. He also defined a building as ‘being appropriate to place’ if it is in harmony with its natural environment, with the landscape (Larkin and Brooks, 1993).