Case Study Houses: 1945-1966: the California Impetus - Hardcover

Smith, Elizabeth A. T.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3836535602 ISBN 13: 9783836535601

Publisher: Taschen America Llc, 2016

Synopsis

The Case Study House program (1945–1966) was a unique event in the history of American architecture. Sponsored by Arts & Architecture magazine, the program sought to respond to the postwar building boom with prototype modern homes that could be both easily replicated and readily affordable to the average American.

Concentrated on the Los Angeles area, the Case Study Houses included 36 model homes commissioned from such major architects of the day as Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano, Craig Ellwood, Charles and Ray Eames, Pierre Koenig, Eero Saarinen, A. Quincy Jones, and Ralph Rapson. Their criteria included “using, as far as is practicable, many war-born techniques and materials best suited to the expression of man’s life in the modern world.”

The results of the program would redefine the modern home and extend influence not only across the United States but around the world. This compact guide includes all of the Case Study Houses with over 150 photos and plans, as well as a map showing locations of all sites, including those that no longer exist.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Basic Architecture features: · Each title contains approximately 120 images, including photographs, sketches, drawings, and floor plans · Introductory essays explore the architect’s life and work, touching on family and background as well as collaborations with other architects · The body presents the most important works in chronological order, with descriptions of client and/or architect wishes, construction problems (why some projects were never executed), and resolutions · The appendix includes a list of complete or selected works, biography, bibliography and a map indicating the locations of the architect’s most famous buildings

About the Author:

Elizabeth A. T. Smith is Executive Director of the Helen Frankenthaler Foundation, based in New York. Previously, she was Executive Director, Curatorial Affairs, at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto; Chief Curator and Deputy Director of Programs at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, and Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles. While at LA MOCA she curated the 1989 exhibition Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study Houses. She has curated, published, and lectured widely on a variety of topics in contemporary art and architecture.

Peter Gössel runs an agency for museum and exhibition design. He has published TASCHEN monographs on Julius Shulman, R. M. Schindler, John Lautner, and Richard Neutra, as well as several titles in the Basic Architecture series.

About this edition

• Publisher: Taschen America Llc
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 3836535602
• ISBN 13: 9783836535601
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 96
• Editor: Gssel Peter