Like many of his contemporaries, such as Frank Lloyd Wright and Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe was looking for a new architectural style that could represent modern times just as the Renaissance or Gothic style did for their own eras. He created an influential twentieth-century architectural style with realistic clarity and simplicity.
Tag: mid-century architecture
Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple: Holy Concrete
Frank Lloyd Wright’s architecture was influenced in part by his personal beliefs as a member of the local Unitarian congregation. In 1906 he was asked by his minister to submit a plan for a new church building the one that became Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple in Chicago.
The Barcelona Pavilion by Mies van der Rohe
The Barcelona Pavilion was designed in 1928 by architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and completed in 1929 in Barcelona Spain. The building instantly became a masterpiece in van der Rohe’s career, a symbol for the twentieth century Modernism movement and an inspiration for generations of future architects, all over the globe.
John Lautner’s Chemosphere. Malin House.
One of the most modern buildings of it’s time, the Chemosphere by architect John Lautner, is praised for it’s unique design and for it’s ingenious solutions.
Tour Frank Lloyd Wright ‘s Taliesin West With MidCenturyHome
At the age of 72, Frank Lloyd Wright decided to build his winter home in Arizona: he called it Taliesin West.
Wright loved the Arizona desert. He found the rocky landscape inspiring when he visited it in the 1920s, and jumped at the chance to build a new winter base there.
Joseph Eichler, The Man Committed to Modernity
Perhaps one of the best examples of a self made man in real-estate development and mid-century modernism is Joseph Eichler. He had a dream, a clear vision and made this dream a reality by going against all odds in creating entire communities around the Bay area and Los Angeles of affordable, sleek architectural designed homes for the middle class Americans
John Lautner’s Goldstein Residence. Los Angeles
John Lautner’s Sheats Goldtstein Residence, is one of the most remarkable Modernist buildings ever designed and sits in Los Angeles, California.
This house is closely related to John Lautner’s career, and it wasn’t a project like any other as it is in construction since 1963. Still today its owner keeps on adding parts, maintaining Lautner’s legacy alive.
Eichler Neighbourhoods. Total Community Design.
Continues from Eichler Homes and The Sense of Community.
Some of the successes of the Eichler communities can be ascribed to site planning. Neighbors come together and develop new methods and ideas to keep the community in Unisom. They come up with rather untraditional and unconventional but effective ways of building a stronger community. Ideas such as organizing annual community workdays, annual car shows and organizing Orchestra nights taking on Mozart, Haydn and Elgar.
Mid-Century Modern Homes in Los Angeles: Lautner’s Goldstein Residence
In Westwood California, American architect John Lautner designed and built the magnificent Sheats Goldstein Residence.
The organic architectural style is a trademark for Lautner, building the residence into the sandstone ledge of a hillside creating thus a cave-like atmosphere out of concrete, steel, wood and glass.
Eichler Homes And The Sense of Community
…Continues from The Tradition of Eichler Neighbourhoods
The first Eichler homes were designed by well-known California architect team of Anshen & Allen and in later years other architects were hired and collaborated with Joseph Eichler, including the firm of Jones & Emmons.
The Tradition of Eichler Neighbourhoods
Eichler began building what today are called the Eichler neighbourhoods within a small community in Sunnyvale California. Originally priced for under ten thousand dollars, the homes were aimed at young families who were flocking to new landscapes called suburbia.
The Joseph Eichler Dream, Living Together in Nature
Many people may have heard the name before. For a few the concept of Eichler is relatively new. In the Real Estate business, especially in California, Eichler houses are a tradition. What makes the Eichlers so special? The answer is simple, it’s the concept of creating a community for people in touch with nature. A typical house is a bearing wall type of house, which means solid walls holds the roof on top.
Affordable Housing: Virgil Apartments by Architect Carl Maston
The Case Study House program was not the only attempt to build affordable houses for the post-war American middle-class. The Virgil Apartments building designed by architect Carl Maston in 1951 had the same goal. The six living units apartment building was designed to provide living quarters and a retirement income for the owner within a limited budget.
Architect Cory Buckner, A Life For Mid-Century Architecture
When few weeks ago we read about a new book written by architect Cory Buckner, Crestwood Hills: The Chronicle of a Modern Utopia., we remembered that she also wrote one of our favourite books about a great Modernist architect: A. Quincy Jones.
Checking her site we also discovered that she was behind many restoration of Mid-century houses
John Lautner’s Design Philosophy
John Lautner, the highly influential architect behind such Mid-century greats as the Malin Residence, the Chemosphere and the Elrod Residence, described his design process as “a total involvement.”
Although, despite this self-touted all-encompassing approach, Lautner’s sketches and plans appear rough and childlike…
Renovating a Masterpiece, The John Lautner Garcia House
The current owner of the famous and iconic John Lautner Garcia house talks about the difficult, but fulfilling, process of renovating a Modernist masterpiece.
In certain free moments while attending college in California, a young John McIlwee would ride his motorcycle up and down Mullholland drive, curiously looking up at a peculiar arching structure that sits atop a hillside in the Santa Monica Mountains.
Eichler Houses, Between Art and Marketing
Eichler hired Ernie Braun to photograph the house. The photos impressed Belluschi so much that he remarked to Eichler that they showed off the house even more than the images published by Life.
Braun often pictured near-empty rooms, with just a few cushions to decor the space. The use of low camera angles generated a dynamic feel to the otherwise almost empty interiors,
Monique Lombardelli: a Life for Eichlers
Monique Lombardelli is a MidCenturyHome reader and fan of our Facebook Page. When she approached us to tell about her projects and documentaries on Eichler houses, we couldn’t resist; we asked her for an interview.
Monique is a realtor specialised in modernist houses and also a film-maker so, combining the two passions in a documentary about Eichler houses felt natural.
Eichler Homes: From Niche to Mainstream
Starting in 1953, the American real estate market began to change. The rise of average salaries and a spreading optimism about the future, caused a dramatic increase of buying requests for the first time since the end of the war. New buyers also began to develop more refined tastes – asking for more elaborate designs; requests to which builders eagerly responded, including new features as second bathrooms, larger living areas, more functional kitchens and in-house intercoms.
A Year of Mid Century Modern Architecture, Rewind 2012
Another year passed by and it’s time again to look back and see what you liked the most in 2012 on Mid Century Home.
Today I will start a week of posts dedicated to the best content published this year starting from Mid Century Modern Architecture.
Mid Century Architecture: The Jones Residence
When the architect had to design this house in a wooden area -his own home- he chose for a particular rigours style.
Like most of the mid century modern houses, also this one was designed to make blurry the limit between inside and outside. The rectangular and single-level architecture together with the floor to ceiling windows used as external walls, provide views of the wood from most of the rooms.
An Art Installation You Can not Miss at the VDL Research House
A couple of days ago I received an email with the invitation to attend the opening of a really cool installation of the worldwide famous artist Xavier Veilhan at the Richard Neutra VDL Research House in L.A.
As you might know, I do not live in California and so I can not attend this event, but I wanted to make a post about it anyway as I think it deserves your visit if you live close to L.A.
I Want Neutra! A Mid Century Architecture Love Story.
The photos in this article come from my favorite architecture and design magazine -Case Da Abitare. It was taken in one of the houses built by Richard Neutra in the so-called “Neutra Colony”- a group of mid-century homes built at Silver Lake (L.A.) in 1959.
The new owner of this piece of Neutra mid-century architecture is Eli Bonerz; buying this house was a promise he had made to himself.
Mid Century Architecture: The Kaufmann House Today.
If you love mid century architecture as I do, probably is very easy to picture Palm Springs as the perfect place to visit amazing mid century homes and villas. But back to the 50s and 60s, it was mainly known as the Hollywood stars and rich people’s favorite location to spend a weekend playing golf and having fun.
The Beverly Hills Hotel Photographed by Julius Shulman.
I recently spotted some amazing pics -once again by Julius Shulman- of the Beverly Hills Hotel and, considering that this year is its 100th birthday…
From the Hotel website:
“The hotel was built in 1912, before there was even a city called Beverly Hills. Hoping to ignite a land rush, developer Burton Green, President of the Rodeo Land and Water Company, bought land once owned by the Mexican government in the foothills of the
