Jeanne Gang named MacArthur Fellow.

Congratulations to architect Jeanne Gang on winning a "genius grant" from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Gang's work includes the Aqua Tower in Chicago, a building described by Paul Goldberger as an "undulating landscape of bending, flowing concrete, as if the wind were blowing ripples across the surface of the building." The $500,000 award is given to individuals who stand out for "their creativity, originality, and potential to make important contributions in the future."

Glass House News: Support the Brick House restoration fund.

The Brick House at the Philip Johnson Glass House from The Philip Johnson Glass House on Vimeo.

Located in New Canaan, Connecticut, the Philip Johnson Glass House is actually comprised of two structures – one made of glass, the other made of brick – which Johnson conceived as one design. The Brick House (aka the Guest House) sits across a landscaped courtyard from the Glass

September 22: Conversations in Context at The Philip Johnson Glass House.

DWR is proud to be the sponsor of Conversations in Context at the Philip Johnson Glass House – continuing the legacy of what has been described as “the longest running salon in America” – established as a gathering of great minds in architecture, art, and design in New Canaan, Connecticut at the invitation of Philip Johnson and David Whitney. When the Glass House opened to the public in 2007, it extended the tradition to an invite-only Conversation series that took place at the property.

Tickets are available for the September 22 Event.

Hurricane-proof prefab.

In the wake of the hurricane, it's refreshing to know that there are prefab solutions designed to withstand 150 MPH winds. The LV Home by Rocio Romero offers two models that comply with the most stringent hurricane codes. The Chilean-American designer's work has even caught the attention of Paul Goldberger of The New Yorker who said "Romero's designs stand out for their clarity, simplicity, and grace." If you're in the Bay Area, you can attend a presentation by Ms. Romero at our Fillmore Studio on September 8, from 6 to 8pm. 

Looking for an out-of-this-world home?

This Futuro prefab home is for sale in Philadelphia, and is in desperate need of human kindness. In 1968, Finnish architect Matti Suuronen designed the Futuro as a modular ski cabin that could be assembled in poorly accessible ski areas. It is believed that 100 Futuros were built before production was shut down in 1972. The original prototype was recently restored and is on display at the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam through October 9, 2011. To infinity and beyond!

Photo: Jelle Brandt Corstius

In Venice, chartreuse is beachy keen.

What began as an 850-square-foot rustic bungalow has been transformed into what the LA Times calls "the new-old Craftsman" -- also known as "the Chartreuse House" -- in Venice, California. The home of Lisa Little and Phil Brennan, this renovated space includes an outdoor courtyard with fireplace. The furniture they chose is our very own Deneb Teak Table and Bench designed by Jesús Gasca for Stua, as well as our Primary Pouf designed by Arne Quinze for Quinze & Milan. "This flexible seating allows us to use it as a multipurpose room for entertaining," says Little. Photos by Katie Falkenberg for The Times.

How do you deliver chairs to a place with no address?

Fortunately, the client was working with our very own Marcy Chapman from our Potrero Studio in San Francisco who figured out how to ship these 111 Navy Chairs to a nearby hotel. The clients got their chairs and The New York Times got to photograph a fully furnished home. Featured in last week’s Home and Garden section, the Rondolino Residence is the work of Peter Strzebniok, a German architect living in San Francisco. His firm, nottoscale, creates affordable prefabricated houses. Photos by Joe Fletcher for The New York Times.

Color was used sparingly, to reflect the desert surroundings. The dining room chairs from Design Within Reach are red to suggest the desert heat. The house has no air-conditioning; a ceiling fan hangs overhead.

From forgotten ruin to the setting of our August catalog.

Todd Goddard and Andrew Mandolene were looking for a mid-century home to restore, but when they first saw this structure, which had water dripping through ceiling fixtures and a partially collapsed roof, they were apprehensive. They tracked down the architect, Arthur Witthoefft, who built this home in 1957 and lived in it for 32 years.

Urban Umbrella: a new direction for NYC sidewalk sheds.

Imagine if the more than 6000 sidewalk sheds in New York City received a makeover – the unsightly wood and steel structures used to protect pedestrians in construction areas, replaced by steel and polymer structures that resemble the tree-lined walkways of Parisian gardens.  

urbanSHED International Design Competition, a recent international competition charged designers to do just that: To rethink sidewalk sheds, which have remained relatively unchanged since first introduced in the 1950s, and create a new standard in infrastructural architecture in an effort to “improve quality of life, reduce construction impacts on businesses, increase pedestrian safety and increase available space for pedestrians on sidewalks.”

Diving into design at Hermès.

Having a coworker send me photos from their vacation could be problematic, but when the photos are of Paris and taken by our creative director, I am once again reminded why I love working at DWR. These shots were taken at the Hermès store on the Left Bank. The former home of the Lutetia Hotel’s indoor swimming pool, the space was transformed by Denis Montel of Rena Dumas Architecture who designed a dramatic selling floor with giant David Trubridge-like pods of bent ash wood and a sinuous staircase. “It’s both primitive and sophisticated,” writes Alain. “Richard Serra’s Cor-10 steel Torqued Ellipses reinterpreted in billowing wood mesh.” (My coworker is quite poetic when he writes from Paris.)

July 21: Conversations in Context at The Philip Johnson Glass House.

DWR is proud to be the sponsor of Conversations in Context at the Philip Johnson Glass House – continuing the legacy of what has been described as “the longest running salon in America” – established as a gathering of great minds in architecture, art, and design in New Canaan, Connecticut at the invitation of Philip Johnson and David Whitney. When the Glass House opened to the public in 2007, it extended the tradition to an invite-only Conversation series that took place at the property.

Tickets are available for the July 21 Event.

Conversations in Context
Hosts: Theodore H.M. Prudon, DOCOMOMO US + Shashi Caan, International Federation of Interior Architects/Designers
Evening begins at 5:30pm
2-hour guest-hosted tour and reception

Purchase tickets ($150 each) at PhilipJohnsonGlassHouse.org.

New York Times names new Critic of Architecture.

Michael Kimmelman will be replacing longtime architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff, who is leaving the Times to pursue other projects, including a new book. For the past four years, Kimmelman has served as art critic, foreign correspondent and "Abroad" columnist at the Times. "As for architecture," wrote Times culture editor Jonathan Landman in a memo to staff, "you may recall among other things his recent Times Magazine profiles of Oscar Niemeyer, Shigeru Ban and Peter Zumthor, his pieces in The New York Review of Books about Frank Lloyd Wright and the New York baseball stadiums, and this dispatch about the restoration of an old museum in Berlin. His writings in the field go back to his days between Yale and Harvard as a fledgling editor at ID Magazine and architecture critic for The New England Monthly." Congratulations, Michael! We look forward to joining you in your exploration of the built world in which we live.

Sneak Peek: Inside the New DWR Stamford Studio.

Could this coalescing Light Cloud signal the opening of our new Stamford Studio!? You'll just have to wait and see...

Kohler campaign: what do you think?

Kohler's advertising campaign for its Numi Toilet was photographed in Case Study House #22, designed by Pierre Koenig in 1960, and the site of one of Julius Shulman's most iconic photographs. My first reaction was "these people need to get some better furniture." What do you think about this Kohler placement in a classic mid-century pad?

Architect Allyn Morris' studio-residence on the market.

On the market: Allyn E. Morris' studio-residence located in Silver Lake, California. The late architect built this cantilevered steel-and-glass structure in 1958 for his own use. According to the listing, the home still has the original custom bathroom fixtures, mosaic, glass and hardware -- all of which have been restored and preserved. The asking price is $668,000.

Archival image showing the dining area with Saarinen Pedestal Table, Series 7 Chairs and Bubble Lamp.

President Obama speaks at Pritzker Prize Dinner.

On June 2, 2011, Barack Obama spoke at the award ceremony for the annual Pritzker Architecture Prize. Shown above, he is shaking hands with Thomas Pritzker (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster.) Here is a transcript of his speech:

On behalf of Michelle and myself, I want to begin by congratulating tonight’s winner, Eduardo Souto de Moura. And I also want to recognize the members of the prize jury, who I think have a very difficult task in choosing from so many outstanding architects all around the world.

Now, as Tom mentioned, my interest in architecture goes way back. There was a time when I thought I could be an architect, where I expected to be more creative than I turned out, so I had to go into politics instead. (Laughter.)

June 16: Special Event at the Philip Johnson Glass House.

DWR is proud to be the sponsor of Conversations in Context at the Philip Johnson Glass House -- continuing the legacy of what has been described as “the longest running salon in America” -- established as a gathering of great minds in architecture, art, and design in New Canaan, Connecticut at the invitation of Philip Johnson and David Whitney. When the Glass House opened to the public in 2007, it extended the tradition to an invite-only Conversation series that took place at the property.

Tickets are available for the June 16 Event
Hosts: Donald Kaufman + Taffy Dahl, Donald Kaufman Color
Conversations in Context at 5:30PM
2-hour guest-hosted tour and reception
Purchase tickets ($150 each) at PhilipJohnsonGlassHouse.org

Can you guess who designed this?

And do you know where it's located? Photo by Bonnie Edelman.

Come fly with me: Copenhagen's classic gem.

With many folks heading to airports for the holiday weekend, I thought we'd look at a classic: the old Copenhagen Airport Terminal. Designed by Vilhelm Lauritzen in 1939, this terminal was the main hub of the airport until 1960. In 1999, this 4000-square-foot building was relocated to the western side of the airport to make room for a new terminal and hotel. Photos by Bonnie Edelman.

Tour the Irwin Miller House by Eero Saarinen.

Photo: Indianapolis Museum of Art

This May, visitors to the Columbus, Indiana area have the opportunity to tour the Irwin Miller House, completed in 1957 by Eero Saarinen. Thanks to the Indianapolis Museum of Art, patrons may arrange private and group tours of the home and its adjoining gardens. 

The Irwin Miller House was the third project (and second residence) that American businessman and modern architecture patron Irwin Miller comissioned from architect and designer Eero Saarinen. Irwin and Eero had met years earlier when Irwin's grandfathers -- who were both preachers -- asked Eliel Saarinen to design the Tabernacle Church of Christ (later renamed the First Christian Church) in Columbus, Eero accompanied his father on the trip.