It was with great sadness that we learned of the loss of Andrew Geller, who died on December 25. An American architect, Geller is perhaps best known for the beach houses he designed in the 1950s and 60s, many of which were in the Hamptons. On May 5, 1957, the New York Times featured a story about the A-frame house he designed for Elizabeth Reese in Sagaponack, New York, and Geller’s fresh approach to this style of architecture was met with international acclaim. For 35 years, Geller worked at the international design firm Raymond Loewy & Associates, where he designed the “Typical American House” shown at the American Exhibition in Moscow. The house was the cause of the famous Kitchen Debate between Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev on July 24, 1959. A year later, the model home led to the creation of Leisurama Homes, a line of summer houses that could be purchased at Macy’s. Geller’s work can be seen in many books, including Weekend Utopia: Modern Living in the Hamptons by Alastair Gordon.
Our thoughts are with his family. This modernist architect will be missed.
Photo used with permission, courtesy of Richard Schulman photography. schulmanphotography.com
Join Paul Goldberger, the architecture critic for The New Yorker, as he tours the Philip Johnson Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut. Goldberger is the author of several books, including Why Architecture Matters (Yale University Press, 2009).
Join professor Greg Lynn and his 14 graduate students as they look into the future in collaboration with the leaders of Walt Disney Imagineering. The UCLA Architecture and Urban Design Master of Architecture II program, also known as Suprastudio, is a yearlong studio course designed to promote critical practice by emphasizing applied research.
Did you know that in the early days of DWR, our office was based in West Oakland? This is a place that is near and dear to our heart, and we're excited to report that the city has just implemented an interesting new way to revitalize it's beautiful downtown historic district. "Popuphood" is a new urban initiative that placed six new locally-owned retail shops in previously vacant store fronts with six months free rent. Watch the video to get the full scoop on this cool community-based initiative.
As an extension of “Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980,” today the New York Times’ profiled Ice Cube in a Q&A and video about LA and Charles and Ray Eames. In it, the Los Angeles native – who studied architectural drafting before becoming a rapper – discloses his a fond admiration for the Eameses and their innovative techniques.
“Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945-1980” is a multipart event that celebrates the birth of the LA art scene. Over the next few months, more than 60 arts institutions across Southern California will host exhibitions highlighting every major art movement made in LA from 1945–1980. Theoretically, that’s everything from mid-century modern design to gangsta rap – or from Charles and Ray to NWA.
Located in Pacific Palisades, the Eameses' Case Study House is an extension of their consummate performance, decorated with objects from their adventures and Ray's carefully considered vignettes. Its interior has remained virtually untouched since her death in 1988, until recently, when the living room was meticulously packed up and moved – a little more than 12 miles away – to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art for inclusion in its exhibition California Design, 1930-1965: "Living in a Modern Way". It’s a daunting task to imagine, but thankfully, we don't have to. As the Eameses' living room was disassembled and reassembled, the LA Times'Bryan Chan captured the entire process on film and compiled it into a beautiful time-lapse video.
California Design, 1930-1965: "Living in a Modern Way" is on view at LACMA through June 3, 2012. In addition to the Eameses’ living room, it includes more than 300 other objects that demonstrate the Golden State's role in shaping material culture.
If you’re going to tour the Philip Johnson Glass House with Barry Bergdoll, Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at MoMA, you better be prepared for a pop quiz. This is a man who thrives on complex conversations, and he took us for a wild ride last night at the final Conversation in Context event for this season. (Regular tours are available for two more weeks – book your ticket today.) Bergdoll’s questions included “How did the Glass House evolve out of Johnson’s debates with Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and Karl Friedrich Schinkel?” And “In the 1930s, the entrance to the Museum of Modern Art was a revolving door at street level. Can you think of any other museum that had a revolving door at that time?” (We couldn’t.) “Why not?” Post a comment with your response, or join an online conversation at the Glass House website. A video of the tour with Barry Bergdoll will be posted soon.
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.
HOST: Barry Bergdoll, the Philip Johnson Chief Curator of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art and professor of modern architectural history at Columbia University.
Last Sunday, Eero Saarinen's TWA Terminal at JFK was open to the public for the first time in a decade. It is the most beautiful building I've ever been in, and when you are wrapped in its swooping, elegant curves, you experience the incredible genius of Saarinen. How he conceived this structure and its stunning interior, is beyond me. As the light changes, the interior follows suit, giving you gifts of surprising beauty in the most unexpected places. I took more than 500 photos and will share more in the days to come. Enjoy! (P.S. I'm still using a camera that David Pogue suggested I buy ten years ago. If you have a digital camera you love, please let me know.)
If you're like most people, you go to museums to see the art hanging on the walls, and not the actual paint on the walls. But did you know that a lot of effort goes into getting that wall color just right? The goal is to highlight the works of art without competing with them, and the Guggenheim Museum has decided to share some of its secrets with you. Fine Paints of Europe, a company based in Woodstock, VT, is now offering Guggenheim Paints. The collection includes the original colors chosen for the museum by Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as the favorite colors of generations of Guggenheim curators. And if you're a fan of fan decks, this one is pretty cool.
Impress us with your knowledge of post-modern art and you could attend Conversations in Context at the Glass House. One winner will receive 2 tickets to the October 13 with David Salle. Winner is responsible for their own transportation, parking and any other costs. Ticket value $300 ($150 each).
Here’s how to enter:
Watch“The Pictures Generation, 1974-1984,” a short video review of the 1999 Metropolitan Museum of Art exhibit to learn about David Salle and this artist collective, whose work appropriated pop culture images and photography to create dramatic social commentary in reaction to the rise of mass media in the late 70s.
Write a brief statement about which piece of artwork featured in the video review is your favorite and tell us why.
Email your entry to pr@dwr.com. Include your name, city and state of residence, as well as your age, phone number and email address.
Congratulations to University of Maryland's WaterShed Team! First place in this U.S. Department of Energy competition went to the solution with the best mix of affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency. Design Within Reach is proud to be a sponsor of the WaterShed by the University of Maryland. The WaterShed shows how the built environment can help preserve watersheds everywhere by managing storm water onsite, filtering pollutants from greywater, and minimizing water use. Find additional photos at inhabitat.com.
Through October 2, the National Mall is the place to be for solar-powered living. The winner of this U.S. Department of Energy competition is the team that best blends affordability, consumer appeal, and design excellence with optimal energy production and maximum efficiency. Design Within Reach is proud to be a sponsor of the WaterShed by the University of Maryland. The WaterShed shows how the built environment
Stay in this geodesic urt in Chile. Photo courtesy Welcome Beyond.
Welcome Beyond hopes that your next vacation exceeds even your wildest dreams. Founded by two Berlin-based brothers, the unconventional travel site specializes in hand-picked vacation rentals from French B&B's to modernist homes in Austria, tree hotels in Sweden, and remote geodesic urts in Chile. Visitors can search for accomodations by location, region, or interest, inlcluding unusual vacations. Each property includes a brief bio about the owner and/or property manager, numerous photos -- we spotted the BL3 Floor Lamp in the bedroom of this vacation home -- and details on pricing.
Trusteeship UN Council Chamber, 1965. Visit the UN Photo Gallery for more photos.
Designed by Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier and Brazilian architect Oscar Neimeyer, the UN headquarters was completed in 1952 and remained mostly untouched until four years ago. That’s when it was announced that the complex would be fully renovated by 2014. The changes include improvements to safety and functionality, as well as energy-saving measures to make the decades-old world headquarters LEED-certified. The renovation includes a significant facelift to the Trusteeship UN Council Chamber, originally designed by Danish architect Finn Juhl. At the age of 38, Juhl experimented with furniture, color schemes, carpeting and wall coverings to create a “total interior plan” for the Chamber, where the whole space and its details work and play together.
Preserving what Juhl created was paramount to the Danish Arts Foundation, so in December 2010 it held a design competition, inviting five of Denmark’s leading furniture designers to create new chairs and tables for the Chamber, all of which had to be in keeping with Danish tradition and the legacy of Finn Juhl yet mindful of modern materials. The Danish Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Culture, in cooperation with Danish Realdania Foundation, provided the necessary funding for the UN Council Chamber renovations.
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."
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
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.
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.
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!
