Archinect - Features

Lessons in Monochromatic Composition from Arthur Elrod

2019-07-27T07:13:00-04:00

Arthur Elrod, the noted Mid-Century Modern interior designer, is widely known for his eye-popping, colorful, and groovy designs, but what can we learn from his monochromatic works? Stylistically eclectic, formally complex, and materially decadent, these works hold valuable lessons that, upon further inspection, make great precedents for contemporary design explorations.

Why? Because Elrod anticipated a now distinctly contemporary form of eclecticism that combines the curatorial approach of discerning taste with a no-holds-barred, cabinet of curiosities-centered sensibility that relies on color and materiality to seemingly tie together new and traditional spaces and objects alike. While Elrod’s colorful works are sure to wow, this approach is more effectively appreciated through the subtlety of his monochromatic designs, where Elrod manages to work in surprisingly explicit ways to undermine the notion that Modernism was founded on newness alone, and to erode the idea that design ha...

The Staging of Healthy Living: a Review of Beatriz Colomina's X-Ray Architecture

2019-04-12T12:01:00-04:00

In her newest book, X-Ray Architecture, the theorist Beatriz Colomina bypasses the clichéd analogies made between buildings and the human body to develop a persuasive and wholly original take on the origins of modern architecture. Recently released by Lars Müller Publishers, X-Ray Architecture elaborates on the author’s argument that modern architecture was both a tool and metaphor for the treatment of human illnesses just like any other - a theory Colomina has been mulling over since she first arrived in New York as a scholar in 1980.

Finding the Artful in Artless Spaces: A Review of Thomas Demand's 'The Complete Papers'

2019-03-26T20:02:00-04:00

Weighing in at over 6 pounds, the breadth of work and reference material makes The Complete Papers, the newest and most comprehensive book from the artist Thomas Demand, an indispensable resource for anyone invested in art, architecture or media theory. The catalogue raisonné compiles all of Demand's individual works, selections from larger series works and the most critical texts from art and architecture historians over a 28 year span.

Join us at Archinect Outpost on March 29th, from 7-9pm to host artist Thomas Demand and The Complete Papers, the comprehensive survey of the artist's photographs to date.

37 Fearless Moments of Modern History: A Review of ‘The Architecture of Closed Worlds’

2019-02-27T11:36:00-05:00

The 37 prototypes in Lydia Kallipoliti's The Architecture of Closed Worlds reveal the 20th century’s nebulous relationship with science, ecology and architecture in a way that helps make sense of that landmark era. Their presentation in a single publication also doubles, intentionally or not, as a survey of some of the most unusual and visionary experiments in modern history.

If you are in Los Angeles March 6th, join us at Archinect Outpost from 7-9pm to host Lydia Kallipoliti and her newest book! Kallipoliti will provide a lecture, followed by a book signing. RSVP here. The book can be preordered here.

#ArchinectMeets @shesthearchitect

2019-01-11T13:40:00-05:00

#ArchinectMeets is a series of interviews with members of the architecture community that use Instagram as a creative medium. With the series, we ask some of Instagram’s architectural photographers, producers and curators about their relationship to the social media platform and how it has affected their practice.

Social media has undeniably affected the way we perceive, interpret and share opinions about architecture today. While we use our own account, @Archinect, as a site for image curation and news content, we wanted to ask fellow Instagram users how they navigated the platform.

We spoke to Sophie Chanson, the curator of @shesthearchitect. Put simply, the Instagram page celebrates the works and lives of women architects with exemplary photographs of their finest work. After realizing how difficult it was to name female architects off the top of her head, Chanson began to check the margins of architecture history to pull out rarely-seen treasures.

#ArchinectMeets @modarchitecture

2018-12-04T12:00:00-05:00

We spoke to Darren Bradley, the photographer behind @modarchitecture. Bradley began his career as a history major and soon developed a following for his clear and stunning photographs of modern architecture from around the world. When he began collaborating with Sam Lubell in the production and photography of Phaidon's Mid-Century Modern Architecture Travel Guides: East Coast USA and West Coast USA, Bra...

#ArchinectMeets @daniellaondesign

2018-11-06T09:00:00-05:00

We spoke to Daniella Ohad, Ph.D, the curator of @daniellaondesign. As a design historian that regularly lectures on the subject, Ohad uses Instagram to advocate for the significance of design history through its most stunning precedents and their most seductive photographs.

From the Ground Up: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

2018-01-26T09:00:00-05:00

From the Ground Up is a series on Archinect focused on discovering the early stages & signs of history's most prolific architects. Starting from the beginning allows us to understand the long journey architecture takes in even the most formative of hands and the often, surprising shifts that occur on its journey. These early projects grant us a glimpse into the early, naive, ambitious—and at points, rough—edges of soon to be architectural masters.

From the Ground Up: Le Corbusier

2018-01-12T12:10:00-05:00

From the Ground Up is a series on Archinect focused on discovering the early stages & signs of history's most prolific architects. Starting from the beginning allows us to understand the long journey architecture takes in even the formative of hands and often, surprising shifts that occur in its journey. These early projects grant us a glimpse into the early, naive, ambitious and at points rough edges of soon to be architectural masters.

Mid-Century Surprises: Sam Lubell's 10 Favorite Finds From His New Book "Mid-Century Modern Architecture Travel Guide"

2017-04-20T12:10:00-04:00

The West Coast has one of the greatest legacies of mid-century modern architecture in the world. Everybody knows its legendary icons, like Pierre Koenig’s Case Study 22, the Eames House, and the timber homes of Sea Ranch. But there are so many surprises hiding in plain sight, showcasing the exceptional talent and variety within the modernist movement, and taking you to places you’d never go. Here are a few of the best.

Johnston Marklee tackle the “tyranny of newness” in 2017's Chicago Architecture Biennial

2017-04-14T13:06:00-04:00

As the artistic directors of this year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial, Johnston Marklee are interested in examining history and its contributions to contemporary architecture in a way that isn’t about promoting rearguard ideas, but rather one that demands a more thoughtful approach toward the value of “newness.”

The Brief and Wondrous Life of Modulex, Lego's Building System for Architects

2016-11-03T11:52:00-04:00

A success among urban planners but a failure among architects (with the exception of Eero Saarinen, who used them in his prototype modeling stages), Modulex—the architectural modeling Lego-offshoot—was largely shuttered by the 1980s, almost revived in 2015, and now serves as an XS cult classic in architecture.

"African Modernism: Architecture of Independence" showcases a history of no easy answers

2016-03-27T11:44:00-04:00

"African Modernism: The Architecture of Independence" is a sprawling and immersive exhibition that uses every inch of available gallery space at Chicago’s Graham Foundation. Curated by Manuel Herz with input for this particular exhibition by Sarah Herda, head of Graham Foundation, the show is based on Herz’s voluminous tome of the same name. At over 700 pages, Herz’s scholarly investigation and cataloging of modern architecture in Ghana, Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, and Zambia provided a surplus of projects and information, requiring a careful distillation to produce the exhibition.

How the couch furnished modernity’s notions of privacy

2016-03-07T14:10:00-05:00

In the 21st century, the couch is so ubiquitous as to be virtually invisible. We find them in commercial waiting rooms, in private homes, as infested harbingers of urban decay on street corners. They populate television talk shows and form a shorthand for psychiatric evaluation. But how has this piece of furniture, which has only been around for about 330 years, become the seat of our culture?

Working Out of the Box: Jader Almeida

2016-03-02T08:19:00-05:00

Working out of the Box is a series of features presenting architects who have applied their architecture backgrounds to alternative career paths.

In this installment, we're talking with Jader Almeida, a Brazilian furniture and product designer.

Are you an architect working out of the box? Do you know of someone that has changed careers and has an interesting story to share? If you would like to suggest an (ex-)architect, please send us a message.

ShowCase: Casa H by Bojaus Arquitectura

2014-03-05T14:51:00-05:00

Bojaus Arquitectura’s Casa H is a modernist white cube, but it’s also not what you think it is. The cube is sometimes interpreted as a reflex towards neutrality, to get the spaces and the inhabitants within to speak for themselves. But Casa H isn’t arbitrarily a white cube; it’s the logically resulting form of rationalist, as well as aesthetic, concerns.

Soriano's Glen Lukens House: Back to Life and Happy

2012-07-26T17:41:00-04:00

Opportunities to write about historically significant modern houses in Los Angeles keep coming to my attention this summer and more are on the way. It is kind of fun to write about these masterpieces from my messy office alcove next to the kitchen in our little happy dingbat apartment in Glendale, California.

Lautner's Concannon Residence, from Dust to Dust

2012-07-02T12:35:00-04:00

John Lautner's Concannon Residence, designed in 1960, was built in a blurry area contested by the cities of Beverly Hills and Los Angeles, with BH having the post office address but not collecting the property taxes. Both cities have a sad track record with the protection of historically significant structures, and have countless modernist architecture bones in their walk-in closets. Both are gleaming their real estate teeth, and are penchant for greed and mediocre architecture. And both have a negligible clue of the cultural values bestowed upon them by their architectural heritage.

Branner Fellowship Summary: Aging Modernism

2011-02-09T13:00:20-05:00

The John K. Branner Traveling Fellowship, awarded each year to three masters of architecture students in their final year at the University of California, Berkeley, gives recipients the opportunity to travel the world for twelve months in pursuit of architectural inquiries that will later inform their theses. This fellowship represents one of the most extensive pre-thesis travel research grants awarded to master level students in the United States. The 2010 Branner Fellows, Adriana Navarro-Sertich, Eleanor Pries, and Melissa Smith have just returned from their travel and are in the midst of thesis production.