Archinect - News

Modernism Week remembers the legacy of modernist landscape architect Dan Kiley

2019-02-19T18:21:00-05:00

Kiley was among the most important, influential, and idiosyncratic landscape architects of the 20th century and the designer of more than 1,100 projects. Yet today his work is not well known outside of the field of landscape architecture and, to a lesser extent, the architecture profession. Despite his renown and importance, his legacy remains fragile.

There are many amazing architects and designers whose work sadly remains unnoticed due to the lack of exposure and presence outside of certain circles. With Modernism Week well underway the traveling exhibition "The Landscape Architecture Legacy of Dan Kiley" makes its debut in California's unmatched modernist getaway, Palm Springs. Housing one of the largest collections of modernist architecture and landscape architecture, the exhibition of Kiley's work during Modernism Week is an appropriate fit.

The practice may not receive as much praise or recognition; however, the importance of landscape architecture was emphasized thanks to the works of esteemed designers such as Kiley, Caldwell, and Jensen. The beautiful blend and appreciation of horticulture, ecology, art, and design are what these incredible designers sought to create. The history of landscape architecture can be dated back to Europe in the 18th century when royal families hired designers to transform the grounds and land...

The designer that Columbus, a film featuring numerous Modernist icons, forgot about

2017-08-25T16:11:00-04:00

The Miller House and Garden, now owned by the Indianapolis Museum of Art, is acknowledged as one of the greatest Modernist collaborations. This thirteen-acre property was developed between 1953 and 1957 as a unified design through the close teamwork of Kiley, architects Eero Saarinen and Kevin Roche, interior designer Alexander Girard (who is acknowledged in the film), and clients J. Irwin and Xenia Miller.

The recent film Columbus is centered around a love story of a son of a renowned architecture critic stuck in a small Midwestern town and a 'young architecture enthusiast' who works at the local library. Taking place in mid-century Modernism mecca, Columbus, IN, the motion picture spares plenty of spectacular views of iconic Modernist sites: the Miller House, North Christian Church (1964), Cummins Inc. Irwin Office Building (1954), First Christian Church (1942), and Columbus Regional Hospital Mental Health Center (1972). The characters, surprisingly, do not fail to acknowledge the architects at each location—there are mentions of Eero and Eliel Saarinen, James Polshek... However, Dan Kiley, whose landscapes are often the movie's pivotal settings, got left out and never once credited.

Kiley designed more projects in Columbus than any architect—over thirty landscapes which among many others include the Art Institute of Chicago, South Garden (1962), Jefferson National Expansion Expansio...

Jose Oubrerie's legendary and innovative Miller House on the market for $550K

2017-04-13T14:34:00-04:00

According to a listing on Zillow, Jose Oubrerie's visually complex, materially innovative Miller House is now on the market for $550,000. Each room is a study in unusual and exactingly executed detail; cabinets transition seamlessly into L-shaped shelving, while doors become hosts for asymmetrically placed conduits latched with what appears to be matte-finished silver nickel. Vivid bursts of color abruptly appear among otherwise natural-toned wood, from an electric blue wall to a wild red kitchen cabinet.

The effect is something akin to traveling through an architect's unbridled imagination; although the house does possess its own internal logic, the constant visual stimulus delivers perpetual surprise.

The Zillow listing possess a link to a 3D photographic tour of the house, which allows one to get a fuller sense of how the elements interlock, and just how dizzying it is to stride from one floor to another.

An Unlikely Architecture Hub

2013-05-20T12:35:00-04:00

the Visitors Center lists some 70 structures as “noteworthy”), many designed by a litany of important American architects: I. M. Pei, Harry Weese, Robert A. M. Stern, Richard Meier, Kevin Roche, Robert Venturi, Cesar Pelli and others...

Recently Nancy Kriplen wrote about a visit to Columbus, Ind, for the NYT Sunday travel section. The city was "ranked sixth among the nation’s cities in 1991 for its architectural innovation and design by the American Institute of Architects".

Documenting Modern Living: A Tumblr on the creation of Saarinen's Miller House

2012-10-05T11:35:00-04:00

The Miller House and Garden Collection includes correspondence, drawings and blueprints, textile samples, and photographs that document design, construction, and maintenance of the Miller House and Garden in Columbus, Indiana.

In May 2012, the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the Indianapolis Museum of Art a grant for its project “Documenting Modern Living: Digitizing the Miller House and Garden Collection.” This Tumblr includes archival information giving an intimate view into the working relationship between the clients and designers involved in one of America's most significant modernist houses. The Tumblr has just recently gone live; bookmark it to see updates on all 23,000 pieces in the archive.