Archinect - News

Denise Scott Brown remembers John Rauch, long-time partner and influential driver of postmodernism, who passed away aged 91

2022-08-25T12:18:00-04:00

An influential figure in the development of American postmodernism has been lost after news that former Venturi, Scott Brown partner John Rauch passed away in Philadelphia last week.

Rauch was born and raised in the city and educated at Wesleyan University and UPenn before entering the profession following his service in the U.S. Army. He was an early champion of the work of his partner Robert Venturi and would, through their combined efforts under the then-moniker Venturi and Rauch, contribute to formative projects including the influential Vanna Venturi house and Fire Station #4 that defined the scope and trajectory of architecture for another thirty years.

Fire Station #4 in Columbus, Indiana. Image courtesy Library of Congress

The practice continued to evolve after the addition of Denise Scott Brown in 1969 and publication of Learning from Las Vegas in 1972. Rauch would again be instrumental in the selection of major higher-ed commissions for Yale, Princeton, and Ohio State Unive...

Fairy Tale Architecture: Little Red Riding Hood

2018-12-20T11:08:00-05:00

Just as ‘girl, wolf, woods’ signals Little Red Riding Hood, ‘gable, lintel, square cutout, arc’ signals Robert Venturi’s Mother’s House.⠀

In the second installment of our holiday series on fairy tale architecture, Mary English and Xavier Vendrell of Rural Studio present a playful take on Little Red Riding Hood, inspired by Robert Venturi's Mother's House.

"The story has three elements: Little Red Riding Hood, the wolf, and the house. The image of Little Red Riding Hood is iconic; any image of a wolf is iconic; so the house needed to be an iconic house," they explain. "It had to be a house that anyone would recognize as a house. In a way, the Venturi house is a house that a kid can draw, with the roof form and the chimney. And any adult will understand it is a house, but it’s something more, and obviously an architect or a designer will have another level of reading."

The Vanna Venturi house becomes an official historic place

2016-11-15T15:27:00-05:00

After being proposed for addition to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places last year, the iconic Vanna Venturi House has officially joined the list after being voted in by the Philadelphia Historical Commission on November 10th. According to PlanPhilly:

"After a nomination first heard last December, Vanna Venturi House was added to the register with universal glee, although the case dragged on for about thirty minutes as the new owner—who had purchased it to preserve it—quizzed the commission on exactly what they meant by the word 'property' and whether modifications to the grounds would be allowed."

For more on all things Venturi:

Editor's Picks #446

2016-05-23T09:19:00-04:00

Robert Urquhart spoke with curators Jack Self, Shumi Bose and Finn Williams, previewing their British Pavilion for the 2016 Venice Biennale.

As they explained;

"We’re interested in the influence of bureaucratic apparatus like the Terms & Conditions of Airbnb, the semantics of a mortgage, or the lifespan of product warranties, on the design of the home. But rather than seeing these as constraints, we want to show these as fields where architecture can expand its agency."

Plus, Julia Ingalls h ad a chance to visit Snøhetta's expanded SFMOMA. Her conclusion, that it "elegantly achieves its stated goals of being accessible and welcoming to all, if not necessarily being a stunning piece of architecture in its own right." LiMX liked what he read "Good review, not the boring contrarianism I've read elsewhere."

News
In late April the Vanna Venturi House, was sold after more than nine months on the open market. In response quondam…, Orhan Ayyüce and others, explored whether a building as "volumi...

Vanna Venturi House's new owner plans to preserve property

2016-05-08T23:26:00-04:00

While the buyer’s name and official selling price will be kept anonymous until June, the real estate agency behind the sale, Kurfiss Sotheby’s International Realty, confirmed that the new owner is from the area and apparently wants to preserve the property as it has been maintained thus far. The last known price of the house was $1,500,000 back in March.

Previously:

No guarantees for historic residential architecture in "real-estate limbo"

2016-04-25T13:29:00-04:00

Though the [Vanna Venturi] house has been nominated for the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places, Stecura said it is being sold without any protections against alterations inside or out. [...] Cross your fingers and hope for the best. [...] there is no broader strategy in place — in the museum world or among the nation's leading historic preservation groups — to protect the most important works of 20th-century residential architecture from the vagaries of the market

Related on Archinect:

Latent Complexity: Denise Scott Brown and Katherine Darnstadt (Latent Design) on Archinect Sessions #39

2015-07-23T20:24:00-04:00

We're very excited to have Denise Scott Brown on this episode, to share some family history behind the Vanna Venturi house – the house that her husband and collaborator, Robert Venturi, built for his mother in 1965, and helped set a new tone for 20th century architectural history. The house is now for sale, listed at $1.75M.

Also joining us on this week's episode is Katherine Darnstadt of Latent Design in Chicago. A native Chicagoan who trained and practices as an architect there, Katherine shares her reflections on building a practice and connecting to a city. We met Katherine back in May at the AIA National Convention, and have been itching to have her on the podcast since.

We also touch on the bonkers news item that is Japan canceling the Zaha Hadid designs for its Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, citing overwhelming construction costs.

And finally, we're nearing the end – of Archinect Sessions' first season. This episode is our second to last, and after #40 we'll be taking a short break, ...