Archinect - News

Michael Kimmelman goes in search of Paul Rudolph’s true legacy at the Met

2024-10-17T18:17:00-04:00

He’s now the subject of a modest but riveting retrospective at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan, organized by Abraham Thomas, called 'Materialized Space: The Architecture of Paul Rudolph,' whose first order of business is obviously to answer a question people outside architecture circles will ask, namely: Who was he?

The exhibition, the Met’s first major show on modern architecture in almost fifty years, opened on September 30th and includes over 80 artifacts from the Kentucky-born Rudolph’s five-decade career. The last day to see this is March 16th, 2025.

Kimmelman says it offers an interesting recount of how the "shining light of the Kennedy era" morphed into league with the originator of his failed Lower Manhattan Expressway plan, Robert Moses, bemoaning "his grand plans and recklessness, his truculence and tragic arc."

A new study sheds light on pigeons' apparent disdain for modern architecture

2023-01-22T08:00:00-05:00

The abundance of feral pigeons [...] is mostly affected by the presence of modern buildings with low abundance of pigeons found in areas where there is a preponderance of modern buildings. The study confirms the results of international studies which indicate that the densest populations of feral pigeons occur in historic town centres, as the old buildings provide ample nesting sites, while the high human population density of both locals and tourists in historic towns provides constant food

According to the authors, the Maltese study “lays the ground for further research on feral pigeon populations and their ecology in urban environments as well as contributing information for management programmes that are tailor-made to the local situation and circumstances.”

Rat populations are also barometers of recent changes to the built environment, such as outdoor dining and the increase in brownfield sites in some countries. Pigeons' risky lifestyles may nevertheless be a useful educational resource for children.

More in line with human activity, however, the study found that birds also apparently view parks as a source of “feeding opportunities and less stress.”

New $3.1 million Conserving Black Modernism grant program announced by the Getty Foundation and National Trust for Historic Preservation

2022-09-19T14:37:00-04:00

The Getty Foundation together with the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund has announced the commitment of $3.1 million in the form of institutional grants to individuals and organizations that are working to preserve the legacy of historic modern architecture designed by Black architects nationwide.

Under the title Conserving Black Modernism, the two-year grant program, part of a larger $80 million effort overseen by the Action Fund, will support the documentation of 16 overlooked sites across the country while providing useful preservation training and storytelling resources to their future stewards.

The Getty says they are remiss at not including any works by one of America’s many underappreciated Black designers in its otherwise successful Keeping It Modern initiative and will look to address this absence with a new program that helps enshrine their contributions to what became the most defining architectural movement of the ...

In Kyiv, a virtual tour guide shows the world what's left to uphold

2022-08-30T12:24:00-04:00

Soloviov’s virtual tours, which he announces on his Instagram page, have also become a way of coping with present circumstances. He says that during the pandemic and now the war, he has missed meeting visiting foreigners, some of whom were his most inquisitive tour participants. Now, he’s meeting them in their living rooms.

Dmytro Soloviov is unlike the many Ukrainian citizen journalists using social media to inform the non-traditional, non-television-connected audience about their war-torn home. Evacuated at the outset to the western Carpathian Mountains region, he began offering in-person and then (upon his return to the capital) virtual tours to audiences who described them alternatively as either “very intimate” or as places of refuge.

He says he won’t offer reviews of bomb-damaged buildings as a rule and is working to preserve the country's stock of Soviet-era architecture so as not to see it fall victim to war's terrible cycle of destruction — even after the shelling stops. “What will our descendants know of the 20th century in Ukraine if we demolished it all?” he said. “What will they think? That we did nothing?”

Minoru Yamasaki’s Michigan State Medical Society building hits the market for $4.3 million

2021-11-18T15:37:00-05:00

An excellent example of the New Formalist style is now available for the relatively low price of $4.3 million.

Local news outlets are reporting the recent addition of Minoru Yamasaki’s Michigan State Medical Society to the real estate market in East Lansing.

Image courtesy Michigan State Historic Preservation Office via Flickr

The architect of the World Trade Center received the commission for the building in 1959, marking his first major project outside of Metro Detroit. It was given a two-story extension in 1979 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.

Yamasaki’s design features a column-lined exterior connected by 31 cast-concrete arches which form a profile later repeated in the Trade Center’s podium and characterized by an internal collaborative office plan and vaulted ceilings.

Image courtesy Michigan State Historic Preservation Office via Flickr

“The intent was to build a serene and inviting building to express the idealism and humanity of the medical pro...

Modern structures in Kuwait, Nigeria, Senegal, Chile, and more selected for conservation grants by Getty Foundation

2020-07-15T15:33:00-04:00

The Getty Foundation has selected 13 pivotal Modernist structures located around the world to receive funding for conservation and restoration initiatives as part of its Keeping It Modern Architecture Conservation Grants program.

As in years passed, the selected structures are located globally, with this year's collection of funded projects highlighting several structures that celebrate "post-independence African modernism." Launched in 2014, the Keeping It Modern Initiative has supported a total of 77 projects in 40 countries so far, according to the Getty Foundation

“Modern architecture, with its experimental materials and structural innovations, is a powerful cultural expression that took many forms worldwide,” said Joan Weinstein, director of the Getty Foundation. “These buildings embody human ingenuity, but many are showing their age and face irreversible damage or even demolition if we fail to act. Our Keeping It Modern grantees across the globe are working to safeguard this ...

COVID-19’s spatial impacts: Big or small?

2020-04-27T21:00:00-04:00

What will be the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on the built environment? Of course, anything can happen and we should be skeptical of anyone offering predictions for what even tomorrow might bring, but that has not stopped architectural thinkers from positing the world as it might come to be.

A case in point, two dueling perspectives were recently published that offer differing visions of how our cities, daily lives, and homes might change in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Writing in The Los Angeles Times, author and architecture critic Sam Lubell highlights six aspects of daily life—modular construction, adaptive reuse, lightweight architecture, healthy buildings, work, and public spaces—that are likely to be impacted by the crisis.

Previously on Archinect: 2,500-bed hospital conversion at NYC’s Javits Center opens. Photo By: K.C. Wilsey, FEMA.

Among the least discussed arenas so far that might find new relevance amid the COVID-19 crisis, according to Lubell, is modular co...

Glass skyscrapers need to be seriously reexamined

2019-05-21T13:40:00-04:00

Glass has always been an unlikely material for large buildings, because of how difficult it becomes to control temperature and glare indoors. In fact, the use of fully glazed exteriors only became possible with advances in air conditioning technology and access to cheap and abundant energy, which came about in the mid-20th century. And studies suggest that on average, carbon emissions from air conditioned offices are 60% higher than those from offices with natural or mechanical ventilation.

Philip Johnson, after building his own Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut, had this bit of advice to offer others in the field: "Don't build a glass house if you're worried about saving money on heating."

The advancement of modern architecture was predicated on the seemingly magical properties of glass, not least for the fact that it carries the unique ability to function as a container with an optimizable level of opacity. Towards the middle of the 20th century, a style informally known as 'Corporate Modernism,' typified by floor-to-ceiling glass and thin steel construction, quickly became the design of choice for many of the world's tallest skyscrapers. The popularity of air-conditioning during this same time period meant that many of these buildings were designed independent of any passive cooling solutions.

Lever House, by SOM. Photo by Ezra Stoller

Glass architecture, Henrik Schoenfeldt argues, should be considered a thing of the past. Ever since the temperature recordings ...

Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky invented the modern kitchen

2019-05-08T12:37:00-04:00

Following World War I, Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky (1897–2000) was tasked with the design of standard kitchens for a new housing project by city planner and architect Ernst May. The Great War left rubble and a desperate housing shortage in its wake, but it also opened the way for new ideas and new designs.

Prior to World War II, the only homes to have complete kitchen spaces also typically had servants to make use of them, while apartments and tenement housing rarely had space for a room purely dedicated to cooking. The kitchen, in other words, was a luxury before a plan to make it more standard and efficient was conceived by Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky, the first Austrian women to qualify as an architect.

Plan of the Frankfurt Kitchen indicating its labor saving features. Drawn in 1927.

Schütte-Lihotzky's invention, known as the Frankfurt Kitchen, was compact enough to fit into apartment buildings and boasted ingenious features including, according to Sarah Archer, "an electric stove, a window over the sink, and lots of ingenious built-in storage including custom aluminum bins with a spout at one end." Its compact layout was determined by the typical cooking/cleaning sequences of the time, significantly reducing the time one spent in the space. Its efficient use of space not only made...

Walter Maria Förderer is the masterful modern architect you've never heard of

2019-05-07T13:48:00-04:00

In the 1960s, Walter Maria Förderer designed eight churches in Switzerland and Germany. Influenced by Le Corbusier, and even more so by the collages of Kurt Schwitters and Gothic architecture, Förderer designed cascades of concrete blocks and strange totemic objects that now form some of Europe’s most avant-garde religious buildings.

It is always a delight and a mystery when one learns of a new name to add to their account of architecture history — a delight because with their name comes new buildings, textures, contexts and drawings to discover; a mystery because their near erasure from historical canon can appear suspiciously willful.

While Gottfried Böhm and Le Corbusier are perhaps the first to come to mind when considering the significant architects of Post War European churches, Walter Maria Förderer rightly deserves a spot on the list. Like Corbusier, Förderer was a Swiss architect obsessed with the structural and material properties afforded by concrete, and was uniquely determined to treat the material as he had during his earlier career as a sculptor.

The Church of St Nicholas, by Walter Maria Förderer. Photo by David Willen.

The Church of St. Nicholas (above) is one of his most exemplary works. Though the building does employ a small handful of modernist principles, it signals an interest in post-func...

Artist Kurt Treeby recreates demolished buildings in tissue-box form

2019-04-29T17:18:00-04:00

Trained as a painter, Buffalo-based artist Kurt Treeby has since turned his interest in fiber work and architecture into an opportunity to reflect on loss in the built environment, recreating buildings in plastic canvas and yarn—often as tissue boxes.

For those saddened by the loss of important works of architecture, Kurt Treeby is creating a tissue box to help mourn the misfortune. Buildings such as the BEST products showroom designed by SITE and Paul Rudolph's Shoreline Apartment complex are being transformed by the artist, who turns the lost works into tissue-box replicas using yarn and plastic.

In his artist's statement, Treeby says the work is meant to examine "the architectural ecosystem of production, consumption, and destruction embedded into the social, economic, and physical landscape of cities." The result of a painstaking process involving thousands of precise stitches, his works function as "as the visual embodiment of the restoration process, as historical records, and as personal memories; all imperfect and incomplete."

Eight Frank Lloyd Wright buildings nominated to the UNESCO World Heritage List, a first for the US

2018-12-28T13:05:00-05:00

A collection of eight Frank Lloyd Wright buildings have been nominated by the United States to the World Heritage List. Submitted by the National Park Service, the nomination will be reviewed by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in July of 2019.

Widely considered one of the greatest American architects of the 20th century, the considered buildings include his recently restored Unity Temple in Oak Park, the Hollyhock House in Los Angeles, Taliesin and Taliesin West, and the defining Fallingwater. The Guggenheim Museum building, the Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House in Wisconsin, and the Frederick C. Robie House in Chicago are also among those nominated.

The collection of buildings are the first examples of modern architecture to be nominated by the US for world heritage status. The proposal was originally submitted in 2015, but has been revised in accordance with the Committee’s request, which also noted Wright's global importance and "outstanding universal value." Among the chang...

Photographer discovers Chicago's hidden modernist gems along Peterson Avenue

2018-09-18T15:20:00-04:00

The buildings aren’t the work of celebrated modernist architects such as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe or Skidmore, Owings & Merrill. They bear no resemblance to the towering glass and steel monuments to postwar rationalism that you see downtown. They house doctors’ offices and dry cleaners, furniture stores and accounting firms. Some are vacant, their prim hedges and topiary gone to seed.

Architectural photographer and critic Lee Bey discovered a group of quirky modernist buildings on a section of Chicago's Peterson Ave. Overlooked and unkempt, these low-rise gems draw from Southern California's modernist vernacular prompting an unexpected, sunny and 60's nostalgia on the Northwest Side of the city. Check out these hidden structures documented here.

Amateur Architecture Studio brings traditional Chinese materials and craftsmanship into modern architecture

2018-08-30T16:15:00-04:00

Wang Shu and his wife, Lu Wenyu, of China’s Amateur Architecture Studio want to protect Chinese culture and history by returning to artisanal building techniques and the use of materials such as natural stone, wood and bamboo. Wang Shu’s rejection of what he calls “professional, soulless architecture” has almost become a war cry. That kind of architecture, he believes, is ruining China.

Amateur Architecture Studio focuses on creating work that transcends the black and white divide of traditional and modern architecture. The duo have made it their mission to bring back handmade work and natural materials into modernization.

China Academy of Art Xiangshan Campus by Amateur Architecture Studio. Image: Tõnis Kimmel/Flickr.

Wang Shu was the first Chinese Pritzker winner, awarded back in 2012, for his commitment to reviving traditional craftsmanship in the profession.

China Academy of Art, Wa Shan Guesthouse, Xiangshan Campus by Amateur Architecture Studio. Image: Iwan Baan.

The studio works with material such as bamboo, stone, and wood rather than only focusing on concrete and steel. The Chinese tradition of handmade construction is essential to Shu, who prefers the title of "artisan" rather than "architect".

Le Corbusier's influence on Japanese modernism

2018-08-09T15:31:00-04:00

Thanks to the overwhelming clarity of [Le Corbusier's] positions, the bewitching nature of his epigrammatic style and the already-powerful international movement for Modernism, the impact he had on a rising generation of Japanese architects would prove to be immense. But it would be the nature of that impact to be felt only in conditions of overwhelming ambivalence.

Nikil Saval traces Japan's modernism back to Le Corbusier citing influences on Kunio Maekawa and Kenzo Tange. Japan was the earliest country in all of East Asia to engage with Le Corbusier's work in the late 19th century, and by the 1930's many of his books has been translated into Japanese.

The piece navigates conflicting views in Japan with the introduction of modernism and the “Japan tradition debate”. Saval explores the struggle around a desire to embrace global modernity while also retaining a sense of tradition or “Japaneseness” in the culture.

Marcel Breuer and the Invention of Heavy Lightness

2018-06-12T23:18:00-04:00

How could an architect who had made the pursuit of lightness the essence of his design aspirations become one of the great form-givers of the aesthetics of weightiness?

In this rich examination of the work of Marcel Breuer, Barry Bergdoll explores the marked shifts between his early European and later American work, and finds a constant in the pursuit of lightness. In his efforts to reconcile vernacular traditions with modern expression and the conditions of contemporary life, Bergdoll argues, Breuer created buildings that "held heavy and light in remarkable equipoise."

Alvar Aalto's Paimio Sanatorium is now for sale

2018-06-06T15:44:00-04:00

Alvar Aalto's Paimio Sanatorium in Finland is now for sale. Currently owned by the Hospital District of Southwest Finland, the district has announced its plans to sell the building by fall of 2018. The bidding period will end on August 23.

Paimio Sanatorium by Alvar Aalto, 1933, located in Paimio, Finland. Image: LeonL/Flickr.

Considered a national heritage site, Aalto's Sanatorium was completed in 1933 bringing international recognition to the country. His modern design was carefully tailored to the needs of tuberculosis patients for which the facility was built.

Paimio Sanatorium by Alvar Aalto, 1933, located in Paimio, Finland. Image: LeonL/Flickr.

Paimio Sanatorium by Alvar Aalto, 1933, located in Paimio, Finland. Image...

Tom Wolfe, innovative journalist and critic of modern architecture, dies at 88

2018-05-16T15:31:00-04:00

“From Bauhaus to Our House,” Mr. Wolfe attacked modern architecture and what he saw as its determination to put dogma before buildings. Published in 1981, it met with the same derisive response from critics. “The problem, I think,” Paul Goldberger wrote in The Times Book Review, “is that Tom Wolfe has no eye.”

Tom Wolfe, an innovative journalist and novelist, died on Monday in Manhattan at the age of 88. Wolf lived in New York since joining The New York Herald Tribune as a reporter in 1962, and went on to influence what is known as New Journalism. Inciting hostile reactions to some of his work, Wolf notably condemned modern architecture receiving harsh backlash from critics.

Oscar Niemeyer's former headquarters of L'Humanité recently photographed

2018-04-14T12:31:00-04:00

Another Oscar Niemeyer headquarters building in France has been newly explored by photographer Denis Esakov. This concrete undertaking was previously home to L'Humanité, a daily newspaper formerly a branch of the French Communist Party. Niemeyer completed this project in 1989 – take a look at its current state.

New photos of Oscar Niemeyer's Communist party headquarters in Paris

2018-04-11T16:40:00-04:00

Oscar Niemeyer's Communist party headquarters in Paris was recently captured by photographer Denis Esakov. Take a new look at the Brazilian architect's concrete achievement, one of his first in Europe.

For Le Corbusier's Birthday, we've rounded up some playful pics of the pioneering modernist

2017-10-06T12:30:00-04:00

Today is everyone's favorite modernist architect Le Corbusier's birthday. Well, almost everyone's that is...

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;span id="selection-marker-1" class="redactor-selection-marker"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/span&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

Kris might find him to be a bit boring, but over here, he is one of the most revered architects of the 20th century. In honor of what would be his 130th, here are some celebratory pics of the Swiss-born French architect and funnyman.

Le Corbusier / Photo by Letburii

Le Corbusier in the monastery of San Lorenzo de El Escorial, May 10, 1928.

Le Corbusier in Saint-Tropez bay, 1938.

Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret relaxing on the Shukna Lake on a pedal boat manufactured by Pierre Jeanneret, c. 1950. Photo by Sureh Sharma.

Le Corbusier in C...

Getty Foundation's "Keeping it Modern" grants conservation efforts for twelve major works of 20th century architecture

2017-07-31T17:57:00-04:00

With focus on works of the twentieth century, the Getty Foundation's Keeping it Modern program awards buildings of architectural and cultural significance funding for conservation and preservation. Grants focus on the creation of conservation management plans that guide long-term maintenance and conservation policies, the thorough investigation of building conditions, and the testing and analysis of modern materials. Through their Conservation Institute, the foundation recently completed a major renovation project of Louis Kahn's Salk Institute. Twelve more buildings have been selected this year to receive a similar treatment and have been granted $1.66 million to do so including a revered Dessau structure designed by Walter Gropius that recently became listed as a World Heritage site, a Le Corbusier designed museum in India, and Boston City Hall.

Cathedral Church of St. Michael for Coventry Cathedral.
Sir Basil Spence. 1962. Coventry, England

Coventry Cathedral interior. Photo: Da...

The Getty Foundation selects the first 10 modern projects to receive grants in worldwide preservation effort

2014-09-18T15:07:00-04:00

For the sake of preserving the holy modern architectural canon (and some), The Getty Foundation officially announced today the first 10 projects to receive grants of their Keeping it Modern initiative. In a race against time among other challenging factors, the philanthropic effort aims to conserve the world's architectural landmarks of the 20th century.

The Foundation states Keeping it Modern will address the pressing issues involved with the conservation of modern architectural heritage through the support for key model projects. Each grant project was selected for its architectural significance and its potential to advance conservation practices relevant to modern architecture.

The first ten projects selected to receive funding are:

(Above) Louis Kahn’s Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Jørn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House

Hilario Candela’s Miami Marine Stadium

Alvar Aalto’s Paimio Sanatorium

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House

Ray and Charles Eames’ residence ‘The Eames House’

I.M. Pei’s Luc...

Winners of Modernism in America Awards renew value of modern architecture

2014-02-27T14:05:00-05:00

The Modernism in America Awards have announced this year's winners. The national awards program highlights the documentation, preservation and re-use of modern buildings, structures and landscapes in the U.S. or U.S. territory [...] One Award of Excellence was given in the categories Design, Advocacy, and Inventory/Survey. Five Citations of Merit were also awarded. Winners will receive their prizes during the Docomomo US National Symposium on March 13-15, 2014 in Houston, Texas.

(Pictured above) Design Award of Excellence: Furnace Creek Visitor Center at Death Valley National Park

Advocacy Award of Excellence: Peavey Plaza

Survey Award of Excellence: Curating the City: Modern Architecture in L.A. Website

Design Citation of Merit: The Arboretum (formerly the Garden Grove Community Church)

Advocacy Citation of Merit: Miami Marine Stadium

Design Citation of Merit: Stillman and Huvelle Houses, Litchfield, CT

Design Citation of Merit: Trenton Bath House and Day Camp Pavilions

Survey Citation of Merit: North Carolina Modernist Houses, Inc.

Find more on Bustler.

NCSU Faculty Member Vincent Petrarca Receives ACSA Faculty Design Award

2014-02-17T11:13:00-05:00

For a Modernist house designed and built by his firm Tonic Design + Tonic Construction

February 17, 2014 (Raleigh, NC) -- Vincent Petrarca, an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Architecture at North Carolina State University’s College of Design and a founding partner of the Raleigh, NC-based design/build firm Tonic Design + Tonic Construction, has received a prestigious 2013-2014 Faculty Design Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) for his design of “Crabill Modern,” a Modernist, single-family house in Hillsborough, N.C.

Each year, the ACSA honors architectural educators for exemplary work in areas such as building design, community collaborations, scholarship, and service.

The ASCA’s Faculty Design Awards honor built work that “advances the reflective nature of practice and teaching by recognizing and encouraging outstanding work in architecture and related environmental design fields as a critical endeavor,” according to the ACSA. Winning ...

"Flammable" towers make a fiery statement on the modern skyscraper frenzy

2014-01-20T14:13:00-05:00

Architects always have the future in mind when they design. That's particularly evident in today's cityscapes as they continuously try to one-up each other in who can raise the world's next tallest, more-modern-than-thou skyscraper for all to gaze in awe -- or not. For Jingjing Naihan Li, a long-time resident and practicing architect in Beijing, modern skyscrapers can be invasive and gradually make the city's public spaces feel less familiar.

As a clever response to the skyscraper frenzy she saw at home and abroad, Naihan created a collection of the most recognizable towers scaled down to meticulously replicated wax candles titled "Flammable."

"Together, it looks like a party of all the alpha males of the world," Naihan responded in an email. "In places like New York or Hong Kong where land is limited, it was somewhat justifiable to build high and dense. But as the cities with the skyscraper were viewed by other developed countries as the representative of modern success, the sk...

Zaha Hadid Modernises UK’s Oldest University Building

2013-01-17T13:58:00-05:00

Construction on Zaha Hadid’s anticipated Softbridge building extension to the University of Oxford building in the UK is set to commence at the end of the month. The Middle East Centre Project is an upgrade for St. Antony’s College, one of seven graduate colleges that are part of the original building. While the the building’s foundation date is unclear, it is the oldest university in the English-speaking world with teaching on the site believed to have commenced in 1096.

Historical homes that helped influence modernism

2012-11-28T12:28:00-05:00

Separated by about four centuries and the Pacific Ocean this pair of houses may seem on paper to have little in common. One was an imperial villa in Kyoto, the other a suburban villa in West Hollywood. One is built on Zen principles for the Japanese emperor, the other was built by a central European architect for himself.

Edwin Heathcote discusses the historical relevance of Rudolph Schindler's Schindler House and Kyoto's Katsura Imperial Villa, and how they helpef influence the modern movement.

Getty Announces Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A.

2012-09-28T20:30:00-04:00

Designed to continue the momentum of Pacific Standard Time: Art in L.A. 1945–1980, last year’s sweeping initiative that included exhibitions and programs at 60 arts institutions across Southern California, Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A., will be smaller in scope, comprising nine exhibitions and accompanying programs and events in and around Los Angeles slated for April–July 2013.

The Midwestern Maybeck

2012-02-07T05:46:00-05:00

A dandy bedecked in flashy all-white outfits and a pince-nez, chain-smoking custom-made cigarettes that he ordered from a New York manufacturer in lots of 10,000... an early devotee of the motorcar, president of the local Automobile Club, and a notably fast and reckless driver... He paid his rent in gold coins, before moving to an opulently furnished, Oriental-themed downtown Kansas City apartment/studio building of his own design.

Why is Louis Curtiss so much less celebrated than Bernard Maybeck?

On Places, Keith Eggener examines the career of the Kansas City architect, "designer of some of the earliest buildings in the world to employ caisson foundations, rolled steel columns and glass curtain-walls," who nonetheless remains a relatively obscure figure, well outside the canon of architectural history.