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It is one of history’s cruelties that Louis Kahn is almost better known for his unconventional domestic arrangements than for his architecture. Kahn gave us a remarkable string of masterpieces that includes the Salk Institute and the Kimbell Art Museum, and yet he was one of those shambling geniuses whose life was a mess of contradictions. While his commissions took him around the world, he managed to maintain three separate families at home in Philadelphia. — the New York Times
"He had a reputation for blowing deadlines and budgets, testing the patience of clients. No one was surprised to learn after his death in 1974 that his firm was deep in debt. The turmoil of his life came to overshadow his accomplishments."The author, Inga Saffron, reviews You Say to Brick: The... View full entry
Over the past couple days, there’s been a string of iconic modernist homes put on the market. Now, a pretty incredible Frank Lloyd Wright is for sale. 2206 Parklands Lane, close to downtown Minneapolis, is a 3-bedroom, 2-bath home built in 1960. It’s made primarily of brick, stone and wood and... View full entry
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... View full entry
Esther McCoy is best known as the architecture writer who helped shape the story of Modernism in Los Angeles. Less known is the nearly year-long period she spent in Mexico in 1951. During this time, she wrote about key architectural developments in the country...
“The [“Passersby 02: Esther McCoy” exhibition] presents [McCoy] as this kind of bridge,” says Esparza, “from L.A. to Mexico and from Mexico to L.A.”
— Los Angeles Times
Architecture historian and critic Esther McCoy is the spotlight of a micro-exhibition called “Passersby 02: Esther McCoy”, which closes this Sunday at Museo Jumex. The exhibition investigates how McCoy's writings on key architectural developments in Mexico during her extended stay in... View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect... View full entry
Modern architecture, during its heyday, was deeply concerned with its civic function; its mission to reform housing and improve the city was a moral imperative. But the failure of this utopian vision has served to...[give] rise to a profession in which its practice is defined increasingly by individual “star” architects and “architecture for architecture’s sake”... — AEI.org
In a piece on the civic benefits of music, literature, and architecture to the public sphere, Rebecca Burgess finds architecture to be somewhat lacking, based on the writings of Michael J. Lewis. Is this a complaint about the good old days in the vein of Prince Charles, or a meaningful critique in... View full entry
You’ve always wanted to call Brooklyn home. But it’s complicated. You’re not really the pioneering type. Brooklyn can be rough around the edges. Amenities are lacking. We understand. Industrial-chic finishes are important in life. So are 25-year tax abatements. And European-style, car-sized parking turntables. — failedarchitecture.com
Failed Architecture takes a closer look at Brooklyn's wildly sprouting 'developer architecture':Photographs by Cameron Blaylock. Find many more examples of subtle contextualism over on failedarchitecture.com. Related stories in the Archinect news:5 myths about gentrification, according to a... View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect... View full entry
This post is brought to you by Modani Furniture. Modern furniture has progressed into a timeless and valuable interior design staple. When people think of modern, they normally associate sky-high prices. But huge furniture names developed the concept of affordability in the modern furniture... View full entry
In case you haven't checked out Archinect's Pinterest boards in a while, we have compiled ten recently pinned images from outstanding projects on various Archinect Firm and People profiles.(Tip: use the handy FOLLOW feature to easily keep up-to-date with all your favorite Archinect... View full entry
Poland-based studio Zupagrafika has a thing for modernist and Brutalist architecture. And to share that passion, it has created playful illustrated paper cutout models of Brutalist buildings in London; modernist buildings in Warsaw; and a new series, Paris Brut, featuring Brutalist architecture from the 1950s–70s located in the city center and outlying banlieues. — Slate
Cheaper than a train set, more visceral than a video game: Zupagrafika's sets of the Les Choux de Creteil, the Cite des 4000, and the Orgues de Flandre (among others) will keep your fingers busy in assembly and your mind deeply engaged in the thorny issues surrounding the relative success and... View full entry
A brick is an obdurate object of ambiguity that hovers between idea and matter, between life and death. Its texture can be smoothed to glide our touch or left rough and abrade. It can be molded into even shapes for consistent construction or made uneven, presenting individual challenges each time one is laid in a course. But while it can come close to an ideal oblong shape, it never attains perfection, and it can as much be said that it approaches perfection as it resists it. — Numéro Cinq
I have revisited my piece on the Mies van der Rohe Brick County House that appeared at Archinect. It is a literary essay that I hope adds some extension and insight. It looks back to the Greeks and forward to recent architecture, adding reflections on Modernism and current work. Many questions... View full entry
Earlier this year, photographer Baker took us on an odyssey through two icons of Modernism in the UK by Wells Coates: London’s Isokon building and Brighton’s Embassy Court. Now he’s teamed up with director Alex Simpson to create a mini-documentary, The Legacy of Wells Coates.
The Isokon was once home to Soviet spies, Agatha Christie and Modernist émigrés including the founder of Bauhaus school, Walter Gropius.
— thespaces.com
Find more tales of form following function here:A 'hidden' Mies van der Rohe masterpiece receives funding for renovationA tall order? Wooden skyscraper could become Britain's second tallest buildingWorking Out of the Box: Jader Almeida"African Modernism: Architecture of Independence" showcases a... View full entry
A boxy steel and glass building standing just three stories tall, the Catholic Pastoral Center at 601 Grand Ave. doesn’t command a lot of attention. But among local architects and history buffs, it has a cult following.
“This is a building that appears in architecture textbooks,” said Jennifer James, an architectural historian...
Now, the building is poised for a $10 million renovation that Catholic Diocese of Des Moines officials say will extend its life another 50 years.
— Des Moines Register
The building in question, now known as the Catholic Pastoral Center, was designed by none other than Mies van der Rohe. One of the first steel and glass modernist buildings in Des Moines, it was originally known as the Home Federal Savings and Loan building and opened in 1962.The building... View full entry
Public tours of a newly-restored Salvation Army shelter in Paris designed by Le Corbusier and his cousin Pierre Jeanneret start in April. The tour guides for the 11-storey building, known as the Cité de Refuge, will be the residents of the building themselves who have been trained by the Fondation Le Corbusier.
The Cité de Refuge, which opened in 1933..., is historically significant as Le Corbusier’s first urban housing project and one of only two completed buildings in Paris.
— The Art Newspaper
Does Le Corbusier have you crowing? Check out these related links:Jørn Utzon's final touch to the Sydney Opera House: a Le Corbusier tapestryRenault issues Coupé Corbusier: a concept car to explore "a new way forward", inspired by Le Corbusier“Le Corbusier was a combination of blind and naïve... View full entry