At the last-named practice, he met fellow architect Douglas Byles and formed a partnership with a residential focus. Third-generation architect Eugene Weston III studied at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena and worked in his father’s firm and then for Alvin Lustig, and Smith and Williams. The couple’s art collection was displayed to great effect on the walls of the residence. A bedroom was situated at one end of the hosue and a study at the other, with service spaces located between these rooms and the central living area.
This space, in particular, opened up to the vista, while additional light was introduced throughout by a series of clerestroy windows tucked into the gaps between the supporting walls and the collection of concrete T-beams that formed the roof.
The single-story dwelling was also known as the Travertine House in view of the material used to coat the exterior concerte walls and the floors of the central living room. Bunshaft made the most of the wooded setting, overlooking the waters of the pond itself. Along with his wife, artist and collector Nina Wayler, Bunshaft settled on a site alongside Georgica Pond (not far from East Hampton) where they could create a personal weekend retreat. Key projects included the pioneering Lever House high rise in New York (1952), and he was awarded the Pritzker Prize for Architecture in 1988. The principal structure is in timber, with a brick fireplace and retaining walls in stone, while the roofs of the lower floors provide terraces and outdoor rooms for the levels above.Īrchitect Gordon Bunshaft was an influential partner at the firm Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, where he worked for over forty years. Moving down, we reach the principal floor, hosting the main living spaces (with a swimming pool along-side) and the master suite the lower level holds a den. The entrance and carport are on the uppermost level, with a guest suite on the floor below. The building is arranged on four levels, pushed against the cliff wall. As such, the various levels of the house formed a kind of ziggurat, stepping downwards by degrees. Erickson’s solution was to create a home that also seved as a “ladder,” while opening up to the sea views.
The first concern was how to access the dwelling and the shore, given the extreme character of the cliff. Photo: Ezra Stoller- Esto via Īs Arthur Erickson put it, “The David Graham House… launched my reputation as the architect you went to when you had an impossible site.” One of the most influential projects fom the early phase of Erickson’s career-when he concentrated primarily on residential commissions-the Graham House certainly represented a considerable challenge, sitting on a rugged West Vancouver cliff face where the mountains meet the sea.
West Vancouver, British Columbia (CA), 1963 Here, we look at five outstanding examples of mid-century modern architecture which, sadly, we only have photographs of in the wakes of their demise.Ītlas of Mid-Century Modern Houses by Dominic Bradbury is available on Artspace for $150 In Phaidon’s new book Atlas of Mid-Century Modern Houses by Dominic Bradbury, over 400 buildings are featured, by over 290 architects in over 40 countires-and 22 of them have been demolished. Many of the key themes that we associate with ‘contemporary living’ were explored and perfected during the post-war period-including inside-outside connectivity multipurpose living spaces the rist of the kitchen as a family hub outdoor rooms and the adoption of fluid, interconnected room rather than ‘landlocked’ dedicated circulation routes.īut unfortunately, for some of the architectural marvels from this innovative period, legacies lasted longer than the buildings did. It is no exaggeration to say that the way we live today is grounded in the ideas formulated and refined during the mid-century era. House and home were radically reinvented and remade during the Fifties and Sixties, as modern lifestyles evolved to embrace more informal, playful and open-plan living patterns. A whole series of powerful influences and currents converged, catalyzed by a post-war consumer boom, encouraging architects and designers worldwide to experiment and innovate as never before.
It was a time of optimism and imagination, full of ideas and ingenuity, which still responates with us today. The mid-century period was, without a doubt, a golden age of architecture and design.