"Harwell Harris would have been pleased with Lisa Germany's book. . . . The quality of the man permeates the work. It is honest, forthright architecture. It is void of tricks. It uses simple materials in an unself-conscious manner. It places priorities on the user. The emphasis on plan in his practice is the thread that takes us from project to project as Germany weaves the Harris tale."--Ray Kappe, FAIA, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians
"As a young sculptor, Harwell Hamilton Harris longed for a means of expression to liberate his emotions, an artistic voice in which to communicate his feelings and connect them to the lives and sensibilities of others. This longing was answered when he visited Frank Lloyd Wright's Hollyhock House in Los Angeles and realized the power of architecture for the first time. He saw that Wright's creation functioned both as a home and as shapes that moved into and out of nature, creating sculpture on a monumental scale. This revelation inspired Harris to become an architect and to create homes that would speak to people as Wright's creation had spoken to him." "Harwell Hamilton Harris is a biography of this important American architect. Lisa Germany traces the development of Harris' life (1903-1990) and career, assessing his place in American Modernism, in the development of regionalist architecture, and in the interpretation of a modern California lifestyle that would have admirers throughout the world." "This discussion opens a window into the complexities of Modernism in America during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. Harris, his regionalism, and his emphasis on the democratic single family home, are seen against the backdrop of dispute and dissension among modern architects in this country. Germany explores Harris' career in its entirety, from the dawning of an artistic spirit through the heady days of world recognition and celebrity to leaner years when, first in Texas and later in North Carolina, he taught and practiced, forgotten by the fashionable magazines but still revered by those who had seen and felt his architecture. Throughout his life, Harris remained true to his vision of architecture, a vision still relevant today, as this biography amply demonstrates."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
In this rapidly globalizing world, any investigation of architecture inevitably leads to considerations of regionalism. But despite its omnipresence in contemporary practice and theory, architectural regionalism remains a fluid concept, its historical development and current influence largely undocumented. This comprehensive reader brings together over 40 key essays illustrating the full range of ideas embodied by the term. Authored by important critics, historians, and architects such as Kenneth Frampton, Lewis Mumford, Sigfried Giedion, and Alan Colquhoun, Architectural Regionalism represents the history of regionalist thinking in architecture from the early twentieth century to today.
Triangle Modern Architecture documents the rich history and unique cultural significance of a region that is one of the most important on the national map of modern design. Over the last 75 years, the architecture in this area has grown to creatively combine innovation and technology with the area's history, culture, unique landscape, and built context. While the Triangle has seen a great increase in interest in Modern architecture, the understanding of this design and the reasons and history behind it, have not been shared in a clear and meaningful way. There is an information gap between what is appreciated by architects and by the general public.
When we think of the gardens of Southern California, we tend to think of the enormous semiarid landscapes of the Huntington and Rancho Los Alamitos, often built on the sprawling grounds of former ranches. But there is another garden tradition in Southern California: the modest, rectangular suburban plots designed by the most famous architects of mid-century modernism: Richard Neutra, Rudolph Schindler, Gregory Ain, Raphael Soriano, Harwell Hamilton Harris, A. Quincy Jones, and John Lautner. These architects saw the garden as an outdoor extension of the space of the houses they designed, rather than a neo-Spanish fantasy to be added later by a "landscapist." Their modern gardens made use of low-maintenance, drought-resistant plants, and made room for informal outdoor living by children and adults with an emphasis on recreation and exercise. The first book of its kind, Private Landscapes profiles twenty significant gardens-and their accompanying houses-by these celebrated architects. Using contemporary photographs by Julius Shulman and newly commissioned color images, along with plans and plant lists, Private Landscapes provides a never-before-seen look at these gardens. As beautiful and practical now as they were 50 years ago, these designs continue to provide inspiration for gardeners and designers everywhere.
"Frank Lloyd Wright: Writings and Buildings" presents through Wright's own words and works a survey of his achievement as a major figure of twentieth-century architecture. The text is complemented by more than 150 illustrations (a rich abundance of drawings, photographs, plans, and sketches) and the first complete list of Wright's executed buildings from 1893-1959, keyed to a map of the United States. Frank Lloyd wright has received recognition on a scale unparalleled in the history of architecture. Rebel and prophet, profound innovator, impatient with the sterile timidities and commercialization around him, he was yet an ardent conservative of traditional democracy, dedicated, in writing and building, to what he himself called "the sovereignty of the individual." In nearly seventy years of unceasing practice, Wright built nearly 500 structures and designed projects for as many more. He wrote a dozen books, slumberous magazine articles, and was immersed in a number of major architectural projects at the time of his death in 1959. -- From publisher's description.
Colin Rowe has achieved legendary status as one of a handful ofoutstanding studio teachers of architecture and urban design to emergewithin the last two generations. Colin Rowe has achieved legendary status as one of a handful of outstanding studio teachers of architecture and urban design to emerge within the last two generations. His writings reveal the powerful insight and dispassionate, authoritative intelligence that mark him as one of the preeminent architectural thinkers of this perplexing half century. Divided into three volumes, in more or less chronological order, As I Was Saying includes articles, essays, eulogies, lectures, reviews, and memoranda. Some appeared only in obscure journals, and many are published here for the first time.
The Pacific Northwest was far from the centers of modern architecture, but in the middle of the last century a group of architects designed for the region's land, climate, and abundance of wood. Paul Hayden Kirk was an unlikely leader of this movement, yet his work has inspired generations of architects. Illustrated with hundreds of photos and drawings, "Paul Hayden Kirk and the Rise of Northwest Modern" tells the story of modern design in a rugged landscape.
National architectural magazine now in its fifteenth year, covering period-inspired design 1700–1950. Commissioned photographs show real homes, inspired by the past but livable. Historical and interpretive rooms are included; new construction, additions, and new kitchens and baths take their place along with restoration work. A feature on furniture appears in every issue. Product coverage is extensive. Experts offer advice for homeowners and designers on finishing, decorating, and furnishing period homes of every era. A garden feature, essays, archival material, events and exhibitions, and book reviews round out the editorial. Many readers claim the beautiful advertising—all of it design-related, no “lifestyle” ads—is as important to them as the articles.
