"The five architects - Bernard Maybeck, Irving Gill, the brothers Charles and Henry Greene, and R.M. Schindler - whose work and lives are presented here were seminal figures in American architecture. As Californians they were less influenced than their Eastern contemporaries by the European styles that prevailed in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century, and each of them devised an original style that has had a profound effect on younger generations of American architects."--The inside cover
This classic study of Bernard Maybeck, Irving Gill, Charles and Henry Greene, and R.M. Schindler was first published by Reinhold, then by Praeger, and then by Henry Holt before being allowed to go out to print. The demand for this book has been so great that we have reprinted it. It has been acclaimed by many prominent architects and architectural historians who consider it to be an indispensable volume on 20th-century American architecture.
This fall, East of Borneo will publish the first anthology of Esther McCoy’s landmark writing about Southern California. Esther McCoy (1904-1989) was a keen literary stylist and an ingenious architectural historian who chronicled mid-century modernist design as it was being created. Her 1960 book Five California Architects has long been acknowledged as an indispensable classic. As Reyner Banham observed: “No one can write about architecture in California without acknowledging her as the mother of us all." Piecing Together Los Angeles: An Esther McCoy Reader (Fall 2011), edited and with an introduction by Susan Morgan, presents an unprecedented selection of McCoy’s work—innovative articles, out-of-print essays, unpublished lectures, and personal memoir—and roundly recognizes this brilliant American original, the pre-eminent voice of West Coast modernism.
Profiles of 25 leading California architects about their rise (and fall, at times). The book includes original portraits as well as stories from each architect about key decisions, philosophies and lessons learned. Also included are renderings and photos of their favorite projects.
Architect Irving J. Gill (18701936) is widely considered the first and preeminent architect of the Modernist era. In her groundbreaking work Five California Architects, Esther McCoy asserts that, along with Bernard Maybeck, Charles and Henry Greene, and R. M. Schindler, Gill is one of Californiaˇs most important architects. This book looks at the life and architectural achievements of Gill, with brilliant photography by Marvin Rand and McCoyˇs insightful text from Five California Architects. Additionally, Gill's own writing (excerpted from The Craftsman (1916))describes his architectural and design philosophy. As one of the most influential architects of the late-nineteenth to early twentieth century, Gill is said to have been so far advanced for his time that there was yet no discussion of ≈modernism The stunning combination of Rand's photographic art and McCoy's writing makes Irving J. Gill an important addition to the library of any serious scholar or fan of Gill, California architecture, Arts and Crafts, modernism, or turn-of-the-century development in building. Marvin Rand gained his photographic education at Los Angeles City College, the U. S. Air Force Photographic School, and Art Center College of Design. He has made a career as an architectural photographer, and his clients have included Charles Eames, Cesar Pelli, Louis Kahn, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, Gwathmey/Siegal & Associates, William Pereira & Associates, the Museum of Modern Art and Metropolitan Museum of Art, to name a few. His photographs have been featured in twenty exhibitions
This inspiring and beautiful book takes the reader on a journey of 35 of the most recent homes designed by Bassenian/Lagoni Architects of Newport Beach, CA. From an Early California home in Coto de Caza to a California Cottage on Balboa Peninsula to an Old World Tuscan Adaptation in Rancho Santa Fe, this colleciton reveals some of the finest examples of what admirings critics are calling The New California Tradition in American Housing.
An insightful monograph highlighting the illustrious design of master architect William Hefner - lavishly illustrated and richly detailed - an intimate tour of some of the world's most opulent houses. This latest addition to IMAGES' Master Architect Series showcases seven exquisite residential projects by master architect William Hefner, whose Los-Angeles-based architectural firm has been designing residential, commercial and retail properties for nearly two decades. Although varied in style, each house featured shares the timeless elegance and attention to detail common to all of Hefner's creations. They are each marked also by Hefner's appreciation of the craft of building and the use of natural materials. Opulent and richly detailed, the interiors nevertheless retain a sense of intimacy, warmth and comfort. Hefner's houses are luxurious, but it is a personal, liveable form of luxury that embraces rather than distances. William Hefner's passion lies in residential architecture; his expertise encompasses a vast array of styles from the highly contemporary to the deeply historic. Through this crossover he has realised that each style has benefitted from knowledge of the other - modern houses are richer in materials, more complex in their details, and thusly more comfortable to its inhabitants; historic projects are less fussy, more tailored, resulting in spaces better suited to the needs and tendencies of contemporary life. William's expertise in architecture and deep appreciation for interior design and landscape often culminates in the three merging seamlessly - environments emerge which embrace outdoor views animated by an ever-shifting play of natural light; the rooms connect organically to the furnishings within them. By combining these three disciplines within his firm, he is able to ensure that each distinct design concept integrates with one another and that the vision of the homeowner is expressed in every aspect of the work. William earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art History in 1977 from Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Oregon, which included a year of study in Greece. He went on to receive a Master's of Architecture from UCLA, during the influential Charles Moore's tenure. 400 col.
Forgotten Modern reveals the work of the innovative architects building in California from the 1930s to the 1970s. With groundbreaking and illuminating examples that will alter the way we think of California architecture, Hess and Weintraub focus on those that exemplify early mid-entury modern, variations on minimalism, and organic architecture. Though architects, historians, and the public alike have overlooked many of these superb architects from California's past century, this book intends to bring them back to our attention. All the architects included here are important in helping to show the breadth of design, that styles like Organic were more widely represented than we have previously realized, and that the fertile soil of California design fostered a wide spectrum of remarkable ideas-even if not all developed a significant school of followers. Chapters Include: A New Introduction to Midcentury California Searching For Midcentury Modern Variations on Wood and Steel Modernism Organic Architecture History Plus Modernism
Following a devastating earthquake in 1925 that destroyed most of Santa Barbara’s significant buildings, the city became the first in the country to have a controlled building plan that encouraged a unified style using elements of Spanish colonial architecture. With airy broad patios, thick adobe walls, and warm-colored tile roofs, Californian architecture is beautifully distinctive. The product of many architects, it combines the harmony and color of Spanish colonial style with some of the best of American architecture. It is inspired by the play of sunshine on light surfaces as well as the contrast of deep shadows. Here, where gardens are so much a part of the house, the homes have become part of the garden. In 1929, H. Philip Staats presented 231 photos and plans of the rebuilt Santa Barbara: its public and commercial buildings, homes, interiors, and gardens. This book contains that collection, and is meant to serve as an inspiration for those planning and decorating in the Hispanic styles.
