H. H. Richardson as a Design Inspiration

 The works of H.H. Richarson are a beautiful synthesis of romantic and historic stylistic precedents which became increasingly well adapted to American needs and building types over the course of his career. Having studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris (only the 2nd American to formally train in Architecture at the school), he brought an eclectic eye and broad range of ideas to the rapidly developing American cultural scene in the late 19th Century. There were old world histoic influences as interpreted through the lens of a Beaux Arts sensibility, but there were more contemporary strains of thought brewing in Europe at the time he studied there. These also seem to have had an influence on him, and once back in the U.S. he  produced an easily identifiable and highly acclaimed body of work. In fact, during his years of active practice between 1868 and 1889 his work became so well known as to become the standard for a new style known as 'Richardsonian Romenesque'. This was one among many important contributions he made to the face of American Architecture.

 

North Easton RR Station

W.Watts Sherman House 

Crane Memorial Library

Ames Gate House

 

 

Karl Friedrich Schinkel as a Design Inspiration

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I always return to Schinkel's work when I'm thinking about Architectural 'Revival' styles. In many ways I prefer his work to original works of the historic periods from which they draw. His buildings are a balanced synthesis of Historicism and Romanticism transcending the limitations of each category. The body of work he created is enthusiastic, energetic and original in a way that is precicely opposite the tired repetition that often plagues neo-classical and other historic revival buildings.

Schinkel worked as the ‘Architect in Chief’ for the Kingdom of Prussia from 1815- 1841. His work is best known through a remarkable folio known as the "Sammlung Architektonischer Entwurfe". I'm privileged to own a copy acquired from Exedra Press when they published a facimile edition in 1982. The draftsmanship of the plates in the Schinkel folio immediately seduces any who appreciate beautiful architectural drawings. They illustrate buildings of remarkable beauty and grace. The evocative style of drawings and buildings influenced many at Columbia University School of Architecture in the early '80's, including myself. This folio is now out of print and hard to find, but someday I'll track down the successor to Exedra press and encourage them to reissue it for a new audience. That would be a worthwhile project!

Unfortunately there are few internet resources on Schinkel. This is what I've been able to find:

Roman Baths near the Charlottenhof Palace
Altes Museum, Berlin 1823-1830

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Casino Glienicke
Babelsburg Palace

Great quote from William Wurster

I was reading the monthly alumni mag from Cal Berkeley this morning and there was a small piece about the 50th Anniversary of the College of Environmental Design*. The author, Ezra Carlsen, included a quote from co-founder William Wurster that captures my feelings about Architecture with remarkable elegance:


"Architecture is not a goal...Architecture is for life and pleasure and work and for people. The picture frame, not the picture."


* My degree: A.B. with Architecture major, 1978

Andrea Palladio as a Design Inspiration

The work of Andrea Palladio is ideal if you want to trace the continuity and evolution of Classical Architecture from ancient times to the present. The Renaissance was a period when the heritage of Classical Greek and Roman times was being rediscovered and resurrected by leading writers, artists, and Architects. Andrea Palladio was part of this movement, and he made the language of Classicism his own. He mastered the vocabulary of the ancient forms, recombining them to embody the culture of his time. Working in the Veneto in the mid-1500's he created an Architecture that expressed the power and glory of the Venetian City-State and the wealth that was at the foundation of its financial and military dominance. The use of Classical Orders, powerful symmetries, grand axes, and rigorous controlling geometries were all carried to new heights during this period.

In looking back at the Villas from this period, all one can say is,
"Those Venetians sure knew how to live!"

Five Villas
San Giorgio Maggiore
Wikimedia image index
Centro Internazionale di Studi di Architettura del Andrea Palladio
The Center for Palladian Studies in America
The Secrets of Palladio's Villas

Richard Neutra as a Design Inspiration

The work of Richard Neutra is emblematic of the Architecture that I grew up with... bold, optimistic, and very Modern. I'm talking about my childhood in Los Angeles where many of the buildings, both the great and the not-so-great, were influenced by Neutra's Modernist vision. Its always been interesting to me to learn what a departure from the status-quo Modern Architecture was in most of the world, because to me it was more or less the norm. In the world of 1960's Los Angeles it was historicist Architecture from the pre-Modern era that was a departure from what was being built on a day to day basis.

Born in Vienna and beginning his Architectural training before WWI, Neutra came into his own as an Architect in the period between the wars. His early experiences were varied, but it is possible to see threads of his design sensibility looking back. Working in Europe initially, he apprenticed alongside Rudolph Schindler and later worked for Erich Mendelsohn (1921-3). Upon relocating to the U.S. he worked in N.Y. and Chicago before joining Frank Lloyd Wright for a short period in 1924-5 at Taliesen in Spring Green Wisconsin. Arriving in Los Angeles in 1926 he began collaborating with Schindler, and by 1929 Neutra had completed the Lovell House, a masterpiece that became an icon among Architects working across the U.S. and in Europe. It is one of the earliest built examples of what would later be dubbed the "International Style".

Neutra kept his Modernist perspective and design sensibility, but over the years his California Architecture seems to become adapted to the environment. While the term "Regionalist" doesn't fit, he did become comfortable allowing local topography, climate, and materials to temper his Modernist aesthetic. Neutra created a highly influential body of work over the course of his career, completing projects all across the U.S. and Internationally. But for me Neutra's California work is the most appealing. I see it as a welcome tempering of the hard-edged Modernist ideology of "Universal Architecture", leaving us with works that reflect the California landscape and optimize the California lifestyle.

Neutra Office Building
Broad Survey of Neutra Homes (some in original condition, some altered)
VDL Research House
Kaufmann "Desert House" 1
Kaufmann "Desert House" 2
"Windshield"
"Cyclorama"

Wallace Neff as a Design Inspiration

Wallace Neff's work is not widely known outside of Southern California, but its been a great inspiration to me over the years. Neff worked in the decades between 1920 and the early '50s and created a body of work that is highly eclectic but always beautiful. He was a master at adapting Mediterranean and other historical precedents to the California landscape and lifestyle. His work is considered the epitome of the "California Style" that flowered in the years before Modernism swept historicist Architecture aside. But Neff wasn't a doctrinaire historicist at all. Where appropriate he was just as comfortable forging ahead with completely new ideas- as in the unique "Airform" structures he pioneered in the post-war period.

His beautiful homes seem to be more popular now than ever before, prized by Hollywood luminaries and design connoisseurs alike.

Amazing tribute website by Neff's son (check out the "Portfolio")
People Magazine article- I don't think I could say it any better than this!
Pickfair
Airform House

Addison Mizner as a Design Inspiration

Mizner's work is beautiful... the variety of forms and the richness of textures is impressive. He was a master at adapting European precedents to suit his own and his clients' needs. I love his Spanish Colonial Revival work, it provides an almost endless font of inspiration for me.

El Mirasol
La Ronda
Riverside Baptist Church
Boca Raton Resort & Club
Boca Raton Administration Buildings
Everglades Club
Photo Gallery