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January/February 2010

Spotlight Book:

Amazon book link. Long Live the Modern: New Zealand's New Architecture, 1904-84 by Michael Perry
"Modern Architecture is built into the fabric of our lives.From skyscrapers to state houses, Aucklands motorway to Dunedin's public library, modernist design and construction deeply influence our experience of life in New Zealand. Long Live the Modern celebrates 180 buildings, sites and neighbourhoods designed by New Zealand's most accomplished twentieth-century architects. They show how international ideas were both pursued and adapted to New Zealand concerns, climates and conditions to create a unique local modernism... The buldings showcased in this book - both familiar and
little known - are integral to the New Zealand we built in the twentieth century. They provide 180 reasons to shout 'Long live the modern!'" (Book jacket)

Recent January

Amazon book link. Alvar Aalto (25)
by Louna Lahti, Peter Gossel (Editor)
"Modern architecture does not mean using immature new materials; the main thing is to work with materials towards a more human line." - Alvar Aalto" Finnish architect Alvar Aalto (1898 1976) was not only influenced by the landscape of his native country, but by the political struggle over Finland's place within European culture. After early neoclassical buildings, Alvar Aalto turned to ideas based on Functionalism, subsequently moving toward more organic structures, with brick and wood replacing plaster and steel. In addition to designing buildings, furniture, lamps, and glass objects with his wife Aino, he painted and was an avid traveler. A firm believer that buildings have a crucial role in shaping society, Aalto once said;The duty of the architect is to give life a more sensitive structure." (Amazon)
Amazon book link. Case Study Houses (25)
by Elisabeth Smith, Peter Gossel (Editor)
"The Case Study House program (1945 1966) was an exceptional, innovative event in the history of American architecture and remains to this day unique. The program, which concentrated on the Los Angeles area and oversaw the design of 36 prototype homes, sought to make available plans for modern residences that could be easily and cheaply constructed during the postwar building boom. Highly experimental, the program generated houses that were designed to redefine the modern home, and thus had a pronounced influence on architecture American and international both during the program's existence and even to this day. This compact guide includes all projects featured in our XL version, with over 150 photos and plans and a map of where all houses are (or were) located."(Amazon)
Amazon book link. Richard Neutra (25)
by Barbara Lamprecht, Peter Gossel (Editor)
"the continual refinement of human knowledge of the body and soul came to be one and the same thing for me, and the architecture of human living space its most necessary application and valuation." - Richard Neutra" Born and raised in Vienna, Richard Neutra (1872-1970) came to America early in his career, settling in California. His influence on post-war architecture is undisputed, the sunny climate and rich landscape being particularly suited to his cool, sleek modern style. Neutra had a keen appreciation for the relationship between people and nature; his trademark plate glass walls and ceilings which turn into deep overhangs have the effect of connecting the indoors with the outdoors. Neutra's ability to incorporate technology, aesthetics, science, and nature into his designs him recognition as one of Modernist architecture`s greatest talents"(Amazon)
Amazon book link. Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe (25)
by Claire Zimmerman, Peter Gossel (Editor)
"Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969) was one of the founding fathers of modern architecture. The creator of the Barcelona Pavilion (1929), the Farnsworth House in Plano, Illinois (1945 1951) and the Seagram Building in New York (1954 1958), Mies was one of the founders of a new architectural style. Well known for his motto "less is more," he sought a kind of refined purity in architectural expression that was not seen in the reduced vocabulary of other Bauhaus members. His goal was not simply building for those of modest income but building economically in terms of sustainability, both in a technical and aesthetical way; the use of industrial materials such as steel and glass were the foundation of this approach. Though the extreme reduction of form and material in his work garnered some criticism, over the years many have tried mostly unsuccessfully to copy his original and elegant style."(Amazon)
Amazon book link. Le Corbusier (25)
by Prof Jean-Louis Cohen, Peter Gossel (Editor)
"Born Charles-Edouard Jeanneret, Le Corbusier (1887-1965) adopted his famous pseudonym after publishing his ideas in the review L`Esprit Nouveau in 1920. The few buildings he was able to design during the 1920s, when he also spent much of his time painting and writing, brought him to the forefront of modern architecture, though it wasn`t until after World War II that his epoch-making buildings were constructed, such as the Unité d`Habitation in Marseilles and the Church of Notre Dame du Haut in Ronchamp."(Amazon)

Design: Luka Cvrk - Solucija | Last updated Monday 31 August

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