October 29th: The New Masters

The Old Masters luxuriated in their pursuit of aesthetics, often to the detriment of the quality of their buildings.

Today there are New Masters of architecture, for whom the pursuit of an integrated practice, truly Master Builders in their own right, is the only legitimate pursuit.





In this episode of Burning Down the House I talk with Jacob Alspector, a New Master in his own right, and brother-in-arms at the crossroads of change in our profession.

Above - an Old Master (Tiziano) in another form of luxuriant expression. But, my my my, isn't life always offering up voluptuary experiences, if only we see what is before us?

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and check out my various other blogs:

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for more about Construction & Design Analytics, the constructibility and quality management services we provide

and
http://yankees-thebook.blogspot.com/
for some tasty chapters from my novel "Accidental Yankee" - a story about love, lust, politics, death, betrayal, politics, religion - amidst the making of our grand republic, in and around New-York during the Great American Rebellion.

Thanks for listening.

Talk with you again soon.

Images for October 8th: Darwin Martin, Frank Lloyd Wright & early 20th century design

A recent rendering of the Darwin Martin house complex, in Buffalo NY.










A view from the new visitor's pavilion, designed by Toshiko Mori, looking towards the Martin House.









Frank Lloyd Wright, the architect, at about the time of the Martin house, age 35.







Darwin Martin, the client.







One of the more lasting images from the Martin house is this design - the "Tree of Life" motif - rendered in leaded glass.














Compare this with the design work of the Wiener Werkstätte of about the same time:























Compare the Martin house facade with the Heurtley house, constructed a year earlier:


Martin house, Buffalo








Heurtley, Oak Park








Notwithstanding the Norman arch at the entrance to the Heurtley house, not so very radically different.

And, last, the Martin summer house, Graycliff - 1927 - where Wright "broke the box" with corners windows that defy the structural logic of corner support:











Although 20+ years after the height of the Prairie School houses, nevertheless, there is still a fair amount of Craftsman detail in the interior work:



















Oliver Allen mentioned his friend John A. Kouwenhoven - you can read some more about the "Beer can by the side of the highway" here:

http://www.amazon.com/Beer-Can-Highway-American-America/dp/0801836530#reader

And I think it is worth a look, for it condenses many of the themes we often speak of here on Burning Down the House.

Thanks for listening. Speak with you again soon.