In the Sixties, architect Horace Gifford executed a remarkable series of beach houses that transformed the terrain and culture of New York's Fire Island. Growing up on the beaches of Florida, Gifford forged a deep connection with coastal landscapes. Pairing this sensitivity with jazzy improvisations on modernist themes, he perfected a sustainable modernism in cedar and glass that was as attuned to natural landscapes as to our animal natures. Gifford's serene 1960s pavilions provided refuge from a hostile world, while his exuberant post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS masterpieces orchestrated bacchanals of liberation. Celebrities lived in modestly scaled homes alongside middle-class vacationers, all with equal access to Fire Island's natural beauty. Blending cultural and architectural history, this book ponders a fascinating era through an overlooked architect whose life, work and colorful milieu trace the operatic arc of a lost generation, and still resonate with artistic and historical import.

A must-have guide to one of the most fertile regions for the development of Mid-Century Modern architecture This handbook - the first ever to focus on the architectural wonders of the West Coast of the USA - provides visitors with an expertly curated list of 250 must-see destinations. Discover the most celebrated Modernist buildings, as well as hidden gems and virtually unknown examples - from the iconic Case Study houses to the glamour of Palm Springs' spectacular Modern desert structures. Much more than a travel guide, this book is a compelling record of one of the USA's most important architectural movements at a time when Mid-Century style has never been more popular. First-hand descriptions and colour photography transport readers into an era of unparalleled style, glamour, and optimism.

The Hamptons are hot. Gordon, who grew up there, traces the invention of the idea of the Hamptons as a resort for the elite of New York City and shows how various forces, including artists, real estate developers, and media professionals transformed what had been a quiet rural place into a modern and worldwide phenomenon. 175 illustrations.

Chronicles a rich and little-known array of architecture on the island, a hotbed of modernism from the thirties on. An essential reference for architecture buffs, historians, and everyone who lives on or visits Long Island today, this unique resource—the first illustrated history of Long Island’s modern architecture—is based on a survey conducted for the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities (SPLIA). It highlights the work within Suffolk and Nassau counties of a roster of twenty-five internationally renowned architects—among them Wallace Harrison, Frank Lloyd Wright, Marcel Breuer, Edward Durell Stone, Richard Neutra, William Lescaze, Gordon Chadwick for George Nelson, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Philip Johnson, Paul Rudolph, and Richard Meier. Caroline Rob Zaleski’s research on the work of key figures in twentieth-century architecture; the relatively unknown aspects of their production; and their associations with clients, artists, and politicians is complemented by more than three hundred striking archival photographs, specially commissioned new photography, and plans. Zaleski documents the development of exurbia and the rise of visionary structures: residences for commuters and weekenders, public housing, houses of worship, universities, shopping centers, and office complexes. In this part architectural, part social history, she explains why modernism was embraced by Long Island’s civic, cultural, and business leaders—as well as by those who wanted to settle away from the city—during an epoch when open space was prime for development. An inventory of important architects, with their Long Island commissions by date and location, complements the main text.

In the summer of 1937, Walter Gropius, founder of the Bauhaus, rented a house on Planting Island, near the base of Cape Cod. Thus began a chapter in the history of modern architecture that has never been told _until now. The area was a hotbed of intellectual currents from New York, Boston, Cambridge and the country's top schools of architecture and design. Avant-garde homes began to appear in the woods and on the dunes; by the 1970s, there were about 100 modern houses of interest here.

Ezra Pound referred to 1922 as Year One of a new era. It was the year that began with the publication of James Joyce's Ulysses and ended with the publication of T. S. Eliot's The Waste Land, two works that were arguably "the sun and moon" of modernist literature, some would say of modernity itself. In Constellation of Genius, Kevin Jackson puts the titanic achievements of Joyce and Eliot in the context of the world in which their works first appeared. As Jackson writes in his introduction, "On all sides, and in every field, there was a frenzy of innovation." It is in 1922 that Hitchcock directs his first feature; Kandinsky and Klee join the Bauhaus; the first AM radio station is launched; Walt Disney releases his first animated shorts; and Louis Armstrong takes a train from New Orleans to Chicago, heralding the age of modern jazz. On other fronts, Einstein wins the Nobel Prize in Physics, insulin is introduced to treat diabetes, and the tomb of Tutankhamun is discovered. As Jackson writes, the sky was "blazing with a ‘constellation of genius' of a kind that had never been known before, and has never since been rivaled." Constellation of Genius traces an unforgettable journey through the diaries of the actors, anthropologists, artists, dancers, designers, filmmakers, philosophers, playwrights, politicians, and scientists whose lives and works—over the course of twelve months—brought a seismic shift in the way we think, splitting the cultural world in two. Was this a matter of inevitability or of coincidence? That is for the reader of this romp, this hugely entertaining chronicle, to decide.

Andrew Geller was known as the architect of happiness and it's easy to see why. Sporting names like The Box Kite, The Bra, and The Reclining Picasso, his whimsical vacation homes of the 1950s and 1960s dotted the coasts of Long Island, Martha's Vineyard, and the Jersey Shore. Made mostly of wood, they combined a modern interest in light, breeze, and functional living with playful form-making. In contrast to the today's Hamptons megamansions, Geller's inexpensive homes were modest in scale and reflected the ideas of summer leisure of a generation more concerned with fun on the beach than ostentatious display. Now available in paperback, Beach Houses features more than fifty of these spirited houses in rarely seen vintage photographs and drawings.

In Making Dystopia, distinguished architectural historian James Stevens Curl tells the story of the advent of architectural Modernism in the aftermath of the First World War, its protagonists, and its astonishing, almost global acceptance after 1945. He argues forcefully that the triumph of architectural Modernism in the second half of the twentieth century led to massive destruction, the creation of alien urban landscapes, and a huge waste of resources. Moreover, the coming of Modernism was not an inevitable, seamless evolution, as many have insisted, but a massive, unparalled disruption that demanded a clean slate and the elimination of all ornament, decoration, and choice. Tracing the effects of the Modernist revolution in architecture to the present, Stevens Curl argues that, with each passing year, so-called 'iconic' architecture by supposed 'star' architects has become more and more bizarre, unsettling, and expensive, ignoring established contexts and proving to be stratospherically remote from the aspirations and needs of humanity. In the elite world of contemporary architecture, form increasingly follows finance, and in a society in which the 'haves' have more and more, and the 'have-nots' are ever more marginalized, he warns that contemporary architecture continues to stack up huge potential problems for the future, as housing costs spiral out of control, resources are squandered on architectural bling, and society fractures. This courageous, passionate, deeply researched, and profoundly argued book should be read by everyone concerned with what is around us. Its combative critique of the entire Modernist architectural project and its apologists will be highly controversial to many. But it contains salutary warnings that we ignore at our peril. And it asks awkward questions to which answers are long overdue.

Arthur Erickson was one of the 20th century's premier architects, but little has been written about the man who designed the interiors of Erickson's award-winning buildings, whom everyone in the business simply called "Francisco". A decade before his death, Erickson wrote this manuscript to pay tribute to Kripacz and to tell the world of the importance of Francisco's creations. With stunning images from some of greatest photographers of the day, such as Yousuf Karsh, this book looks at Erickson's key projects and the crucial contributions made by Kripacz to their feel and glamour. It includes Erickson's extended commentary on some of his most famous architectural projects from the 1970's through the 1990s, including Roy Thomson Hall, the Eppich Houses, Napp Laboratories, and the Canadian Embassy in Washington, D.C., all of which had stunning interior designs and furniture by Kripacz. As this book goes to press, the Erickson and Kripacz-designed furniture line, the Erickson Design Collection, is being brought into manufacture, with many items becoming available for the first time. Francisco Kripacz: Interior Design is a beautiful legacy to the working partnership of a charismatic and passionate artistic duo -- a last testament from a remarkable architect to the man who shared in his greatest achievements.

Free-spirited American architect Norman Jaffe (1932-1993) was best known for the strikingly sculptural houses he designed in the Hamptons. Produced in conjunction with an exhibition held at the Parrish Art Museum in Southampton, New York, this volume offers a lavishly illustrated overview of his life and work. Essays by architectural critic and jou