December 30, 2012/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Modern Snapshot: The Schindler House at Night

In Washington, tourists often take tours dubbed something along the lines of “Monuments by Night.” When I was in LA, I did the Schindler House by night. After a packed day, I finally made it to the house in West Hollywood on the way to the airport. Early modernist Rudolph Schindler built the house in 1922 after moving to Los Angeles to oversee the building of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hollyhock House. A return trip during the day along with a visit to Schindler’s Mackey Apartments are in order. At night, the one-level home made of wood, canvas and poured concrete had the feeling of a Japanese lantern. The house was was “designed as live-work space for two couples with a shared kitchen and an apartment for guests. Schindler’s work focused on the integration of interior space and exterior space using complex interlocking volumes and strongly articulated sections.” Here are a few quick shots.

December 26, 2012/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Modern Snapshot: Beverly Hills

Hope everyone is having a happy holiday season. With the weather dreadful today here in Washington and the local market quiet, I was looking through recent pictures from LA. Here are a few shots of the modernism in Beverly Hills to warm you up. Above is a shot of the 1965 Union 76 Gas Station by Pereira Associates. Alan Hess, in his book Googie Redux, writes that the gas station was “originally designed for the entry to Los Angeles International Airport as a counterpoint to the Theme Building.”

The former Beverly Hills Chamber of Commerce. Ground was broken in 1948 for this building on South Beverly.

Art Deco building with pharmacy along South Beverly Drive.

This building on the corner of South Beverly and Wilshire was built in 1968 and designed by Langdon and Wilson originally for Glendale Federal Savings and Loan. Classified in the New Formalism-style, the high-rise has a flat roof with wide overhang featuring distinctive stained glass filled eaves that are supported by concrete rafters.

Below is the Wilshire Beverly Center by Victor Gruen Associates.

Wilshire Beverly Center

December 18, 2012/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Modern Snapshot: The Eames House

Ray and Charles Eames’ “stuff” is almost all back in their house. The contents of the living room were famously removed last spring and displayed as part of LACMA’s exhibit “California Design, 1930–1965: “Living in a Modern Way.” While the living room contents were on display in the museum, the Eames Foundation did some much needed preservation work. Herman Miller, the producer of the Eames’ furniture line, also used the empty living room as the perfect backdrop for a photo shoot of he couple’s designs. See if you can spot the house in these amazing photos. Or you can just take a peek at the pictures I took last month.

December 11, 2012/Mid-Century Modern /by Mid-Century Mike

Event: Daniel Donnelly to Launch Ceramic Lighting Line

Daniel Donnelly loves clay. After shaping it as a kid and majoring in the medium in college, he is now launching a new line of Decorative Ceramic Lighting. The shapes of the lamps are inspired by mid-century modern lines such as the classic shapes of La Gardo Tackett. “While my oldest son attended the Corcoran, I rediscovered my love of clay and created a clay studio in the back of of a 1979 Volkswagen Van,” Daniels says.

Daniel was creating so many ceramic pots that he began to make them smaller while keeping the proportions the same. “I accidentally cut the bottoms out of several pots while doing the final shaping and decided to start stacking them one atop of the other,” he says. “Next thing, I’m making plans to create table lamps.” Daniel will launch his new creations at an opening day party this Saturday (Dec. 15) from 12-6 p.m. at the Daniel Donnelly showroom in Alexandria. Light refreshments will be served.

Dozens of the lamps will be on display, including wheel-thrown vessels that are stacked totem pole style–“Cones and Spheres”–as well as hand-formed cubes, balls and “chunks,”along with groups of his ceramic miniatures and scaled furniture models. All the pieces are made and fired entirely by Daniel at his home studio. Make sure to stop by the showroom this Saturday for these custom, functional pieces of art.

Month: December 2012