C i I e I spring 31

California Dreamers

Case Study Houses: The Complete CSH issued by 1 lennessey + Ingalls. Written by Program, 1945-1966. Edited by Peter Esther McCoy, its reproductions are less Coessel, Introduction by Elizabeth Smith. than sharp and have none of the visual Taschen America. HH>1. 440 />/)., itlus- impact of the Taschen volume. ('The hit- Initial, oversized. St 50. ter's lush images glorify the houses in ways that mimic photographs of Reviewed by David lUy European palaces, giving oft a grandiosi- ty not entirely appropriate for a program 's Case Study House pro- that had, at least in its origins, the idea grain, famous tor us coolh rational of creating housing for the mass market.) Modernist solutions to residential The wit and verve of McCoy's commen- design, began as a clarion call for inno- tary captures the excitement ol its sub vaiion following World War II. "What ject. Similarly, she places this innovative man has learned about liimsell in the program in a context and sees its death last five years will, we are sure, express knell — who wants an individually itsell in the way he wants to he housed designed house when a developer can in the future," wrote Kntenza, an editor oiler you a much cheaper one? — as a and pubisher, in January I'MS. For the warning sign. ne\t two decades, he published the plans Interestingly, Taschen's book offers for the program's 36 prototypes in his further evidence of the uncritical nature magazine, Arts & Architecture. But by Elizabeth A.T. Smith, many a wonderful Contemporary. Kapson, a Minneapohs- o) respect heaped on the Case Study I'Jfifc, the social imperative that photograph by and oth- based architect, envisioned a house whose house program, although in the form spawned the idea — the quest ior ers, and edited In Peter (ioessel — is open courtyard joined the bedrooms with of an epilogue written by Julius affordable and coherent design for the being sold for $150. the living area serving as a critical social Shulman and carefully tucked away on millions of homes needed for the bur- For those who want a superbly ren- space. This radical, somewhat impractical page 4 \t>. Shulman, who photographed geoning workforce ol the post-war econ- dered, highly detailed archive of this pro- design was published in Arts & 15 of the 24 realized Case Study omy — hail faded. So, too, had the idea gram, the book is well worth its price. Architecture but, like many of the proto- Houses, takes issue with those who see of building a single-family residence one- Smith's short introduction goes beyond types, was never built. Entenza's program as providing a defin- self. Such a decision was now firmly in mere description, arguing that renewed It was an outstanding show and its itive blueprint for low-cost housing. He the hands of suburban developers, most interest in 1 nten/a's vision has led young catalogue, Blueprint* (or Modern Living - notes that many houses, paid for by ol u lii 'in slmwed scant int< rest in tin contemporary architects to be excited History >md i.r^h y nj the i ,<><• Study clients, many reasonably well-heeled, glass and wood and steel houses with once again by the experimental possibili- Houses, which included essays by Smith, suffered from inevitable compromises egalitarian Moor plans espoused by ties ol residential design. Some of the Thomas S. Hines, and Reyner Banham, and did not adhere to some of the pro- architects in the Case Study program. photographic treatments, especially that among others, illustrates the shortcom- gram's imperatives. Further, Shulman By the early 1970s this almost math- of Case Study I louse #8 — the Karnes ings of the new Taschcn publicalion. I he \ iewed I nten/a's choice ol architects to ematical design ideology fell afoul of the I louse — are breathtaking. Even latter eschews any examination of the be included as often quixotic and exclu- Sixties generation, many of whom, igno- Entenza's original manifesto is reprinted success or failure of Entenza's program, sionary. Shulman says, for instance, rant that the houses promoted equality of in the same typeface as it was in Arts its historical antecedents, and its debat- that Kntenza never gave a nod to social relations, resented their conceptual & Architecture. able contribution to housing design in the , the architect most inter- tidiness. 1 recall one of the contributors Each design comes with the exact mass market. The Case Study House pro- ested in low-cost housing in Southern to the Case Study House program, Pierre sober introduction that it was given in gram never satisfactorily addressed the California, owing to Entenza's disap Koenig, exploding at the excesses of this the magazine — along with a small text economics of scale with regard to, say, lot proval of Ain's left-wing leanings. The period, accusing its adherents of nothing by Smith — and also spread around are size, materials, and community organiza- photographer further argues that public less than bringing down Modernism. the delightful pop-Modernist covers ol tion that ventures such as Kcvittown reaction to these houses, while stagger- By the late 1980s, however, the the issue in which each house is featured. attempted to soke. ing in numbers — in the first three thoughtful elegance of the designs created But this seemingly comprehensive, It is odd that the editors at Taschcn years of the program, 1f>8,554 people by these architects, most of whom were archival approach has its limitations. It would overlook this. In lasihen \ earlier toured the initial six homes — was less based in Southern California, began to he fails to acknowledge the extensive critical but similarly expensive Nenlm — than laudatory, remaining cautious, if recognized again. But it wasn't developers commentary already afforded Entenza's Complete Works, author Barbara Mac not critical. or first tune luimehuilders w h o re-popu- program. Much of this has come from I.amprecht provides fresh conceptual With this all this information in larized this design tradition. Rather it was Elizabeth A.T Smith herself, currently the insight into her subject. She writes fluently mind, 1 turn the pages of the new hook cultural sophisticates, again mainly in duel curator at the Museum ol ( ontem- ol the an luted's embrace oi 'bioreatism' with greater curiosity, understanding, Southern California, whose ranks grew to porary Art in Chicago. In late 1989, his profound curiousity about the human and some pain, knowing that even with include Hollywood stars and fashion Smith, then at the Museum of ( ontem- species as a guiding force in his design — the best of intentions, the Case Study designers. The acquisition of such porary Art in , assembled the as well as his always-present social con- House program was a valuable hut Modernist icons was now a sign of savvy seminal exhibition. Blueprints for cern. Thus prepared, 1 approached the mixed success. Nonetheless, such knowl- good taste, Modern Living, a show about the t ase textual introductions and handsome illus- edge brings these houses to life, situates Given such an audience, it's not sur- Study houses. Two of its most inspired trations with considerable zeal. them in design history and adds excite- prising that the most comprehensive designs, Koenig's #22, and Ralph I felt the same way after reading the ment to the otherwise definitive but accounting of this program. Case Study Rapson's Greenbell House, #4, were first book on Entenza's program, Case strictly literal treatment given them in Houses — with .m introductory essay by reconstructed inside the then Temporary Study Houses }i>4S-tl>