Cite Spring 1985

Citeations dramatically assertive. The sheer bulk of the installation creates an experience that is essentially confrontational: 45". 90°. 180° is not a piece to be taken in at a 45°, 90°, 180° glance; one must walk around it, measure oneself against it.

Sculpture by Michael Heizer However, it would be a mistake to view Engineering Court 45°. 90", 180" as yet another example of overblown public sculpture, a piece pumped with steroids to fit a prescribed Reviewed by Alison de Lima Greene space. The manipulation of scale and per- ception has been one of Heizer's chief The image of the standing stone - isolated, concerns since his first mature works of enigmatic, evocative - was rediscovered by the late 1960s. For example, his Nine the Romantic painters of the early 19th Nevada Depressions of 1968, in which the century. The German Caspar David Fried- dry-lake floor of the desert became the rich populated his landscapes with dol- arena for a series of site-specific cuttings mans which acted as silent witnesses to a into the ground measuring up to 120 feet primordial Nordic heritage. In England, in length, is balanced by Windows of William Blake employed Stonehenge as a 1969, etched into a single basalt block of setting for illustrations of his poems "Mil- sidewalk, each cutting roughly the size of a ton" and "Jerusalem." John Constable also match stick. The scheme of 45°. 90°. 180° turned to Stonehenge, sketching it severjl itself has undergone a number of permu- times. He described the monument in the tations. It had its genesis in an unrealized RIVER O A K S 1856 Royal Academy catalogue as "stand- project of 1970-71, Vertical Displacement, ing remote on a bare and boundless heath, a proposal for reshaping the rock face of a as much unconnected with events of past mountain (first in Switzerland, then in ages as with the uses of the present, [it] Montana) by cutting a block from the carries you beyond all historical records slope, replacing it further down the face, into the obscurity of a totally unknown and allowing the spill to gather at the bot- period." For the Romantics of this genera- tom. Out of this project grew the concept tion such imagery functioned as a para- of 45". 90°, 180", reflecting the vertical digm of the sublime, for contemplating thrust of the mountain, the plane of the man's place in nature, of the conflicts of earth, and the diagonal slope of the rock time past and present. face.'

gSg

t

TANGLEWOOD 45°, 90°, 180°, 1984, Michael Heizer sculpture (Photo by Ivan dalla Tana, courtesy Janie C. Lee Gallery)

A century and a half later, Michael Heizer In 1980 Heizer gave shape to this concept both extends and converts this tradition. with a cardboard model 45", 90". The installation of 45°. 90°. 180° on the \8

ARE MADE TO ORDER.

W

in " Mmnmimmm"™™™

w ^

Left to right: 90°, 45°, and 180°, elements of 4>°, 90°, 180° by Michael Heizer (Photo by Paul Hester)

was shifted as granite slabs were placed on - engineer as creator - is disconcertingly rwlimit H U M , t j iin diamond-plate aluminum bases; in this apposite in conjunction with the new case the bases took on clearly industrial sculpture as Heizer is an astute engineer. connotations while the stones were gener- Among the many aspects of 4V, 90", [AAJ Marvin Windows can be ally planar and discrete. It was the fourth 180° is its technical brilliance masked by i ** L^g made to order for you in of this series that formed the point of apparent simplicity; only the 45° slab I BJT^' any of more than 1.500 departure for the Rice installation. betrays the precariousness of its position. sizes and shapes. You can choose casements, gliders, double hungs, It was also in 1982 that Alice and George The true sophistication of 43", 90°, 180° single hungs, pictures, triangles, R. Brown decided to donate a major out- is revealed only on contemplation. Each trapezoids, even round top windows, door sculpture to Rice University, select- part of the installation contains a refer- ing the quadrangle of the Brown School of ence to the other parts. For example, the terrace doors and patio doors. Engineering as an appropriate site.1 After supports of the 90" and 43" slabs are All are extremely energy-efficient a number of artists were considered, the complementary as the 43° is held up by and made from beautiful Ponderosa commission was given to Heiier who pro- vertical trusses, the 90° slab by diagonals. pine. Yet they're no more expensive ceeded to redefine 45°. 90°, ISO0 in terms The seemingly static 180* slab is actually than other brands of quality windows. of scale, material, and composition. The placed on its pedestal not squarely as a location of the tripartite composition table top but at a jutting angle. The dis- within the quadrangle was determined at tinction between man-made bases, clearly an early stage and received final approval carefully poured and smoothed concrete, in March 1984. and, so-to-speak, found stone also breaks Texas Jambs down on close examination. The drill A deciding factor in the composition was holes which read from a distance as stria- 6304 ALDER 669 1333 Heizer's resolve to use indigenous mate- tions on the edges of the granite, nearby rial, resulting in the choice of Texas gran- reveal the deliberate and circular bite of ite quarried at Marble Falls. The slabs the drill, perhaps the sexiest aspect of the were taken from a natural layer, or exfoli- installation. The great mass of the pieces ation, of Texas pink granite; this "virgin" is belied by the discrete and narrow inset layer needed no cutting other than the lat- plinth below each base so that the bases eral drilling which determined the shape appear to be miraculously suspended just of the slabs, the proportions being estab- above the ground. Furthermore, the gran- lished by the layer's natural width. Sim- ite faces of the slabs are wonderfully ilarly, the dimensions and material of the responsive to changes in light: on a bright Houston's pedestals were dictated by the choice of day they glitter with hard intensity, in rain original coffee granite. Unlike the volcanic version of they become muted, at night they take on 45". 90°, 180° in which each rock is cha- a mysterious presence, blending into their store since 1973. racteristically shaped, or the later versions bases, appearing both imposing and of the 1982 series which allowed a certain ephemeral. Freshly roasted coffees, margin of irregularity, the shape of the Rice slabs is consistent throughout; varia- Although 43". 90°, 180° is predicated on a fine teas, Crabtree & Evelyn tion is introduced only by the natural classical structure of balance and harmony, condiments and toiletries, changes in the width of the exfoliation. the ultimate experience must be one of coffee and tea brewing accessories, awe. For those of us not attending classes The pedestals were prepared in October at Rice, a visit to the Engineering Court, gifts to please the palate and the eye. and November 1984; the granite was one that must be made partly on foot, quarried 4 December; and the installation takes on the nature of a pilgrimage. Given took place 8 and 9 December. In the pro- tin- present landscaping of the campus, it Coffees brewed to sample every day. cess of installation, the placement of the is impossible to view the installation from 45" slab was slightly refined: instead of a distance, but on entering the quadrangle being set in a prepared grove on the base, the material, scale, and reflective relation- lO - 6 Monday - Saturday the "toe" of the pedestal was moved back ships of 45", 90°, 18CP add up to a com- so that the slab literally bites into it, pro- manding presence that is at heart Roman- 2520 Rice Boulevard • Houston. Texas 77005 • 713/524-0057 viding not only greater structural security, tic. While Rice is certainly not the "bare but also greater visual tension and and boundless heath" of Constable's dynamism. Stonehenge, 4T'. 90°, 180° offers the opportunity for transcendence that the The Engineering quadrangle is quirkily 19th-century artists sought on Salisbury sympathetic to the pieces. The rose- plain. Heizer has manipulated this expe- colored granite of the sculpture finds a rience out of the past into a contemporary close-hued echo in the brick work of the and modernist context: we do not seek the Masonry surrounding buildings, but remains a dis- meaning of a prehistoric era in 45", 90°, tinctive tone in the setting. The great 180°, but it forces us ro contemplate our tower of the Mechanical Laboratory rises place in the present." in the background like an exclamation point, giving a strong axial symmetry to the site. Similarly, the strict horizontally of Ambercrombie Engineering Laboratory Notes acts as a fitting counterpoint to the I8(f 1 I am indebted to William Camfield for pointing piece. More perverse companions to the this out to me. Heizer sculpture are the two small mon- 2 For a full description of the installation and [he uments to engineering previously placed development of the commission see William in the quadrangle: the 1968 Bent of Tau Camfteld's catalogue essay "Michael Heizer, 45°. 9(f, IH(f: A Sculpture for Rice Univer- Beta Pi' and the 1956 Sigma Tau pyramid sity" published in conjunction with the exhibi- bisected by an I-beam and set in a foun- tion at the Farish Gallery, School of tain. While both occupy minor places in Architecture, Rice University, 24 January - 7 the quadrangle, and must be regarded as February 1985.

incidental to the Heizer, they act as a kind 3 The 1968 Bent of Tau Beta Pi has been tem- Urtait * * m M r HM 4 c * * » * of footnote in regard to combining the porarily removed ideals of engineering and a classical herit- age. A more adamant presence is William This essay would not have been possible with- a classic materint- Mc\fcy's 1948 iicu-Assyrian relief on out the generous advice of several people. I Ambercrombie, depicting Man Drawing would particularly like to thank William Cam- field who made available to me bis research on Power from the Sun and Trans/erring It 629-6024 Heizer; Drexel Turner; Janie C. Lee; and Bar- to into Energy. This latter-day Prometheus bara and Michael Heizer. 22 Cite Spring 1985 construction documents. Williams may be m seen as an architect struggling with the Citeations phenomenon of transition: validating the significance of a rural past in the face of contemporary life; and particularly mit- David R. Williams, Pioneer igating the cultural pretensions of an Architect urbanizing bourgeoisie. A "regional" imagery is clearly seen in the small Muriel Quest McCarthy, Dallas: Southern number of houses undertaken from 1926- Methodist University Press, 1984, 214 pp., 1932, with statements by Williams which illus., S35 almost develop into theory. Part of this translation came through observation of Reviewed by Peter C. Papademetriou pioneer buildings, often in the company of his protege, O'Neil Ford. Together they Commissioned by the Dallas Chapter of traveled central Texas and sought out, the American Institute of Architects, this sketched, photographed, and commented book is essentially a Festschrift for a on the virtues of the formal simplicity of favorite son, written not as a critical study these earlier buildings. but rather to document the life, times, and Elbert Williams House, 1932, David R. Williams, architect (Photo by John Rogers, career of a nearly forgotten Dallas archi- courtesy Southern Methodist University Press) Williams had come to this series of works tect. It is a credit to the Dallas AIA that gradually, and by wayjof fairly flaccid such a book was undertaken, for Dave events and experiences which conditioned establish an office in Dallas marked by works in more overtly historical styles, Williams (as the author observes he was Williams's leadership and character. substantial publicity in local papers cour- such as Spanish colonial revival. However, best known as, and adopts as the conven- "Character" is an essential aspect of the tesy of old college friends. More impor- the few projects which clearly reflected his tional reference in the narrative) has been person, for he borh had it and very defi- tantly, Williams became involved in interest in indigenous culture were the an underground hero to many interested nitely was one. By the mid 1910s, Willi- innovative subdivision planning while only ones for which his name would actu- in the potential of a regional dialectic ams was at the University of Texas at establishing a Bohemian lifestyle in The ally grace the drawings. These works also within the evolution of international Austin, where his graphic skills at pen and Studio, as his office came to be known. contained a high level of consistent detail, modernism. As the record of a specific ink were shown after he became editor of Numerous friends and colleagues were and many instances of craft design are time and events, David R. Williams also the Cactus in 1915. Enrolled in the engi- habitue's: literary, artistic, and musical represented in unique pieces as well as presents a moment which has passed: the neering school, he specialized in architec- friends made it a unique center. McCarthy motifs which are reused in a variety of generation of people raised in pioneer ture, but left Austin a month before describes a number of people and events themes such as the Lone Star as a decora- Texas who experienced its passage into an graduation to work for the Mexican Gulf during this period from the mid 1920s tive element. urbanized society and attempted to recon- Oil Company in Tampico during World until the mid l9J0s, presenting a picture cile the contrast of values in their own Vv.ir I. (A childhood accident had damaged decidedly offbeat. By this time Williams The Depression severely impacted his lives. The book is therefore not only the his left hand, so he was ineligible for mil- had divorced, and presided over this practice, however, and as a result Williams story of a very colorful individual but is as itary service.) As a kind of gringo soldier milieu which acquired the nickname "Tor- entered another phase of his career. He well a history of an aesthetic ideology of good fortune, Williams did a variety of tilla Flats" from the John Steinbeck novel. became involved in the social programs of which was developed to give form to the important jobs relative to petroleum resettlement, planning, and mass housing spirit of realism emerging in American exploration and production which caused Over one half of the book is devoted to through a variety of governmental service culture between two world wars. him to be called to government service the few houses produced during this positions throughout the New Deal, and nearly a quarter century later. Also, he period. As McCarthy observes, "The most eventually got involved in defense work. Dave Williams was part of a generation of developed prefabricated housing systems, notable single contribution of David Wil- His interest in prefabricated housing Texans raised during the passing of the obtained architectural commissions, made liams's life was undoubtedly his develop- found an outlet in the Federal Emergency fronrier experience. He was born in a half substantial investments, and got married. ment of a regional style of architecture for Relief Administration, and his interest in dugout near Childress, the town which the Impulsively, in 1921 he sold his assets and the Southwest." What is important is that historic preservation (generated by his Williams clan had helped to found. The went to Europe to study, travel, and to this is the first significant presentation of observation of old buildings) through the first section of McCarthy's book describes acquire a connoisseur's perspective of life Williams's work in any published form. Works Progress Administration and the small-town life influenced by the and culture. While a frequent contributor to Southwest National Youth Administration. It was advent of new technologies, such as the Review, and an associate editor by 1927, through this that his major work began in railroad. Railroading provided Williams It was this dual experience of rough and only a few images were ever published in San Antonio, particularly restoration of La with his first real travel, his first work and rumble years in Mexico and those of cultu- that journal, and virtually no architectural Villita, with O'Neil Ford as consulting management experience, practical educa- ral refinement in Europe that Williams drawings. McCarthy's book is a valuable architect. In 1941 he was called to the tion in construction, and the financial brought back to Texas via a stop in New contribution to literature in the field by Public Warks Administration and the resources to consider higher education. York City where he lived near Greenwich virtue of the reproductions of some older Institute of Inter-American Affairs; it was Village. A trip back to Childress contrib- photographs, in addition to a number of here that Williams acted in a role as The portrait of this period is that of uted to his decision to return to Texas, and recent views and drawings from actual government administrator for housing

REPRESENTING HOUSTON'S CLASSIC RESIDENCES IN THE RICE/MEDICAL AREA

2101 WROXTON 32 CRESTWOOD Totallv remodeled home in prestigious Southampton near Set on nearly one acre ravine lot overlooking Memorial Rice University, The Village and Medical Center. Park. Now available for multi-tamily development.

428 WESTMORELAN D 1973 W E S T CLAY Magnificently redone home in Westmoreland, o n e o l One of eight unique new townhomes in River Oaks Com Houston s oldest historical neighborhoods. mon, adjacent to River Oaks Shopping Center.

MARTHA TURNER mnd— NANCY OWENS ^'PROPERTIES*

1902 WEJTTHEIMER- HOUSTON, TEXAS77098. 713-520.1981 Cite Spring 1985 projects with architects such as Richard Neutra, Eero Saarinen. Oskar Stonorov, Architects Speak for and Louis Kahn. Themselves The book ends much as it began, with Speedby's Gifts Williams in later years settling in Louisi- The Museum nl Vine Arts. Houston ana with his second wife. Not quite Sponsored by the Rice Design Alliance Are For All retired, but suffering from a wartime 26 September-24 October 1984 injury sustained in a near plane crash, he Momentous Occasions is depicted living out his last years in Reviewed by Barbara Cochran and Lafayette, still exploring architecture in Michael Underhill context, as well as maintaining a personal 17thC.-19thC dignity within his community- In I960 he The recent Rice Design Alliance lecture Architectural Prints was made a Fellow of the American Insti- series, "Architects Speak for Themselves," a capital choice for tute of Architects, and in 1962 he died. should have been an unusual opportunity your favorite architect That this book is a celebration of his for several first-rate architects to address • memory is attested by an appendix which some important issues in their field today. 15th C. Illuminated Initials lists the student recipients of the David R. Unfortunately, it was too often an oppor- for Ibe most personal gift Williams Award since its establishment in tunity missed. Instead of discussing the 1963 at the University of Southwestern intent and/or content of their work, the Louisiana. speakers chose merely to list work done Antique Maps of Texas and at times even to apologize for the for excursions oftbe mind Much of Williams's life was as elusive as it state of their own art. was significant; McCarthy is to be com- Hunting Prints mended for reassembling some of the Frank Welch, a Texas architect, chose Tallybol o'lorful details from interviews, personal simply to state the who, what, and where * files, and obscure references. However, a kinds of facts of his work, avoiding any lowers & Fmi significant source also drawn from is discussion of the reasons behind his Michael G. Wade's doctoral dissertation of design decisions. Although schooled, as Seashells 1978, and perhaps many details in the Welch stated, "in watered-down Bauhaus," Birds & Wildlife narrative are "stories" and recollections he built a practice responding to the needs to bring the outdoors in which have the ring of speculation. It is of his clients. There is certainly nothing • unfortunate that the author did not pursue inherently wrong in that. However, one connections beyond Texas, such as mate- Lacy Antique Valentines hopes that a certain level of theoretical for your love rial related to Williams's career in public integrity can be retained in spite of the • SIGNAGE service. Also lacking is a larger historical need to make a living. To distill a design context, such as why was his interest in rationale to the statement that "the one As Well as Our Other regionalism of any importance? The ethic who pays is the one who says" presents Paper Fascinations of an indigenous American culture pro- the work as nothing more than a response posed by such authors as Charles and to a client's whim. Surely there is more to Mary Beard was a national phenomenon, Welch's architecture than this. Some of the and the artists and friends of Williams, work itself was actually quite interesting - LOGOS such as the painter and first director of exhibiting riot only Welch's modernist the Dallas Museum of Art Jerry Bywaters, training in a thoughtful economy of were motivated by a strong conviction means but also the influences of Texas I rooted in the passing of a rural phase of vernacular architecture, simple barn American culture into a new urbanizing forms, and his mentor, O'Neil Ford. It is a one based on advances in technology and pity Welch did not discuss his work in social change. Williams's writings and few light of these varied influences. Perhaps a Pam Wilson Graphics works wrestling with this transition are richness would have been revealed that 2015-F West Gray not placed in this larger perspective. did not come across in the cursory over- River Oaks Center view presented. Houston, Texas 77019 Although Williams's few projects are (•713)521-9652 given a welcome play as half the book's The structure of the second lecture, by Tues.-Sat. 10am- 5pm content, they are not subjected to any architect Harry Wolf, had the potential to extensive formal analysis. No attempt has address some interesting issues because 93 been made at examining the distance Wilf limited himself to one building. This between translation of the ethic into an could enable him to address, in depth, his aesthetic, and the unresolved gap between current concerns and the process by which the two which left Williams's work essen- those concerns are or are not resolved. tially unfulfilled. Nor are the significant Wblf started with the premise of "ideas parallels drawn between the formal prop- meaning things and things meaning erties of these works and the disposition things." So in Tampa, Florida, he tried to of American modernism, derived from the make a building about something Reject- transformation of the International Style ing the trend of every city to look more after 1930. McCarthy's contention that he and more like every other city. Wolf ". . . dramatically influenced the direction wanted to realize the uniqueness of Tampa of architecture in the southwestern United in one "idiosyncratic" building. But then RICE DESIGN ALLIANCE States" is merely hopeful, for the fact is he proceeded to describe the design of this that he essentially did not. What he did building in a simple one liner. Choosing provide was a cleansing transition the golden section as his system of pro- HITECTU between late 19th-century histortcism and portion, he claimed it had never been early 20th-century revivalism, given form found in an ugly building. An auspicious TOUR in a conservative aesthetic (in the sense beginning perhaps, but insufficient on its that it overtly meant to conserve the own. W)lf must have considered issues of resources of the past), which straddled the other than proportion. Being so absorbed NEWPORT, R.I line of taste sufficiently that its major in the "mystical properties" of geometry, th th achievement may in fact be seen as the Wolf's methods seem shallow at best. 18 and 19 Century Houses eventual acceptance of modern design in Texas. In this sense, the legacy of Dave Architect Barbara Littenberg was the first Williams may well be the career of O'Neil speaker to take her audience seriously - Ford, who, if anything, became the hero of addressing her peers about a collection of postwar modern architects in the region. mutually reinforcing architectural ideas Unfortunately, Williams's career has been extruded from an established cultural line- obscured by the turn of history, except to age. This was a clear, cogent presentation the few who have "discovered" his work of the theoretical influences, with their over the years. Also lacking is discussion historical precedents, on her work today. of the real importance of Williams in Littenberg's overriding concern was con- defense housing, one area where he acted sistency in space making - from rooms to as an institutional patron of modern archi- urban spaces. She wanted to shape, articu- tects, particularly Neutra. At this point, late, and give order to things apparently the aesthetic of frontier motifs gave way random. As opposed to Wolf's one-liner to a more coherent modernism, and while approach, Littenberg was striving for a works such as the Multimax prefabricated multiplicity of readings in her work. If the house are discussed, the apparent changes more one looks at a building, the more in making an architecture which could get one sees, then the better it becomes. Each beyond allusion is lost in essentially bio- project Littenberg showed, from ski towns June 6, 7. 8 & 9, 1985 Contact graphical narrative. If anything, Willi- to her Les Halles competition entry to ams's architecture was problematic and S675 Per Person John Lingley public-housing renovation in Dallas, ncludes S50 Deductible 1ES Travel Group left one hoping for a resolution, a revealed the same careful consideration of Donation to RDA) 526-517] dilemma which remains today. scale, composition, and user responsive- ness. The clarity of her presentation left Presentation of original drawings, particu- one reconsidering one's own work. larly straight working drawings, is a valu- able contribution of McCarthy's book. For Hugh Newell Jacobsen's presentation the interested designer, these help in reverted somewhat to the show-and-tell organizing the images of the photographs, method used by Welch. A very successful and it is commendable that so many archi- residential architect, with 17 Architectural tectural drawings are included, in this Record houses to his credit, Jacobsen was sense, the book has a life beyond the cof- certainly no apologist for his work. Yet he fee table However, as an interpretation of did not bother to discuss the rationale for American architecture and the significance doing the work he does. He appears to of Dave Williams in a larger context, the bluster and charm his clients into the author has left us with a sentimental nar- rative yearning for the extension of the (Continued on page 24) very work it describes." 2i Cite Spring 1985 The Arts and Crafts Movement: 19th-century TTaaft GYP-CRETE England Comes to JMk •NT? Houston h/, ')

The Museum of Fine Arts. Houston Sponsored by The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and the Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects 23 September - 2 December 1984 The Red House, 18)9-1860, Philip Webb, architect (Photo from Victorian Architecture, New York and Toronto, / Reviewed by Suzanne Labarthe Oxford University Press, 1978)

The Sir Edwin Lutyens house which In showing how the Arts and Crafts were adorned the charming (albeit machine- absorbed into America, Gebhard outlined made) announcement heralding the lec- a distinction between "high art," as prac- ture series "The Arts and Crafts ticed by Prairie School architects, and "low GYP-CRETE Floor Underlayment Movement: 19th-century England Comes art," as exemplified by the Craftsman Pat- to Houston," sponsored by the Decorative tern Book buildings. The popularization of Offers Quality You Can Stand On! Arts Department of The Museum of Fine the Arts and Crafts is evident in the rise Arts, Houston and the Interior Architec- of individuality as expressed in "Do-It- ture Committee of the Houston Chapter Yourselfism" and the interest in period Economy You Can Bank On! of the A1A, was a tantalizing, if unre- revivals, which sought simplicity in Amer- plus: Fire Control • Sound Control • High Strength quited promise, as Lutyens's work went ica's earliest built forms. Interest in his- virtually unmentioned throughout the ser- toric preservation emerged concurrently, • Lightweight Economy • Sets in 90 Minutes ies. As the title implies, the series pur- resembling the national pride which was ported to show connective links between stirring in Europe. • Eliminates Double-Plating ideas born in 19th-century England and their transmission to 20th-century Hous- In drawing this distinction between high • NO SHRINKAGE CRACKS ton. It turned out to be a non- and low art, which Gebhard stated can be chronological potpourri of a unique and applied to all movements in American art GYP-CRETE® Floor Underlayment is a lightweight, high- influential movement. There was, literally, and architecture, it is possible to see how strength gypsum cement which quickly forms a fire something for everyone in this series, cov- idealism faded from the Arts and Crafts ering small crafts to architecture, with a movement. It was not so important that resistant, sound insulated and crack resistant floor. When measure of historical insight. artifacts actually were handmade, as long used in combination with other components of wood frame as they had the appearance of being so. assemblies, or as a non-structural underlayment over The series opened with Shirley Bury, This economic reality of the machine age, keeper of meralwork at the Victoria and as expressed by the profirable manufacture precast concrete, GYP-CRETE sets to a smooth surface that Albert Museum, whose summation of her of inexpensive reproductions, ultimately extends the life of floor coverings. In renovation projects, own lecture as "a few strands of this com- bankrupted the guilds. Today, as then, the GYP-CRETE is unsurpassed in correcting problems with plex web of relationships" indicates the audience for handmade or architect- breadth of the Arts and Crafts movement. designed artifacts is limited to those who uneven existing floors. APPROVED » P P U C * T O R S OF More time was spent on tracing antece- can afford to pay a higher price for dents of the movement than delineating uniqueness. Such exclusivity was not the BREKKE DISTRIBUTORS its influences abroad, but background intention of the early reformers, like Rus- 8710 WINDSWEPT detail in the first lecture of this series was kin and William Morris. As Gebhard sees HOUSTON, TEXAS 77063 appreciated. Primarily through examples it, the simultaneous sophistication and FLOOR UNDERLAYMEN T (713) 974-7353 of silver work, Bury traced the stylistic and accessibility of the Arts and Crafts move- philosophical evolution of the Arts and ment is an asset as well as a dilemma. Crafts movement, inherited from the 18th-century romantic movement, with its The effect of the Arts and Crafts extended predilection for period revivals. Of these, beyond its apparent demise. The rustic it was the Gothic which gained credibility style employed in state parks of the 1920s in the 19th century, largely due to the and "30s, as well as the proliferation of the efforts of A.W.N. Pugin, whose conver- bungalow throughout the country, gives sion to Roman Catholicism led him to evidence of its widespread and lasting preach the virtues of Gothic as the only fit influence. style for a Christian country. While John Ruskin popularized this medievalist pro- Simon Jervis of the Victoria and Albert paganda, the cultural establishment was Museum delivered rhe clearest exposition forwarding the study of neo-classicism in of sources for the Arts and Crafts move- the schools of art, as it was thought to be ment. He was also the most delightful MICHAUX PROPERTIES the easiest style to teach. speaker, peppering potentially dull histor- ical background with enough sardonic Real Estate Brokerage The message also spread to the continent humor and scandalous asides to shape a through the popular exhibitions, where Gothic mini-saga. many Arts and Crafts guilds showed their work. In America, the Arts and Crafts This art-historical bartender gave us the influence came through publications and recipe for his "Arts and Crafts Cocktail." personal connections. Bury's lecture was at It included the cult of honesty, a love of Kiu'i Orita Bank ,tml TVUM Iowa its best when bringing to life idiosyncra- nature, a yearning for a medieval Eden, a 2001 Kirhy Drive Sum: -KU sies of the people involved, but was too desire for social and political reform, the HiHiMon. "torn 77014 long. idealization of the guild and craftsmen, (7 I3i 524-O.W and a study of English architecture and David Gebhard, professor of architectural artifacts of the 16th through 18th centur- history at the University of California at ies for inspiration. S.int.1 llarharj. presented the second lec- ture, which focused on the Arts and Crafts As the title "The Arts and Crafts Move- movement in this country. He began with ment in a Victorian Context" promised, a quotation from the premier edition of Jervis elucidated the Victorian age into "The Craftsman," by Gustav Stickley, which the Arts and Crafts movement was which set forth the ideals of the move- born. The agricultural depression of the ment. These included principles of sim- 1870s, as depicted in novels by Thomas plicity, individuality, and dignity of effect. Hardy, and dreadful factory conditions The content of this lecture was illuminat- spawned dissatisfaction with the promise ing, although it meandered somewhat of the Industrial Age. Out of this climate, between American developments and trade unions and middle-class socialist European sources. reform groups were created.

{Continued from page 23) "different from being there," direct representation does not always illustrate FURNITURE the ideas best. She preferred drawing as sculptural objects he wants, without con- BO .inalytique - changing scale, extruding sidering the sort of issues important to an details, and so forth. architect like Littenberg. Perhaps this is the reason each Jacobsen house remains a Solomon's drawings were beautiful and STEVE HOOVER discrete object, unrelated to context or to the words poetically descriptive, but this any cumulative body of work. Jacobsen, by was overwhelmed by a flat presentation. If omission, illustrates the need for a well- only she had spoken directly about her 202 W. 2 7 t h defined ideology when making work and not quoted continuously from architecture. her recently published book, Green Archi- tecture, the audience could have better Barbara Stauffacher Solomon, replacing appreciated the simple solutions and HOUSTON, TX. Daniel Solomon as the final speaker, con- lovely juxtapositions inherent in her work centrated on the relationship between architecture and landscape. Solomon With the exception of Littenberg. and, to argued for a return to the conceptual inte- some degree, Solomon, the architects who 713/8 68-311S gration of building and landscape, whereas spoke portrayed themselves more as in modern architecture soft landscape has salesmen than as intellectuals. This series been used to counteract harsh building. left one with the uncomfortable impres- She also was the only speaker to address sion that, when asked to speak for them- the issue of drawing. Since a drawing is selves, architects have very little to say." Cite Spring 1985 25 The seeds of an ideology for the Arts and the furnishings of the Red House exerted Crafts movement had been planted for great influence on subsequent architecture. some time. Insistence upon structural Details such as painted doors and hand- honesty, derived from Pugin, led to a wrought hinges in C.F.A. Vbysey's house, The Pel I a difference... delight in the primitive and the unsophis- The Orchard, can be traced to chests and ticated. Incorporation of natural themes wardrobes in the Red House. It's more than a fine line. came via Ruskin, who believed all "noble ornament is an expression of delight in Durant closed by stating that Morris's life God's work." Hatred of the industrial contained two great paradoxes: that it was Windows Doors landscape led to a yearning for green his wealth that allowed his socialism, and gardens and clean rivers, which existed in that while he sought to market his goods an imaginary medieval setting. to every man, only the elite could afford them. I In the long run, as Jervis attested. Arts Awning and Crafts changed the way people The final lecture in the series was given thought about design. As proof of this by William F. Stern oq"Houston and the percolation of influence, he cited a P.G. Arts and Crafts Movement." It might have Wbdehouse heroine whose plan to been subtitled "A Critical Drive Past improve her fiance's character included a Beautiful Bungalows and Other Build- Standard forced reading of Ruskin. Though Jervis's ings." In appropriate Houston fashion, Casement Sliding Glass Door examples were primarily interiors and many of the images were curbside shots. Standard furniture, his discussion of the principles The lecturer provided numerous slides, 8'SlidingGlass Door which produced them provided broad allowing us to comprehend the critical Traditional Contemporary insight. points without lengthy explanations. It is Double-Hung Double-Hung hoped that it also had the effect of creat- The fourth lecture, given by Sharon ing a new interest in our local legacy of Djrling of the Chicago Historical Society, Arts and Crafts. was a straightforward presentation of how the gospel of Arts and Crafts came to Stern discussed the bungalow as the house triangle America. Chicago was likened to English which became available to the average cities born of the Industrial Age. As in family in the first decade of this century. England, the Arts and Crafts movement in Tightly organized, climatically responsive Contemporary French Chicago combined architecture, socialism, with wide eaves and minimum hallways, Sliding Glass Door and handicrafts. and inexpensive to build, it became the Trapezoid Circlehead nil Skylights Clad Panel "" r I L • * [i Venting . • 1

Traditional French Door

Maintenance free aluminum clad or primed wood exterior •Factory trained service personnei*Units custom made in Houston'ln stock. For immediate delivery»Three Houston locations Only Pella offers It all. 4300 Campbell Road • Houston, Tx 77041 • 895-7150 122919 Southwest Freeway #130 • Stafford. Tx 77477 • 240-7222 3727 FM 1960(Cornerstone) • Houston. Tx 77068 • 440-0451

A Montrose bungalow in Houston, 1918 [Photo by William F. Stern)

While some advocated the revival of han- speculative house of its time. The bun- dicrafts as a substitute for the factory sys- galow first appeared in Houston around tem, others, including Frank Lloyd Wright, 1905, and underwent numerous permuta- Clothing for felt that machines were the way of the tions, exhibiting diversity in style, mate- future, and artists must control, rather rial, and size. Considering themselves than fear, the machine. We were reminded providers of the public good, some early boys, of Wight's holistic approach to design developers even exhibited vestiges of Arts through slides illuminating his tendencies and Crafts ideology. Bungalows gave way toward simplified geometric forms, to cottages in the 1920s. These retained young men repeated in exteriors, interiors, and some humble characteristics of the bun- furniture. galow, but with less simplicity in organi- zation, form, and detail. and An interesting aspect of this lecture was the depictiun of art merging with craft From this view of modest houses, we were their fathers. Architects of this period typically worked given a tour of architect-designed houses closely with manufacturers, producing for Houston's gentry. Inspiration for these ornament and furnishings for their build- larger houses can be seen in the work ol ings. This legacy of the architect as a Richard Norman Shaw, Voysey, and multi-faceted designer is beginning to Lutyens, who were influenced by manor reemerge today. houses, farmhouses, and Elizabethan man- sions. The English Arts and Crafts adher- Although the movement did not alter the ents had rejected foreign influence, factory system, it did foster a renewed looking to their native vernacular forms to interest in handicrafts, allowing an arrive at an appropriate regional style. expanded role for women in design, Stern suggested that regionalism in design New reforming general public education, and is thus a legacy from the Arts and Crafts providing new products for the average movement, and showed that several Hous- home. ton architects, although working within BAUHAUS borrowed stylistic idioms, were attempting David Durant, a British art historian, gave to create regionally appropriate forms. PHOTOGRAPHY the fifth lecture entitled "William Morris John Staub, for example, adapted the edited by and the Arts and Crafts Movement," in planning of his houses to meet Houston's Egidio Marzona which the audience became intimately particular climatic requirements. and Roswitha Fncke acquainted with Morris and his circle of Foreword by Eugene Prakapas friends, complete with descriptions of Taking this argument a step further. Stern infidelity and madness. Durant reiterated claimed that Ralph Adams Cram's design These five hundred photo- the context of Morris's beginnings, tracing for Lovett Hall at Rice University also graphs are a unique and influences as far back as J.-J. Rousseau. He falls within the Arts and Crafts tradition. exuberant record of Bauhaus credited the problems Morris encountered In searching for a style suitable to a south- activities and experiments dur- furnishing his Red House of 1859 with ern college campus, Cram rejected the ing the 1920s and early 1930s. determining his career. Since he could find northern collegiate Gothic popularized at They constitute the most com- nothing appropriate on the market, Mor- Princeton, looking instead to Mediterra- prehensive photographic ris and his friends designed most of the nean prototypes. Other architects working archive currently available on furniture for the house. Morris and Com- in Houston found the adaptation of New the Bauhaus. VILLAGE pany was formed to offer this new type of Orleans French or California Spanish idi- design to the public, giving rise to the oms appropriate to the Gulf Coast. 320 pp. 501 illus. $30.00 Arts and Crafts movement. VARSITY At a time when the study of primarily sty- The Red House was considered revolu- listic phenomena has become common- SHOP tionary, a radical departure from the place, this lecture series provided a 2515 Times white-stucco ltalianate houses typical of refreshing reminder that some of history's (Next to Cobler Books) the time. It looks back to medieval inspi- most creative periods arose out of a vision The MIT Press ration, which Morris considered ideally for a better society. In that respect, it Open lO-o 529-7778 suited to the English countryside. Even presented quite a challenge." 2B Carleton Street.Cambridge, MA 02142