An afternoon with Xavier Veilhan at Neutra's VDL

<span style="font-size:100%;">“This house is not about a façade but about a function, not about size or luxury but about the quality of light and its connection to the outdoors. The interior of the building has been thought through like a car, a plane, or even more like the cabin of a boat: </span><span style="font-size:100%;">it is the perfect equation between people, function and environment. </span><br /><br />I want to celebrate and expand the concept of modernity that this represents.” <span style="color:#999999;">- Xavier Veilhan<br /></span><br /><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7122/7744568934_687fb03128_c.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="449" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7122/7744568934_687fb03128_c.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" width="701" /></a><br /><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8291/7744571182_29f96ae263_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="466" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8291/7744571182_29f96ae263_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" width="700" /></a><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8293/7744569446_758171f270_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="1048" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8293/7744569446_758171f270_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" width="700" /></a><br />Mobile (Neutra)<br /><i><span style="color:#999999;">(all photography by David John)</span></i><br /><br /><br /><div align="left"><br />For the past weeks,<i><span style="font-size:130%;"><b> Xavier Veilhan </b></span></i>and his family have been living in Neutra's VDL in Silver Lake. As we gathered on the top floor, looking blindly out into the reservoir, Xavier mentioned his children had been choosing to sleep on the top level of the VDL House in their sleeping bags. Each morning, as the sun rises, they move into the corners, he told us, hiding from the sun, stealing a few more hours of sleep from nature. It is near impossible to hide from nature in this home.<br /><br /><i>"The VDL house was the embodiment of then current European avant-garde design scarcely known to the people of Los Angeles. Its architect was equally unknown. Yet in years hence his name became famous and his works associated with modern architecture in California. This house was Richard Neutra’s own, his third building in America and the house in which he was to live and work for nearly three decades."</i><a href="http://www.neutra-vdl.org/site/about-01.asp?8920122942"> (here)</a><br /><br />Xavier Veilhan has not only been living in Neutra's VDL Research House, but he has been working on <a href="http://www.veilhan.net/rubrique-2691/cible-2275.html"><b>Architectones</b></a>. His site specific installation consists of sculptural forms that speak of the presence of Neutra, modernity, as well as his own family's history and interactions with the home. Outside the home by the sidewalk on Silver Lake Blvd, a large black silhouette of Richard Neutra stands strong underneath a street lamp. I imagine late-night drivers gazing twice in their rear-view mirrors, wondering if they had witnessed the ghost of Neutra.<br /><br />On the roof of the VDL, Veilhan has constructed and installed a black flag, to which Veilhan mentions his love for the iconic L.A. band, Black Flag. It was actually through music that I first encountered Veilhan's work, which was on the cover of the pop electronic band, AIR. Later, I discovered his collaborations with musician Sebastien Tellier, and designers Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec, as well as Daniel Buren. <a href="http://www.acegallery.net/artwork.php?pageNum_ACE=0&Artist=131">(who has a show up now at ACE Gallery on Wilshire)</a>.<br /><br />Veilhan's works inhabit the rooms and balconies, painted in matte black, except for his "Mobile (Neutra)" which in its silver and shimmering tones, gently interacts with the sun's rays. An ode to light and nature.<br /><br />Neutra's VDL Research House has had many years of neglect. It's fate looked darkened for quite some time. <a href="http://archinect.com/features/article/72721/neutra-s-vdl-house-v-hard-times">(Read an article by Orhan Ayyüce, about its current history)</a>. But today, the house was alive with visitors, speaking of art, a family using the space for creation and experimentation. The roof top reflecting pool was being filled with water once again, as we gathered, looking out, further, and further, into the hills. A perfect Los Angeles sunset.<br /><br /><i>- David John</i><br /><br /><br /> <br /> </div><br /><br /></div><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7259/7744568276_586b04c58d_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="509" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7259/7744568276_586b04c58d_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" width="701" /></a><br /><div align="center"><i>the black flag and silhouette of Veilhan's family on the roof of the VDL</i><br /><br /><br /></div><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8295/7744628302_686ec93f97_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="505" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8295/7744628302_686ec93f97_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" width="701" /></a><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8307/7744569202_49b5ec0402_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="989" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8307/7744569202_49b5ec0402_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" width="701" /></a></div><br /><div align="center"><i>the exterior of the home<br /><br /></i></div><br />"Xavier Veilhan has created a new body of work specifically for the Modernist house Richard Neutra designed for his family and architectural practice. Consisting of <b>monochrome interventions</b>, the exhibition features sculptures throughout the property, from the front garden through the ground floor and domestic quarters to the rooftop reflecting pool. Statues, models, and other objects dialogue with the Modernist structure: its glass facades, rooftops, water basins and fountains. Both abstract and figurative, the artworks loosely trace the decades of the last century by focusing on the personal and professional history of architect Richard Neutra, his times, and Veilhan and his family’s interaction with the house." <span style="color:#999999;"><i>(taken from press release) </i><br /></span><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7249/7744571438_fe01b0b220_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="972" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7249/7744571438_fe01b0b220_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" width="699" /></a></div><br /><div align="center"><i>"Neutra on Horseback"<br /><span style="color:#999999;">-Xavier Veilhan</span></i><br /></div><br /><br /><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8301/7744570962_701fdb6cb2_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="464" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8301/7744570962_701fdb6cb2_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" width="701" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8284/7744571784_1cb23b474e_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="993" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8284/7744571784_1cb23b474e_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" width="700" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />“Only those, who have lived in a Neutra House, would ever understand how wonderful the daily satisfactions and delights are and how much this experience help to augment the joy of living. This especially the case in this house which is built on three levels. With the many glass surfaces, mirrors, pools that reflect trees and flowers, every step from room to room, stairway up and down, is an aesthetic and artistic experience, which I have the good fortune to enjoy,<b> <i>while I move about the house and watch the changing weather.</i></b><br /><br /><span style="color:#999999;"><i>- Mrs. Dione Neutra </i></span><br /><br /><br /><i></i><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7115/7744569708_2cf4db1678_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7115/7744569708_2cf4db1678_b.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 1024px; height: 674px;" /></a><i><br />Xavier Veilhan, with Mobile (Neutra)</i><br /><br /><br /></div><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8292/7744570652_299c87d9b5_c.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="467" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8292/7744570652_299c87d9b5_c.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" width="700" /></a><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7744570012_279058e42a_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="1031" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7744570012_279058e42a_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" width="700" /></a></div><br /><br /><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8428/7744570284_1c7aebd9dd_c.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8428/7744570284_1c7aebd9dd_c.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 800px; height: 772px;" /></a><br /><div align="center"><i>Xavier explaining the connection of the circle, sound, and modernity.</i><br /><i>This work, not yet installed, was about to be installed next to Neutra's circle,<br />near the entrance to the VDL.</i><br /><br /><br /><br /></div>"Veilhan’s Architectones project in Los Angeles is organized by local architect, curator and educator, <a href="http://francoisperrin.com/"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>Francois Perrin</b></span>.</a> He has completed several contemporary residences and curated the exhibition “Yves Klein: Air Architecture” at the MAK Center for Art & Architecture at the Schindler House and other venues. Notes Perrin, “This project participates in the long tradition of artists interacting with architecture and writes another chapter in this ongoing dialogue. It reactivates an important building of Los Angeles architectural history through the eyes of a contemporary artist” <span style="color:#999999;"><i>(taken from press release)</i><br /></span><br /><br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8284/7744627638_e96612d57e_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" height="596" src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8284/7744627638_e96612d57e_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" width="701" /></a></div><br /><div align="center"><i>catalog from previous Veilhan show</i><br /><br /><br /><div align="left"><br /><br />The <a href="http://www.neutra-vdl.org/site/default.asp"><span style="font-size:130%;"><b>VDL Research House </b></span></a>is located at 2300 Silver Lake Blvd., Los Angeles 90039. The exhibition will be open Thursday–Sunday from August 9 – September 16, 2012. Hours are Thursday/Friday 3-8 p.m. and Saturday/Sunday 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Admission is $10 on Saturdays, when there are docent-led architecture tours of the house. The suggested donation on other days is $10. Related events are free with donation to the VDL House. For more information on Architectones Los Angeles, please visit: <a href="http://www.veilhan.net/rubrique-2691/cible-2275.html">http://www.architectones.info</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><b><br /></b><i><span style="color:#999999;">(all photography by David John)</span></i><br /></div></div>

An afternoon with Xavier Veilhan at Neutra's VDL

“This house is not about a façade but about a function, not about size or luxury but about the quality of light and its connection to the ou...

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Arata Isozaki<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">vs</span><br /><br />Aiko Miyawaki<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6067/6113147145_3c23e16055_b.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6067/6113147145_3c23e16055_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 700px; height: 463px;" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />“I have the sense that I have always been looking for how to say something... <span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">For me, making shapes is not my final goal, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">what I have sought is something completely different</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;">. </span>How should I express it? I might say something like that which isn’t, the spirit that Oscar Wilde said was hidden behind all things. While there are all sorts of methods and materials, such as tableaux or reliefs or three-dimensional works, to the degree that their focus is on creating a form, you cannot thoroughly, actually grasp this thing that isn’t. That is why more than calling what I make sculpture, it might be better to call them a medium, and when the gaze that falls on them is a mixture of transparent, semi-transparent, reflective or refractive, then something completely different appears.<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102); font-style: italic;font-size:100%;" >I am seeking that instant, that moment....</span><br /><br /><br /><br />“In the fall of 1962, I spent several hours on a street corner in Paris, watching the sun set, and as it got darker, it had a great effect on me....<span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"> I lost all interest in stories which have a beginning, and an end, in bold shapes, bright colors.</span></span> Then I started to make works that seem to have<span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);"> no beginning, no end.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">text by </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aiko Miyawaki</span>,<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">image above:</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"> Arata Isozaki</span>,<span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"> Hotel Silken Puerta America</span>, <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">photo by Rafael Vargas</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><a href="http://thesefields.blogspot.com/" style="font-weight: bold;">the search began here..</a><span style="font-weight: bold;">.</span> thank you.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">---------------</span><br /><br /><br /><br />

Arata Isozaki vs Aiko Miyawaki “I have the sense that I have always been looking for how to say something... For me, making shapes is not my...

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<br /><br />"We consciously aimed for <span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">simplicity</span></span> - in planning, <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">use of light and air</span></span>, building organization and circulation - because it is our expereicne that simplicity leads to economy, efficiency, and improved performance."<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tphifer.com/#/home"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><br /><br />- Thomas Phifer and Partners</span></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6140/6035953484_f66b64bc67_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6140/6035953484_f66b64bc67_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 724px; height: 423px;" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6203/6035398647_60fc74f1f9_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6203/6035398647_60fc74f1f9_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 727px; height: 452px;" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6191/6035398775_9a7e15414b_b.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6191/6035398775_9a7e15414b_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 725px; height: 472px;" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6141/6035953530_6e3b3f30ca_b.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6141/6035953530_6e3b3f30ca_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 725px; height: 424px;" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6141/6035987144_7f42f6399f_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6141/6035987144_7f42f6399f_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 728px; height: 473px;" /></a><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6090/6035953746_f7afe5c258_b.jpg"><br /><br /></a><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6203/6035398647_60fc74f1f9_b.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br /><br /></a>"We really seek to open buildings up again…to nature and to the sun, to the sound of the wind; to bring back that sense of nature which is part of architecture.” <a href="http://www.archdaily.com/103925/ad-interviews-thomas-phifer/" style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 102, 102);"><span style="font-weight: bold;">via ArchDaily interview here</span></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Thomas Phifer and Partners</span></span> is recognized for its <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">distinct transformation of modernism</span>.</span> The essence of timeless buildings—simplicity—is achieved through thoughtful responses to the natural environment, study of the human ecology of the site, and a search for appropriate modes of construction, which dictate the forms, spaces, and appearance of buildings. The firm believes that every structure should occupy <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-style: italic;">a harmonious place within its surroundings </span></span>by balancing human needs and environmental imperatives. This <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0847835251?ie=UTF8&tag=arch05-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0847835251" style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">book</span></a> explores all of Phifer’s major commissions, including Salt Point House in New York, Salt Lake City Courthouse, and his most recent achievement, the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, which opens in April 2010. "<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">above images are selected from</span><a href="http://www.tphifer.com/#/home"><span style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"> Thomas Phifer and Partners site here...</span></span></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">-------------------------------</span><br /><br /><br /><br />

"We consciously aimed for simplicity - in planning, use of light and air , building organization and circulation - because it is our e...

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John Lautner 100th Birthday Home Tour

<span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">...</span><br />"You know, many people have a psychological or emotional problem with modern architecture. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span>Many people do not want the new, or <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">TODAY</span>, or <span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51);">TOMORROW</span>. </span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;font-size:100%;" ><span>They want <span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">YESTERDAY</span></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span>.</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> This is secure, because it is known and very predictable. If they’re that way, I don’t feel they’re open-minded. One man, I remember, had an English country house living room like a museum. He thought this was the only way, the only kind of architecture, the beginning and the end of the world. I can’t talk to guy like that, just forget it</span>."<br /><br />- <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">John Lautner</span></span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">1971 AD interview</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6029/5937174855_0d8ba561f3_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6029/5937174855_0d8ba561f3_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 701px; height: 468px;" /></a><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6028/5937176213_3c1dc2ec1d_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6028/5937176213_3c1dc2ec1d_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 700px; height: 466px;" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-style: italic;">images of Schwimmer House, 1982</span><br /><br /><br /></div><br /><br />Next <span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">Saturday, July 23</span></span>, for John Lautner's 100th Birthday (1911- 1994), <a href="http://www.johnlautner.org/wp/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The John Lautner Foundation </span></a>is offering a special tour of <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">4 </span></span>of his key homes in the L.A. area.<br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">I'll be touring them!</span></span> When these architectural home tours in LA come around, I jump on the opportunity. A chance to see Lautner's homes in person does not happen very often. Last time I heard, there are a few left, before the event is sold out. Plus, all the proceeds will benefit The Lautner Foundation and the MAK Center; both are non-profit organizations that help preserve and highlight the region's modern architecture. <a href="http://www.makcenter.org/MAK_Exhibitions_Upcoming.php#"> Buy a ticket here..</a>. - David John<br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">John Lautner 100th Birthday Home Tour </span></span><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">July 23, 2011, 10:00 am-6:00 pm Price: $100 </span><br />General Admission | $90 MAK Center friends, John Lautner Foundation members, and students.<br />This tour series offers unique, behind-the-scenes access inside four of Lautner’s most significant Los Angeles homes, including the <span style="font-weight: bold;">Harpel House</span> (1956),<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Jacobsen House</span> (1947), <span style="font-weight: bold;">Schwimmer House</span> (1982), and<span style="font-weight: bold;"> Sheats/Goldstein House</span> (1963).<br /><br /><br />"People resist getting involved with art, antiques, architecture or interior design because they just don’t feel they know enough. I would encourage the neophyte by trying to explain the vast potential of architecture. <span style="font-weight: bold;">It’s non-ending. It’s untouched</span>. If they want a more interesting life, a life more worthwhile, they couldn’t do anything better than live with fine architecture.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">- John Lautner</span><br /><br /><br />photography by Tycho Saariste<br /><br /><br />---------------------------------------

John Lautner 100th Birthday Home Tour

... "You know, many people have a psychological or emotional problem with modern architecture. Many people do not want the new, or TOD...

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the weekend warrior, pt 496

<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">"white paint is my marble"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Victor Horta</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"> vs</span> <span style="font-style: italic;">Cy Twombly</span><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6015/5923193161_7a19e59357_b.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6015/5923193161_7a19e59357_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 662px; height: 841px;" /></a><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6131/5923190781_22de0d922b_b.jpg"><br /></a><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6147/5923273147_fdb4483a6c_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6147/5923273147_fdb4483a6c_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 662px; height: 621px;" /></a><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6015/5923193161_7a19e59357_b.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><br /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >the weekend warrior, pt 496</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"white paint is my marble"</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Victor Horta</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); font-weight: bold;">vs</span> <span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> Cy Twombly</span><br /><br /><p class="h9">"<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">White paint is my marble,</span></span>" says Twombly, who for more than 40 years has been living in Rome surrounded by marble columns. But his early life was spent--as part of each year is now spent--among the Neo-Classical columns of Virginia, wooden columns painted white. Back in 1958, when we in England were beginning to respond to contemporary American art, Lawrence Gowing wrote a remarkable article, "Paint in America," exploring the crucial role in American experience of wood painted white.</p> <p class="h9">"It is the quality of wood which has lasted in America and remains as strong as ever, a quality as definite and pervasive as marble ever gave to a country, and one that similarly supplies the base of life and imagination.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> The classical material of American building is wood and the characteristic structure is clapboard, frame surfaces of overlapping strips. It is painted white....</span><br /></p><p class="h9">In America the idea of structure envisages a broad assembly of slender parts, standing squarely, but with a quality of light attentiveness, independent but aware.... In the balance [of the construction] there is the most lively serenity: it is recognisably embodied in the colour, the white paint." </p><a href="http://www.cytwombly.info/twombly_writings2.htm">(taken from here)</a><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Victor Horta</span> (6 January 1861 - 9 September 1947) was a Belgian architect and designer. John Julius Norwich described him as <span style="font-weight: bold;">"undoubtedly the key European Art Nouveau architect."</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-------------------------------<br /><a href="http://www.stevenvolpe.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-------------------------------

the weekend warrior, pt 496

"white paint is my marble" Victor Horta vs Cy Twombly the weekend warrior, pt 496 "white paint is my marble" Victor H...

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Study for the NEW TOWN, friends..... pt 39

<span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"></span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(102, 102, 102);">(right on babe, rhythm and knowledge</span>)<br /><br />"It's design is intended to create <span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">a 21st century civic architecture for a suburban new town.</span>"<br />- FAT, the Villa<br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6134/5918992281_ea56823c2c_z.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6134/5918992281_ea56823c2c_z.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 400px;" /></a><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6014/5919551864_c0b9274df9_z.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6014/5919551864_c0b9274df9_z.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 400px;" /></a><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6136/5919551954_8a99cc1902_z.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6136/5919551954_8a99cc1902_z.jpg" style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 600px; height: 400px;" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"slow diagonal i forgot i forgot</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> when you i never used to</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> only i used to think there's nowhere to go</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> happening in a slow diagonal"</span><br />- <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">life without buildings,<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smZDTefLZ9M"> new town....</a><br /><br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;">"</span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">The Villa</span> is a community building which sits at the heart of the Heerlijkheid park designed by Fat in the town of Hoogvliet in the Netherlands. The building contains a multi-use hall, offices, and a cafe. It's design is intended to create </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);">a 21st</span></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> century civic architecture for a suburban new town</span>.<br /><br />It is a decorated shed, using timber rain screen cladding to create</span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-size:100%;" > an architecture of communication </span><span style="font-size:100%;">which evokes Hoogvliet's industrial past, whilst the references to </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 51, 0);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;"> elements of nature</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> in the entrance and in some of the cut-out features of the facade, </span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 0);">recall the bucolic</span> ideas on which the design of the New Town was originally based. Inside the shed like quality of the building is emphasized by the </span><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(255, 102, 102);font-size:100%;" ><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);">painting pink</span> </span><span style="font-size:100%;">of the structure. From the inside, views to the park and surrounding landscape are framed by the </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);font-size:100%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">delicate intricacies of the external envelope.</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-size:100%;"> "</span><br /><br /></span><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; color: rgb(153, 0, 0);font-size:180%;" >F A T</span><span style="font-style: italic; color: rgb(51, 51, 51);"><span style="font-size:130%;"> <a href="http://www.fashionarchitecturetaste.com/" style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);">(FASHION : ARCHITECTURE : TASTE)</a></span> is an environmental design studio with an international reputation for delivering outstanding and award winning projects at a range of scales and for many different uses. We specialize in architecture, cities and design. </span><a href="http://www.fashionarchitecturetaste.com/about.html"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">"if i rewind again, if i rewind again</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> i forgot, rhythm and knowledge</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> rhythm and knowledge regenerate there</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> rhythm and knowledge regenerate</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">right on babe, rhythm and knowledge</span>"</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">life without buildings</span>, <span style="font-style: italic;">(a band that recorded one of the most fantastic albums ever.)</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"> </span><br />----------------------------

Study for the NEW TOWN, friends..... pt 39

(right on babe, rhythm and knowledge ) "It's design is intended to create a 21st century civic architecture for a suburban new to...

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<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">seatdown</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">sitdown</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">satdown</span><br /><br />"<span>The expression of the furniture is inspired by the world of architecture.<br />Architecture is spatial art, and spatial art is architecture."</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6049/5915831794_2482d8271a_b.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6049/5915831794_2482d8271a_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 675px; height: 506px;" /></a><br /><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5116/5915271655_30142f3729_b.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5116/5915271655_30142f3729_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 675px; height: 506px;" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">seatdown </span></span>– flexibility is the key word<br /><br />Designed by<a href="http://www.r-randers.dk/en/products/living/seatdown.html"> Friis & Moltke</a>: "<span><br />“Our physical surroundings must be human, and the conceptual foundation of the project is the supporting structure. A good interplay between buildings and the surrounding landscape, as well as between the internal rooms and the materials, is an important factor for the atmosphere you experience in the room.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /><span style="color: rgb(51, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">The goal is unity – to create strong links between shape and function.</span></span>” </span></span><br /><br /><br />"The SeatDown modular series is exceptionally flexible. The individual seat may be equipped with or without arms and the table can be separated from the seats with arms. Furthermore, the wallmounted self-tipping seats are reduced to only 32 cm in depth.<br /><br />The modules are easy to rebuild or extend with more seats. For instance the table can be replaced with a seat, arms can be added or removed, and SeatDown can be extended indefinitely. "<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />--------------------------

seatdown sitdown satdown " The expression of the furniture is inspired by the world of architecture. Architecture is spatial art, and ...

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Welcome to 1910....

"<span style="font-weight: bold;">We have outgrown ornament</span>,<br />we have fought our way through to freedom from ornament."<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5277/5910994147_425197f133_b.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5277/5910994147_425197f133_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 642px; height: 444px;" /></a><br /><span><br /><br /></span><span style="font-style: italic;">Lately, I keep coming back to the works of Adolf Loos, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh. The love of the grid, the line, and the idea of simplicity kept them strong. A hundred years later, their works are more relevant than ever, standing tall, presenting the grid to a new generation. Their attention to detail (or lack of, depending on your viewpoint) and to color, or lack of color is devastatingly beautiful on all accounts. Welcome to 1910.... </span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><br /><br />- David John</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: rgb(153, 153, 153);">-----------------</span><br /></div><br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">"The house should be like by all. Unlike a work of art, which does not require anyone to like it. The work of art is the private affair of the artist. The house is not....</span> </span><span style="color: rgb(204, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" ><span style="font-weight: bold;">And thus I love the house and hate art.</span></span>"<br /><br />Adolf Loos, Architektura ('Architecture'), 1910.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6058/5909546339_6190c333d3_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6058/5909546339_6190c333d3_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 635px; height: 887px;" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">1930 March 4th, 1930, </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;">Villa Müller</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: bold;"> building is completed</span><br /><br /><br />"Adolf Loos himself designed the interiors, including the light fittings, the fitted and some of the non-fitted furniture. He himself said of the house that it was his most beautiful, and spent his 60th birthday there in the company of a close circle of friends. It was here that he was most perfectly able to embody the ideas of his 'Raumplan'. The severity of the external facade, composed with a refined balance in the asymmetric symmetry of the window apertures, contrasts with the noble elegance of the interiors, even in the ostensibly secondary spaces."<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Green Corridor:</span></span> "The corridor is arresting with its unusual polychrome harmony, green-tinted opaque tiles and the deep terracotta colour of the floor and the frieze below the ceiling. The red radiator is deliberately set in a conspicuous location. Loos felt that technical elements should be not only part of the functional fittings of the house, but also deserved to contribute to the overall aesthetic appearance of the interiors."<br /><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Blue Ceiling:</span> </span> "Here too there is an interesting play of contrasting colours: the floor tiles are the earthy colour of terracotta, while the wooden panelling of the walls, with the repeated square motif known from others of Loos' interiors, is painted white. The colours of the space are rounded off by the surprisingly deep blue ceiling, the colour of an early evening Venetian sky. The hall includes a cloakroom with pegs and a mirror, set into a broad niche with Japanese hangings.<span style="font-family:Helvetica CE;">"<br /> </span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a href="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5034/5909492665_4d5ba14937_b.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5034/5909492665_4d5ba14937_b.jpg" style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 578px; height: 821px;" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"<span style="font-weight: bold;">The house should be like by all. Unlike a work of art, which does not require anyone to like it. The work of art is the private affair of the artist. The house is not</span>. The work of art is sent out into the world, without anyone needing it. The house fulfils certain requirements. The work of art is not answerable to anyone, the house to everyone. A work of art seeks to draw people out of their comfort. The house should serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary, the house conservative. The work of art shows humanity new paths and thinks of the future; the house thinks of the present.<br /><span style="color: rgb(102, 0, 0);font-size:130%;" > <span style="font-weight: bold;">Man loves everything that serves his comfort</span></span>. He hates all that seeks to draw him from his customary and secure state, and all that constricts him.<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> And thus I love the house and hate art.</span></span>"<br /><br /><br /> <span style="font-style: italic;"> Adolf Loos, Architektura ('Architecture'), 1910.</span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"Among his pioneering acts was a radical departure from the Secession and all figural and ornamental decoration, which of course he replaced by the natural structure of selected stones, wood and other fine materials, and the entrance of the term "Raumplan" ("spatial plan") into architectural practice. Despite his character of social feeling he was not an advocate of social experiment through architecture, but through his works <span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">prepared the way for Constructivism and Functionalism."</span></span><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />images and text taken from <a href="http://www.mullerovavila.cz/english/vila-e.html">here...</a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />-------------------------

Welcome to 1910....

" We have outgrown ornament , we have fought our way through to freedom from ornament." Lately, I keep coming back to the works of...

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