Review
"…beautifully produced, clever and thoughtful…" (The 20th Century Society Newsletter, September 2002)

"…shows the pleasure of discovery that the author obviously experienced doing research for the book…" (DOCOMO, Winter 2002)


Review
"…beautifully produced, clever and thoughtful…" (The 20th Century Society Newsletter, September 2002)

"…shows the pleasure of discovery that the author obviously experienced doing research for the book…" (DOCOMO, Winter 2002)


Book Description
First House: the grid, the figure and the void presents a range of innovative first houses designed by a group of famous Harvard graduates from the 1930s - many of which have never been published before. These include such influential figures as Edward Larrabee Barnes, Ulrich Franzen, John Johansen, Philip Johnson, I M Pei and Paul Rudolph.

This examination shows both what these soon-to-be-famous American architects were taught by their émigré Bauhaus instructors Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer, and the development of their personal artistic vision.

Each building is accompanied by a rich collection of background period information. Artworks by American painters such as Calder, Pollock, Motherwell and Kline are incorporated as both emblems of their time and sources of design inspiration. The furniture designed and used in many of the buildings is also illustrated and ranges from the well-known work of Eames to the forgotten steel wire chairs of Landrum.

The book concludes with a review of the personalities involved in publishing these modern houses: the photographer Ezra Stoller, writer Peter Blake and historian Vincent Scully. These men also tried their hand at self-designed 'First Houses' for their own families.

This book provides an extensively researched text with previously unpublished discoveries that are tied together in a uniquely personal and emotional narrative that opens a clear view upon the designers and their time.


Book Info
Presents a range of innovative first houses designed by a group of famous Harvard graduates from the 1930s-many of which have never been published before.


From the Inside Flap
In 1937, two of the foremost figures in Germany's celebrated school of modern design, the Bauhaus - Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius - fled the political turmoil of their native country and headed for the shores of America. This move was to have a profound effect on American architecture. The émigré architects began their new careers teaching at Harvard, and in this way had a direct impact on those students who were soon to become the most influential American architects of their generation. This book examines the first houses of a selection of the soon-to-be-famous Harvard architecture students of the 1930s to 1950s: Edward Larrabee Barnes Ulrich Franzen John Johansen Philip Johnson Eliot Noyes I M Pei Paul Rudolph As well as presenting detailed accounts of the houses themselves, First House includes essays and interviews with the figures involved, providing a unique insight into this key moment in architecture - the meeting point between the idealism of European modernism and the pragmatism of American culture.


About the Author
CHRISTIAN BJONE is a practising architect in New York City, and has received a masters degree in Architecture from Princeton University. He has acted as editor for several books including Philip Johnson: Recent Work (Wiley, 1994) and Philip Johnson: Built Work (Birkhauser, 1992). He has written on current design topics for Octogon magazine. ROBERT WALKER is a professional photographer and practising architect in Jersey City, New Jersey. He has a degree in Architecture from the University of Tennessee. His photographs have appeared in such journals as Architectural Digest, Newsweek and Golf Digest.

FROM THE PUBLISHER