Like architecture? Like movies? The fine folks over at Arch Daily recently put up a list of the top 30 architecture movies to add to you "must see" list. While many of them have to be purchased, there are a few select ones that you can watch for free online, including the fantastic Eames: The Architect and the Painter. Who's seen it? What did you think about it?
I know I'm getting lazy posting lately. I'm super busy working on some new things including some updates to the site, and getting licensed to sell (modern) homes in Utah. Hopefully my posting frequency will pick back up soon, in the meantime enjoy this video of Arne Jacobsen.
It's been over a years since I first wrote about the potential demolition of the Prudential Federal Savings and Loan building in Salt Lake City. Since then the issue has mostly been out of the public light, but thankfully in the last few weeks there has been some discussion around the issue. Today the Salt Lake Tribune ran an article discussing the potential loss of the this great piece of Mid Century Modern architecture. It's interesting to see that almost all of the comments are in favor of saving the building.
If you would like to know more about the building, I'd urge you to read the short article about it on SaltLakeArchitecture.blogspot.com
Want to get involved. It's easy, start by sending Mayor Ralph Becker a message to let him know what you think.
*Top 3 images via saltlakearchitecture.blogspot.com
Photo by Julius Shulman from Art in Architecture - by Louis G. Redstone, FAIA
Artist: Tom Van Sant, "Birds in Flight," 100 birds with wingspread of 4 feet, attached to three bronze-encased stainless-steel rods, each 120 feet high (electrode posited - bronze process developed from the aircraft industry); theme symbolic of seagulls which saved Morman crops by eating locusts, 1964
As I type this post, I'm riding shotgun in a truck on my way down to southern Utah to a Buddhist Retreat. No, I'm not having another dramatic change of faith, I'm actually going to install cabinetry. The retreat was designed by a local firm Imbue design that continues to impress me with both the quality and caliper of work they are doing. The rendering above doesn't do justice to just how cool this project is. The exterior is dominated by gabion walls and the interior wrapped in Ipe. In fact even the cabinets I'm installing with Modern Union are made of Ipe. I'm excited to be working with such great architects and clients on this job.
I'm about 4 hours away from the job site right now. Check out the Modern Union Facebook page for pictures and updates.
Also, while you are at it, make sure you read the write up that City Home Collective did on the Buddhist retreat a few weeks ago.
For those that have been reading my blog for a long time, you may recognize the name Mark Haslam. He was they one that did a lot of hand holding and hard work for me when I built my addition behind my house in Sugarhood. Back then he was working for Benchmark Modern, and together they went on to do a lot of great modern projects, including a few I was able to do some work on. The House 2 project I featured last year was my first big job with my new side company Modern Union.
Not only is Mark one of the nicest guys I know, in my opinion he is also one of the best general contractors in SLC to build a modern home. I get a lot of people who ask me who they should use, and I always point them towards Mark.
So what does this have to do with Sausage? Oddly enough, that happens to be the name of Marks new construction company. Mark has decided to branch off from Benchmark and do his own thing. I expect great things coming from him in the near future, so do yourself a favor and bookmark Sausagespace.com now. You'll thank me later.
Sausage : Modern home construction in Salt Lake City
My friend is selling his amazing Mid Century Modern home. It's a few block away from my old place in olympus cove, and I remember walking by it many times in complete envy. If you area sucker for a good butterfly roof (which I totally am) this is one of the rare good ones in Salt Lake City. To sweeten the deal even more, the home is amazing original looking inside. It has some of the best built in partitions I have seen ever. Check out the photos below (courtesy of City Home Collective) and check out all the details on the MLS
From the MLS listing...
Amazing Oly Cove Mid-Century Modern with Fantastic Mt., Lake and Valley Views. This 1954 Parade of Homes was purchased from Original Owner. Very clean Unique 50's features like Butterfly Roof Design, Big Open Living Rm & Open Air Dining. Architectural features like Floor to Ceiling Glass, Mahogany Walls, & Exposed Brick make this home very eclectic and desired for original 50's modern design. Some updates done keeping the style intact! Grt Walkout Basemnt w/ Wetbar. Could be easy Mother in Law conversion.
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Love Charles and Ray Eames? Who doesn't. Get your goodies from the Eames Office on Fab.com today. I've got my eye on Volume 3 of their DVD series.
I just found out that one of my favorite living architects is no longer living. Famous, or perhaps infamous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer died at 104 years old yesterday. I spent a few years in Brazil, so I have a deep love for the country and its people. I love Oscar as much for his work as I do for his personality. Passionate about life, women and buildings to the very end, he will be missed.
I'm sure there will be lot's of great retrospectives written about him in the coming hours and days. In the meantime check out the fantastic 2010 documentary LIfe is a Breath of Air about Oscar Niemeyer and his life. Hopefully the youtube link below stays up for a while.
A few weeks ago when I was in California, they were just starting to pack up the entire interior of the Eames house to move it to LACMA for an upcoming exhibit. The move is giving them a chance to do some much needed repairs on the home, as well as restore some of the precious items found inside. I came across this great time lapse of everything being carefully packed up. Pretty incredible to watch.
As some of you may know, I'm on a subcommittee of UHF that focuses on Mid Century Modern architecture in Salt Lake City. I'm excited to announce that our fall event is coming up this weekend! We are going back to the roots of modernism and having an open house at a Taylor Woolley home. One of Utah’s first modernists, Taylor Woolley is known as the architect that introduced the Prairie School Style to Utah in 1911. Outside the state, Woolley is known as Frank Lloyd Wright’s trusted draftsman and a prominent fi gure in the popular book “Loving Frank.”
Saturday, October 8 · 10:00am - 12:00pm
1408 E. Yale Ave. (approx. 1150 South)
Salt Lake City, Utah
I've been back and forth on prefab over the years as to whether or not I think it's a good deal. Most can't come close to the cost of a custom built structure in Utah making them only practical for difficult to access sites, or if you live in an area like California where custom prices are outrageous. What I have been excited about lately is all the small prefab options that have popped up lately. Sett Studio has a few sub 200 square foot options that price out between $150 - $200 a square foot. That price includes some nice features too, like super efficient SIP construction and a (sort of) Shou Sugi Ban siding.
More photos after the jump.
Ben Kafton is a local artist that I have been following for some time. I first saw his work at Craft Lake City last year and I really love his architectural style. He sent me a photo this week of some of his recent work, as well as a link to his Etsy shop where he has some prints for sale. More after the jump.
Airstream Living from WEREHAUS on Vimeo.
Lovers of airstreams should check out this video. Also, if you are local to Salt Lake City, make sure you check out The Creative Capsule that I blogged about a while ago.
Admittedly one of the biggest perks of blogging is getting invited to fantastic press events. A few weeks ago Scion was kind enough to fly myself and several other lifestyle bloggers down to Manhattan Beach to take a peek at their new car. During the whirlwind trip I found myself talking to the singer from Devo, surfing, driving the smallest car I've ever been in, and best of all, checking out some famous SoCal Case Study houses.
Read on for the whole story, and more pictures...
First off the car. Those that know me, know that I am a bit of a car nut. In fact I've been described as having car ADD, rarely keeping one for more than a year. My personal taste leans towards european sports cars, so I admit I wasn't overly enthusiastic about driving a sub 10' Scion IQ. I did get a little more excited when I learned that Aston Martin rebranded the IQ in Europe as a luxury micro compact. Branding aside the IQ was a surprisingly comfortable and solid car for the size. Even 6' 4" Tyler from Plastolux seemed pretty comfortable in it.
Scion is an interesting brand, and puts a surprisingly large amount of effort into supporting the arts, and more grassroots style advertising. For this event they had pulled together a wide swath of lifestyle bloggers, so it was interesting to get to meet other people "in the industry". I even had the chance to make be "real life" friends with some facebook friends I've had for a while, like the lovely Erin Loechner from Design For Mankind. I have a total design crush on her...
During our dinner Mark Mothersbaugh from Devo spoke to us. I'm admittedly not that big of a Devo guy, but I did recognize him as that awkward artist from Yo Gabba Gabba! Turns out her really is an incredibly accomplished musician (outside of Devo) and artist. Go figure.
Between surfing sessions, Tyler and I rented a car to search out some of the iconic Case Study houses. We didn't have appointments for the Stahl house (Case Study #22) but the son was gracious enough to let us peek through the gate. It was AMAZING! From the street, it doesn't look like anything at all, but as soon as you poke your head through the gate you get that amazing view that Shulman captured so well.
Our next stop was the Eames Case Study house #8. It's been on my bucket list for a long long time to go and check that house out, so it was incredible to be there. They are in the process of moving the majority of the interior to LACMA for an upcoming exhibit, but the place still looked amazingly intact and original. In fact if you have ever seen the classic Eames film "Lucia Chase Vignette" it looked like nothing had changed at all in 40+ years since it was filmed.
Everybody loves the neutraface house numbers, and honestly, they always looks good. Modplexi is making it even easier to mount them on your house, and giving you the option to add a pop of color. They also make some really nice MCM inspired art collages on plexiglass, which gives it a nice 3D feel. Check out their blog, flickr page and Etsy shop.
Margaret Rankin is a Toronto-based print artist who specializes in block printing; all of her work is made by hand, blocks and all. Her subject matter varies widely, but I'm particularly drawn to this architectural series (pictured above) based on photographs by fellow Toronto local Graham Iddon. Check out more of her work right here!
This Monday I had the opportunity to walk through one of my favorite mid century modern homes in Salt Lake City. Designed and built in 1965 by one of Salt Lake City's more prolific modern architects Ed Drier, the home has heavy Miesian influence. The exterior roof line is defined by a massive steel H beam that is contrasted by a white tile soffit that continues into the home. The continuance of surfaces is actually one of my favorite aspects to the home. Everywhere you look flooring, walls and ceiling materials seamless cross the indoor outdoor plane. This is made possible through a significant amount of glazing and careful attention to detail. Considering the amount of glass in the place I expected it to be a huge energy hog, like some of the other MCM glass and steel houses in the area, but I was pleasantly surprised to find just one furnace in the basement. The fact that it has a pool and close to a half acre sitting on the side of a ravine makes this house ideal for me. Unfortunately the $800,000 price means it's about 4 times out of my price range. I propose 3 other people go in on it with me. First pool party is on me.
I blame it on Capree really. Yesterday over on MAIYA she posted about the Grandpa Henry collection, a series of bright wool plaids that looks amazing as upholstery. I of course wanted it, but it didn't seem like the right fit for a downtown loft. A mountain cabin on the other hand...
Thus began my search for a small affordable prefab cabin that I will inevitably have to build, just for the purpose of having a Grandpa Henry chair to sit in. After a little poking around I came across the Signal Shed shown above. A 130 square foot prefab shelter that was designed for the budget minded. Sunset magazine did a story about it recently thats worth reading. The above photo's came from owner Ryan Lingards website.
My little color-loving heart nearly exploded when I saw Emmanuelle Moureaux's portfolio. This French-born, Tokyo-based architect has made a name for herself through her signature use of color. Much of her work is in the commercial realm, but there are a few private residences that are worth checking out, so be sure to take a look at the rest of her portfolio!
Here's a snipet of video from the House 2 project that wrapped up last year. Video (and cabinetry) by Modern Union. Enjoy!
