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Florida Modern
by Jan Hochstim
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$55.00 |
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$38.50 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. |
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$16.50 (30%) |
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Hardcover
Publisher: Rizzoli International Publications
Between 1941 and 1966, Florida became host to sweeping innovations in residential architecture rivaled only by what was happening in California with the Case Study Houses. Florida Modern documents the best work of the era, from Key West to Jacksonville, documenting numerous unsung and unpublished masterpieces by such architects as Paul Rudolph, Gene Leedy, and Rufus Nims. With today's widespread resurgence of interest in "MidCentury Modernism," the houses appear as fresh and contemporary as they did over fifty years ago. Many of the houses have been preserved as they were originally built, with Saarinen chairs and Eames furniture all part of the mise-en-scène.
While these houses found their inspiration in part from the philosophies of the Bauhaus, they were quick to incorporate aspects of regional Southern architecture, using verandas, porches, and raised floors to open out to tropical vegetation, and more importantly, cooling breezes. The appeal of many of these homes is the blurring of indoors and outdoors, the connection to the natural environment, and, perhaps even more so today, the eco-conscious spirit that favored local materials and natural ventilation.
| Customer Reviews: |
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| Flawed Modernism |
| Customer Rating: 2 out of 5 |
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Jan Hochstim has clearly done a lot of research for this book and it will probably be regarded as the definitive study of the Modern house in Florida. As with many historical architectural studies it is obviously very visual but unfortunately the presentation of the copy and photos are pretty hopeless. Many of the pages give the impression that amateurs designed them.
In the fascinating first chapter: The roots of Modernism, Hochstim explains that the advent of air conditioning more or less ended the run of Modernism in Florida. Admittedly there were not a huge number of Modern houses built since 1945 (and this book probably features the best of them) but those that were had to be designed to take advantage of the cooling breezes in the extreme heat and humidity for several months each year and don't forget the bugs. Another interesting challenge for the local architects was cost. Many of the houses in the book are small and to increase the apparent size extensive use of glass (adjustable for breeze control) brought the outside inside. Air conditioning finished these interesting design problems.
The work of about forty architects is featured. They each get a brief introduction followed by photos and floor plans of their main work. It is these pages where I think the book goes seriously wrong. Frequently photos are completely obscured by white or black type. Floor plans have been reduced to mere decorative elements, made too small and appear in white on many photos. Hochstim writes very informative descriptions of the houses, frequently several hundred words long and amazingly many of these are presented as one long paragraph printed on an exterior photo of the house. All this is made even more annoying because the designers have left plenty of empty page space, either as white or colored panels.
There are so many pages completely ruined by thoughtless design that I think the book is seriously flawed, which is unfortunate because if the words and photos had been handled professionally it could have looked really wonderful. These lovely homes certainly deserve better.
***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.
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| Almost a Hundred Florida Modern Homes |
| Customer Rating: 5 out of 5 |
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This book describes and illustrates almost a hundred homes built from 1945 to 1970 in Florida. The homes selected for this book represent the modern architecture that was developing in other parts of the country, especially California. The difference is that Florida architects were being influenced by other aspects such as Southern culture, the tropical vegetation found nearby, and aspects of cooling in the hot southern weathers. This resulted in more of an indoor-outdoor lifestyle than found in much of the rest of the country.
The format of the book is broken down by the region in which the house is located and then by architect doing the design. In addition, the description of the houses is written by Mr. Hochstim. As a professor and a practicing architect he presents a much more interesting commentary than usually found. He often traces aspects of the design or construction techniques from one house to another illustrating how these techniques were developed and perfected.
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