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Peter Eisenman House I: Deconstructing Architectural History
Introduction:
Are you fascinated by the avant-garde? Do you appreciate architecture that challenges convention and pushes the boundaries of design? Then prepare to delve into the world of Peter Eisenman's House I, a seminal work that redefined residential architecture and continues to spark debate and admiration. This in-depth exploration will uncover the complex design principles, the historical context, and the lasting legacy of this groundbreaking structure. We'll dissect its unique features, explore Eisenman's design philosophy, and examine its influence on contemporary architecture. Prepare to experience House I not just as a building, but as a statement, a manifesto, and a testament to the power of architectural deconstruction.
I. The Genesis of House I: Eisenman's Deconstructivist Vision
Peter Eisenman's House I, completed in 1970, isn't simply a house; it's a three-dimensional manifestation of his deconstructivist ideology. Unlike traditional architecture focused on functionalism and harmony, Eisenman aimed to challenge the very notion of architectural order. House I, situated in Columbus, Ohio, serves as a prime example of his early explorations into fragmentation, paradox, and the deliberate subversion of classical architectural principles. The house's design is a complex interplay of spatial disjunctions, fractured planes, and unsettling juxtapositions, forcing the viewer to question their understanding of space, form, and function. This initial phase saw Eisenman focusing heavily on the theoretical aspects of deconstruction, using the house as a testing ground for ideas that would later influence his larger-scale projects. The rigorous mathematical and geometrical underpinnings of the design belie the seemingly chaotic exterior, revealing a meticulously planned exploration of spatial relationships and perceptual distortion.
II. Deconstructing the Form: A Deep Dive into Design Elements
The architectural language of House I is characterized by its fragmented volumes, seemingly illogical connections, and the deliberate disruption of conventional spatial organization. The house appears as a series of interlocking boxes and planes, each rotated and shifted in relation to the others, creating a sense of disorientation and ambiguity. The interior spaces defy typical expectations; hallways don’t necessarily lead to rooms in a predictable way, and rooms themselves lack a coherent sense of enclosure. This intentional disruption aims not just to challenge the viewer's understanding of architectural space but also to question the very foundations of architectural representation and meaning. The interplay of light and shadow further enhances this effect, highlighting the fractured planes and creating a dynamic and ever-shifting visual experience. The materials used – mostly raw concrete and exposed structure – contribute to the austere and somewhat unsettling atmosphere.
III. Beyond the Physical: House I as a Theoretical Statement
House I transcends its purely functional role as a dwelling. It serves as a powerful theoretical statement, embodying Eisenman's deep engagement with post-structuralist philosophy and his critique of traditional architectural representation. The house becomes a physical manifestation of his theoretical explorations, a three-dimensional rendering of his complex ideas on architectural language, meaning, and the nature of space itself. Eisenman's intellectual rigor is palpable in the house's design, reflecting his deep engagement with the works of Jacques Derrida and other influential thinkers. This intellectual framework is crucial to understanding the design's motivations and its significance within the broader context of architectural history. The house is not merely a beautiful object; it is a sophisticated intellectual exercise translated into built form.
IV. Legacy and Influence: House I's Enduring Impact
Despite its unconventional design and the initial criticism it received, House I has achieved a significant position within the canon of modern architecture. It stands as a pivotal work that helped establish deconstructivism as a distinct architectural movement, influencing countless architects and designers. Its legacy extends beyond its immediate impact, shaping subsequent generations of architects who engage with similar themes of fragmentation, complexity, and the subversion of architectural norms. The house’s continued relevance speaks to its enduring power to challenge and provoke, reminding us that architecture can be more than just shelter; it can be a powerful tool for intellectual exploration and critical engagement. The ongoing scholarly discourse surrounding House I further solidifies its status as a landmark achievement in architectural history.
V. Visiting House I: A Unique Architectural Pilgrimage
While not publicly accessible in the same way as many museums, experiencing House I, even through photographs and virtual tours, offers a unique architectural pilgrimage. Studying the detailed plans and exploring the wealth of photographic documentation allows one to fully appreciate the complexities of its design and its masterful manipulation of space. This engagement provides a profound understanding of Eisenman's design philosophy and his contribution to architectural discourse. Understanding the house's context, both historical and theoretical, deepens the experience and rewards the observer with a richer appreciation of its significance.
Article Outline:
Introduction: Hooking the reader and providing an overview.
Chapter 1: The Genesis of House I: Eisenman's Deconstructivist Vision
Chapter 2: Deconstructing the Form: A Deep Dive into Design Elements
Chapter 3: Beyond the Physical: House I as a Theoretical Statement
Chapter 4: Legacy and Influence: House I's Enduring Impact
Chapter 5: Visiting House I: A Unique Architectural Pilgrimage
Conclusion: Summarizing key points and reinforcing the significance of House I.
(Detailed explanation of each chapter is provided above in the main body of the article.)
FAQs:
1. What architectural style is Peter Eisenman House I? It's primarily considered Deconstructivist, challenging traditional architectural principles.
2. Where is Peter Eisenman House I located? Columbus, Ohio.
3. Is Peter Eisenman House I open to the public? No, it is a private residence and not typically open for public tours.
4. What materials were primarily used in the construction of House I? Raw concrete and exposed structural elements.
5. Who influenced Peter Eisenman's design philosophy for House I? Post-structuralist thinkers like Jacques Derrida were significant influences.
6. What is the significance of House I in architectural history? It's a seminal work of deconstructivist architecture, significantly influencing the field.
7. How does House I challenge traditional notions of architectural space? Through fragmented volumes, illogical connections, and a disruption of conventional spatial organization.
8. What are the key design elements of House I? Fragmented volumes, shifted planes, unsettling juxtapositions, and a manipulation of light and shadow.
9. How can one learn more about House I beyond this article? Through academic research papers, architectural books, and photographic documentation.
Related Articles:
1. Deconstructivism in Architecture: A Comprehensive Guide: Explores the history and key figures of the Deconstructivist architectural movement.
2. Peter Eisenman's Architectural Theory: An Analysis: Delves into the theoretical underpinnings of Eisenman's architectural work.
3. The Influence of Post-Structuralism on Modern Architecture: Examines the impact of philosophical ideas on architectural design.
4. A Comparative Study of Deconstructivist Buildings: Compares and contrasts different examples of deconstructivist architecture.
5. Peter Eisenman's Wexner Center for the Arts: Explores another significant work by Eisenman, showcasing his design principles.
6. The Use of Geometry in Deconstructivist Design: Analyzes the role of mathematical principles in deconstructivist architecture.
7. Criticisms and Debates Surrounding Deconstructivism: Examines the controversies and discussions surrounding the movement.
8. The Evolution of Peter Eisenman's Architectural Style: Traces the development of Eisenman's architectural language throughout his career.
9. Sustainable Practices in Deconstructivist Architecture: Explores the potential for incorporating sustainable design principles within deconstructivist projects.
| peter eisenman house 1: Peter Eisenman's House VI Suzanne Shulof Frank, 1994 |
| peter eisenman house 1: Houses of Cards Peter Eisenman, Rosalind E. Krauss, Manfredo Tafuri, 1987 Peter Eisenman is known internationally for his innovative and provocative architecture and writings. One of the New York Five, he has been a leading figure in the architectural community for many years, as teacher, as founder and former director of the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies, and as builder. This long-awaited book is a rich and complex investigation of his first six houses, which he calls Houses of Cards and specifically about House IV and House VI. In these houses, Eisenman has tried to strip architecture of its traditional meanings and associations, making the planes, walls, and elements of the houses as valueless as an arrangement of playing cards. This book contains the architect's own texts on House IV and House VI, which he wrote in 1974, and 1976, as they were being designed, as well as an overview in which he places these houses in the context of his work as a whole. In his essay Manfredo Tafuri offers a psychological perspective; in hers Rosalind Krauss provides cultural and historical contexts. The book is profusely illustrated with sketches, diagrams, and photographs. In some ways, the book itself becomes a new project--somewhat of a metaphor for Eisenman's new approach to architecture--layered with absences and presences, a complex fiction. |
| peter eisenman house 1: House X Peter Eisenman, 1982 |
| peter eisenman house 1: Lateness Peter Eisenman, Elisa Iturbe, 2020-07-07 A provocative case for historical ambiguity in architecture by one of the field's leading theorists Conceptions of modernity in architecture are often expressed in the idea of the zeitgeist, or spirit of the age, an attitude toward architectural form that is embedded in a belief in progressive time. Lateness explores how architecture can work against these linear currents in startling and compelling ways. In this incisive book, internationally renowned architect Peter Eisenman, with Elisa Iturbe, proposes a different perspective on form and time in architecture, one that circumvents the temporal constraints on style that require it to be of the times—lateness. He focuses on three twentieth-century architects who exhibited the qualities of lateness in their designs: Adolf Loos, Aldo Rossi, and John Hejduk. Drawing on the critical theory of Theodor Adorno and his study of Beethoven's final works, Eisenman shows how the architecture of these canonical figures was temporally out of sync with conventions and expectations, and how lateness can serve as a form of release from the restraints of the moment. Bringing together architecture, music, and philosophy, and drawing on illuminating examples from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, Lateness demonstrates how today's architecture can use the concept of lateness to break free of stylistic limitations, expand architecture's critical capacity, and provide a new mode of analysis. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Planned Assaults Lars Lerup, 1987 Foreword by Phyllis Lambert. Postscript by Peter Eisenman |
| peter eisenman house 1: Eisenman Architects Peter Eisenman, 1995 In both these respects, Peter Eisenman differs not only from other architechts of his own generation, but from nearly all other architects working today. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Eisenman Inside Out Peter Eisenman, YALE UNIV PR, 2004-01-01 Essais sur l'architecture par l'architecte Eisenman. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Architecture and the Sciences Antoine Picon, Alessandra Ponte, 2003-05 Since antiquity, the sciences have served as a source of images and metaphors for architecture and have had a direct influence on the shaping of built space. In recent years, architects have been looking again at science as a source of inspiration in the production of their designs and constructions. This volume evaluates the interconnections between the sciences and architecture from both historical and contemporary perspectives. Architecture and the Sciences shows how scientific paradigms have migrated to architecture through the appropriation of organic and mechanical models. Conversely, architecture has provided images for scientific and technological discourse. Accordingly, this volume investigates the status of the exchanges between the two domains.Contents include: Alessandra Ponte, Desert Testing; Martin Bressani, Violet-le-Duc's Optic; Georges Teyssot, Norm and Type: Variations on a Theme; Reinhold Martin, Organicism's Other; Catherine Ingraham, Why All These Birds? Birds in the Sky, Birds in the Hand; Antoine Picon, Architecture, Science, Technology and the Virtual Realm; and Felicity Scott, Encounters with the Face of America. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Mark Foster Gage Mark Foster Gage, 2018-10-16 Gage, Yale theorist, architect, and pioneer of the digital avant-garde in architecture and design, presents here a phantasmagoria of ideas and built work in his first monograph. Architect to Lady Gaga and Nicola Formichetti, Mark Foster Gage has spent 20 years leading the digital architectural avant-garde, pushing the boundaries of what is possible in architecture and design and exploding expectations. This volume features built and unbuilt work from around the globe, from a penthouse in downtown Manhattan to retail stores in Hong Kong. The work shown goes beyond traditional architecture to the realm of fashion and fine art, and includes Gage’s celebrated Valentine’s Sculpture for Times Square, a 3-D-printed outfit for Lady Gaga, as well as designs for Google Glass, Solar Flowers, and robotic tulips. Mark Foster Gage, whose work Harper’s Bazaar has called “effortlessly chic” and who has been labeled a “boundary breaker,” is a visionary for today. Filled with surprises and creations of wonder, such as a tower for New York’s 57th Street with mouthlike balconies on giant wings or a retail space bedecked with a hundred-faceted mirror, Gage’s work at once challenges expectations of what architecture might be and, as well, frequently fills one with a sense of excitement. Gage’s work is further elucidated in the book by the critical musings of eminent architects and cultural touchstones Peter Eisenman and Robert A.M. Stern. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Architecture from the Outside Elizabeth Grosz, 2001-06-22 Essays at the intersection of philosophy and architecture explore how we understand and inhabit space. To be outside allows one a fresh perspective on the inside. In these essays, philosopher Elizabeth Grosz explores the ways in which two disciplines that are fundamentally outside each another—architecture and philosophy—can meet in a third space to interact free of their internal constraints. Outside also refers to those whose voices are not usually heard in architectural discourse but who inhabit its space—the destitute, the homeless, the sick, and the dying, as well as women and minorities. Grosz asks how we can understand space differently in order to structure and inhabit our living arrangements accordingly. Two themes run throughout the book: temporal flow and sexual specificity. Grosz argues that time, change, and emergence, traditionally viewed as outside the concerns of space, must become more integral to the processes of design and construction. She also argues against architecture's historical indifference to sexual specificity, asking what the existence of (at least) two sexes has to do with how we understand and experience space. Drawing on the work of such philosophers as Henri Bergson, Roger Caillois, Gilles Deleuze, Jacques Derrida, Luce Irigaray, and Jacques Lacan, Grosz raises abstract but nonformalistic questions about space, inhabitation, and building. All of the essays propose philosophical experiments to render space and building more mobile and dynamic. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Atomic Dwelling Robin Schuldenfrei, 2012-08-21 In the years of reconstruction and economic boom that followed the Second World War, the domestic sphere encountered new expectations regarding social behaviour, modes of living, and forms of dwelling. This book brings together an international group of scholars from architecture, design, urban planning, and interior design to reappraise mid-twentieth century modern life, offering a timely reassessment of culture and the economic and political effects on civilian life. This collection contains essays that examine the material of art, objects, and spaces in the context of practices of dwelling over the long span of the postwar period. It asks what role material objects, interior spaces, and architecture played in quelling or fanning the anxieties of modernism’s ordinary denizens, and how this role informs their legacy today. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Five Architects Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.), 1975 Five Architects, originally published in 1975, grew out of a meeting of the CASE group (Conference of Architects for the Study of the Environment) held at the Museum of Modern Art in 1969. The purpose of this gathering was to exhibit and criticize the work of five architects -- Eisenman, Graves, Gwathmey, Hejduk, and Meier -- who constituted a New York school, and who are now among the most influential architects working today.The buildings shown here have more diversity than one might expect from a school, but share certain properties of form, scale, and treatment of material. Collectively, their work makes a modest claim: it is only architecture, not the salvation of man and the redemption of the earth.Providing complete drawings and photographic documentation, this collection also includes a comparative critique by Kenneth Frampton, an Introduction by Colin Rowe that suggests a still broader context for the work as a whole, and two short texts in which individual positions are outlined. Now back in,print, Five Architects serves as a reference to the early work of some of America's most important architects and provides us with a glimpse back at the direction of architecture as they saw it over twenty years ago. |
| peter eisenman house 1: The Formal Basis of Modern Architecture Peter Eisenman, 2006-07-20 FIRST ENGLISH-LANGUAGE PUBLICATION OF PETER EISENMAN’S 1963 DISSERTATION |
| peter eisenman house 1: Key Houses of the Twentieth Century Colin Davies, 2006 Featuring over 100 of the most significant and influential houses of the twentieth century, For each of the houses included there are numerous, accurate scale plans showing each floor, together with elevations, sections and site plans where appropriate. All of these have been specially drawn for this book and are based on the most up-to-date information and sources. |
| peter eisenman house 1: The Architecture of the City Aldo Rossi, 1984-09-13 Aldo Rossi was a practicing architect and leader of the Italian architectural movement La Tendenza and one of the most influential theorists of the twentieth century. The Architecture of the City is his major work of architectural and urban theory. In part a protest against functionalism and the Modern Movement, in part an attempt to restore the craft of architecture to its position as the only valid object of architectural study, and in part an analysis of the rules and forms of the city's construction, the book has become immensely popular among architects and design students. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Theory into Poetry , 2022-05-20 At the beginning of the 21st century, there is still no generally accepted comprehensive definition of the lyric or differentiated modern toolkit for its analysis. The reception of poetry is largely characterised either by an empathetic identification of critics with the lyric persona or by exclusive interest in formal patterning. The present volume seeks to remedy this deficit. All the contributors ‘theorise’ the lyric to overcome the impasse of an impressionistic and narrowly formalistic critical debate on the genre. Their papers focus on a variety of different questions: the problem of establishing a framework for definition and classification; the search for dynamic and potent critical approaches; investigations of poetry's cultural performance and its fundamental relevance for the construction of group cohesion. The essays collected in this volume offer a consciously polyphonic range of theories and interpretations, suggesting to the reader a variety of theoretical frameworks and practical illustrations of how a discussion of poetry may be firmly grounded in modern literary theory. |
| peter eisenman house 1: After Derrida Jean-Michel Rabaté, 2018-05-31 This collection of essays introduces the ideas of philosopher Jacques Derrida who exerts a huge influence on literary criticism. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Written Into the Void Peter Eisenman, 2007-01-01 This volume gathers a selection of architect Peter Eisenman's later writings. In these texts, he undertakes a variety of tasks, including theoretical analyses, close readings of his own works, and innovative assessments of the designs and writings of other architects and critics. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Architectures of Time Sanford Kwinter, 2002-08-23 An exploration of twentieth-century conceptions of time and their relation to artistic form. In Architectures of Time, Sanford Kwinter offers a critical guide to the modern history of time and to the interplay between the physical sciences and the arts. Tracing the transformation of twentieth-century epistemology to the rise of thermodynamics and statistical mechanics, Kwinter explains how the demise of the concept of absolute time, and of the classical notion of space as a fixed background against which things occur, led to field theory and a physics of the event. He suggests that the closed, controlled, and mechanical world of physics gave way to the approximate, active, and qualitative world of biology as a model of both scientific and metaphysical explanation. Kwinter examines theory of time and space in Einstein's theories of relativity and shows how these ideas were reflected in the writings of the sculptor Umberto Boccioni, the town planning schema of the Futurist architect Antonio Sant'Elia, the philosophy of Henri Bergson, and the writings of Franz Kafka. He argues that the writings of Boccioni and the visionary architecture of Sant'Elia represent the earliest and most profound deployments of the concepts of field and event. In discussing Kafka's work, he moves away from the thermodynamic model in favor of the closely related one of Bergsonian duree, or virtuality. He argues that Kafka's work manifests a coherent cosmology that can be understood only in relation to the constant temporal flux that underlies it. |
| peter eisenman house 1: From Formalism to Weak Form: The Architecture and Philosophy of Peter Eisenman Stefano Corbo, 2016-04-15 Peter Eisenman is one of the most controversial protagonists of the architectural scene, who is known as much for his theoretical essays as he is for his architecture. While much has been written about his built works and his philosophies, most books focus on one or the other aspect. By structuring this volume around the concept of form, Stefano Corbo links together Eisenman’s architecture with his theory. From Formalism to Weak Form: The Architecture and Philosophy of Peter Eisenman argues that form is the sphere of mediation between our body, our inner world and the exterior world and, as such, it enables connections to be made between philosophy and architecture. From the start of his career on, Eisenman has been deeply interested in the problem of form in architecture and has constantly challenged the classical concept of it. For him, form is not simply a cognitive tool that determines a physical structure, which discriminates all that is active from what is passive, what is inside from what is outside. He has always tried to connect his own work with the cultural manifestations of the time: firstly under the influence of Colin Rowe and his formalist studies; secondly, by re-interpreting Chomsky’s linguistic theories; in the 80’s, by collaborating with Derrida and his de-constructivist approach; more recently,by discovering Henri Bergson's idea of Time. These different moments underline different phases, different projects, different programmatic manifestos; and above all, an evolving notion of form. Taking a multi-disciplinary approach based on the intersections between architecture and philosophy, this book investigates all these definitions and, in doing so, provides new insights into and a deeper understanding of the complexity of Eisenman’s work. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Re-working Eisenman Peter Eisenman, 1993 A presentation of writings by and about Peter Eisenman, arguably the most significant architect working today. The book analyzes the whole spectrum of subjects covered in the architect/philosopher's oeuvre. Seminal texts are included that show how his theories have developed over time. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Architecture Thinking across Boundaries Rajesh Heynickx, Ricardo Costa Agarez, Elke Couchez, 2021-01-14 While most studies on the history of architectural theory have been concerned with what has been said and written, this book is concerned with how architecture theory has been created and transmitted. Architecture Thinking across Boundaries looks at architectural theory through the lens of intellectual history. Eleven original essays explore a variety of themes and contexts, each examining how architectural knowledge has been transferred across social, spatial and disciplinary boundaries - whether through the international circulation of ideas, transdisciplinary exchanges, or transfers from design practice to theory and back again. Dissecting the frictions, transformations and resistances that mark these journeys, the essays in this book reflect upon the myriad routes that architectural knowledge has taken while developing into architectural theory. They critically enquire the interstices – geographical, temporal and epistemological – that lie beyond fixed narratives. They show how unstable, vital and eminently mobile the processes of thinking about architecture have been. |
| peter eisenman house 1: By Other Means Global Art Affairs, 2017-02-20 Peter Eisenman is an internationally recognized architect and educator. For more than a half century, he has profoundly influenced generations of academics and practitioners with his buildings, writing, and teaching.By developing formal and linguistic critiques of architecture's bourgeois conventions, his activism seeks to undermine authority by creating architecture demanding close attention.By Other Means traces Eisenman's evolution from his formative years to his well-known Houses series and beyond. Unpublished work from his undergraduate, master's, and doctoral studies reveal an 'Eisenman before Eisenman'.This material is printed along with correspondence from Colin Rowe, ephemera from the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies, and previously unseen sketches/diagrams for Houses I, II, VI, and X.Featuring drawings and ephemera relating to various projects and proposals in the United States (e.g. Princeton and New York) and Europe (e.g. Liverpool and Venice).This book is published on the occasion of the exhibition By Other Means, curated by Mathew Ford with Jeffrey Kipnis as part of Time- Space - Existence, organized by GAA-Foundation at the Palazzo Bembo in Venice, Italy, for the 15th International Architecture Exhibition, May 28 - November 27, 2016.Eisenman is most well known for his iconic and controversial design of the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (Holocaust Memorial) in Berlin, 2003/04. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Architecture Francis D. K. Ching, 2012-07-16 A superb visual reference to the principles of architecture Now including interactive CD-ROM! For more than thirty years, the beautifully illustrated Architecture: Form, Space, and Order has been the classic introduction to the basic vocabulary of architectural design. The updated Third Edition features expanded sections on circulation, light, views, and site context, along with new considerations of environmental factors, building codes, and contemporary examples of form, space, and order. This classic visual reference helps both students and practicing architects understand the basic vocabulary of architectural design by examining how form and space are ordered in the built environment.? Using his trademark meticulous drawing, Professor Ching shows the relationship between fundamental elements of architecture through the ages and across cultural boundaries. By looking at these seminal ideas, Architecture: Form, Space, and Order encourages the reader to look critically at the built environment and promotes a more evocative understanding of architecture. In addition to updates to content and many of the illustrations, this new edition includes a companion CD-ROM that brings the book's architectural concepts to life through three-dimensional models and animations created by Professor Ching. |
| peter eisenman house 1: An Introduction to Architectural Theory Harry Francis Mallgrave, David J. Goodman, 2011-03-16 A sharp and lively text that covers issues in depth but not to the point that they become inaccessible to beginning students, An Introduction to Architectural Theory is the first narrative history of this period, charting the veritable revolution in architectural thinking that has taken place, as well as the implications of this intellectual upheaval. The first comprehensive and critical history of architectural theory over the last fifty years surveys the intellectual history of architecture since 1968, including criticisms of high modernism, the rise of postmodern and poststructural theory, critical regionalism and tectonics Offers a comprehensive overview of the significant changes that architectural thinking has undergone in the past fifteen years Includes an analysis of where architecture stands and where it will likely move in the coming years |
| peter eisenman house 1: The Secret Life of Buildings Gavin Macrae-Gibson, 1988-01-01 Not since the 1920s has American architecture undergone such fundamental changes asthose which are revitalizing the profession today. But in this period of great artistic fertilityand unrest, there has yet to emerge a critical theory capable of analyzing the conditions andexamining the attitudes by which our architecture is being redefined.Gavin Macrae-Gibson is thefirst of a generation of architects educated in the 1970s to construct a method of criticismpowerful enough to interpret this new architecture. The theory is built upon a close reading ofseven works, all completed in the 1980s: Frank Gehry's Gehry House in Santa Monica, Peter Eisenman'sHouse El Even Odd, Cesar Pelli's Four Leaf Towers in Houston, Michael Graves' Portland PublicService building, Robert Stern's Bozzi residence in East Hampton, Allan Greenberg's ManchesterSuperior Courthouse in Connecticut, and Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown's Gordon Wu Hall atPrinceton.The author uses urban plans, and architectural drawings and photographs to reveal thelayers of meaning present in each building, including the deepest layer-its secret life. At thislevel the buildings have in common the fact that their meaning is derived from the realities of animperfect present and no longer from the anticipation of a utopian future.Gavin Macrae-Gibson is apracticing architect. He has been Visiting Lecturer in Architectural Theory at Yale University since1982, and has taught and lectured widely throughout the United States and Canada. A GrahamFoundation Book.The Graham Foundation Architecture Series Two decades ago, the Graham Foundation forAdvanced Study in the Fine Arts published Robert Venturi's epoch-making Complexity and Contradictionin Architecture in association with the Museum of Modern Art. Now the foundation is renewing itscommitment to architectural literature by announcing the first two titles of a new series it islaunching with The MIT Press.The aim is to publish books that are of crucial importance to thetheory and practice of architecture, and that will enhance the understanding of architecture as ahumanist discipline. The series will feature original texts by contemporary architects, historians,theorists, and critics. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Oppositions Reader K. Michael Hays, 1998 In its eleven-year history, Oppositions, the journal of the New York-based Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies (IAUS), had an impact far beyond what its modest cover might suggest. Indeed, Oppositions set the agenda, introduced the key players, and published the seminal pieces in the theorization of architecture in the last twenty years. It is a testament to the enduring importance of the journal that its issues are still highly sought after today, prized (and priced) as collector's items, and found behind the desk at virtually every architectural library. Oppositions Reader collects the most important essays from 26 issues of Oppositions. Essays from the editors of the series-Peter Eisenman, Kenneth Frampton, Mario Gandelsonas, Anthony Vidler, and Kurt Forster-are included, along with texts by such noted architects, theorists, and historians as Aldo Rossi, Alan Colquhoun, Leon Krier, Denise Scott Brown, Bernard Tschumi, Rem Koolhaas, Mary McLeod, Georgio Ciucci, and Rafael Moneo. The page design, by Massimo Vignelli, has been faithfully reproduced. Harvard Professor K. Michael Hays has selected the writings for inclusion. Contributors include: Diana Agrest, Stanford Anderson, Giorgio Ciucci, Stuart Cohen, Alan Colquhoun, Francesco Dal Co, Peter Eisenman, William Ellis, Kurt W. Forster, Kenneth Frampton, Mario Gandelsonas, Giorgio Grassi, Fred Koetter, Rem Koolhaas, Leon Krier, Mary McLeod, Rafael Moneo, Joan Ockman, Martin Pawley, Aldo Rossi, Colin Rowe, Denise Scott Brown, Jorge Silvetti, Ignasi de Sol -Morales, Manfredo Tafuri, Bernard Tschumi, Anthony Vidler, and Hajime Yatsuka. It is an understatement to say that this volume is indispensable for any scholar or student interested in contemporary architectural theory. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Architecture From the Outside In Robert Gutman, 2012-04-17 Architecture and sociology have been fickle friends over the past half century: in the 1960s, architects relied on sociological data for design solutions and sociologists were courted by the most prestigious design schools to lecture and teach. Twenty years later, at the height of postmodernism, it was passe to be concerned with the sociological aspects of architecture. Currently, the rising importance of sustainability in building, not to mention an economical crisis brought on in part by a real-estate bubble, have forced architects to consider themselves in a less autonomous way, perhaps bringing the profession full circle back to a close relationship with sociology. Through all these rises and dips, Robert Gutman was a strong and steady voice for both architecture and sociology. Gutman, a sociologist by training, infiltrated architecture's ranks in the mid-1960s and never looked back. A teacher for over four decades at Princeton's School of Architecture, Gutman wrote about architecture and taught generations of future architects, all while maintaining an outsider status that allowed him to see the architectural profession in an insightful, unique way. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Code X Peter Eisenman, Kurt Walter Forster, Luis Fernández-Galiano, Eisenman Architects, 2005 Peter Eisenman's competition-winning project for the City of Culture of Galicia in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, is a formidable battery of museums, libraries, and auditoriums, a cultural acropolis atop a spectacular hillside site in northeastern Spain. By excavating the hilltop and arranging six buildings as a kind of artificial topography, Eisenman creates a new warped landscape that seems to merge building and ground, that occupies the hilltop without seeming to have been built upon it. In CODEX, the New York-based Eisenman, known for a career of formal investigations, reveals in essays and illustrations his theory of coding as a device for producing form. Through more than three hundred line drawings and perspectives, the development of the code--and the buildings and landscape it informs--becomes apparent, culminating in a giant earthwork as excavation of the site begins. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Cities of Artificial Excavation Peter Eisenman, Alan Balfour, 1994 |
| peter eisenman house 1: John Hejduk, 7 Houses John Hejduk, 1979 |
| peter eisenman house 1: Safe Paola Antonelli, Museum of Modern Art (New York, N.Y.), 2005 Catalog of an exhibition held at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Oct. 16, 2005-Jan. 2, 2006. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Drawing on Architecture Jordan Kauffman, 2018-06-01 How architectural drawings emerged as aesthetic objects, promoted by a network of galleries, collectors, and institutions, and how this changed the understanding of architecture. Prior to the 1970s, buildings were commonly understood to be the goal of architectural practice; architectural drawings were seen simply as a means to an end. But, just as the boundaries of architecture itself were shifting at the end of the twentieth century, the perception of architectural drawings was also shifting; they began to be seen as autonomous objects outside the process of building. In Drawing on Architecture, Jordan Kauffman offers an account of how architectural drawings—promoted by a network of galleries and collectors, exhibitions and events—emerged as aesthetic objects and ultimately attained status as important cultural and historical artifacts, and how this was both emblematic of changes in architecture and a catalyst for these changes. Kauffman traces moments of critical importance to the evolution of the perception of architectural drawings, beginning with exhibitions that featured architectural drawings displayed in ways that did not elucidate buildings but treated them as meaningful objects in their own right. When architectural drawings were seen as having intrinsic value, they became collectible, and Kauffman chronicles early collectors, galleries, and sales. He discusses three key exhibitions at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York; other galleries around the world that specialized in architectural drawings; the founding of architecture museums that understood and collected drawings as important cultural and historical artifacts; and the effect of the new significance of architectural drawings on architecture and architectural history. Drawing on interviews with more than forty people directly involved with the events described and on extensive archival research, Kauffman shows how architectural drawings became the driving force in architectural debate in an era of change. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Open Architecture Esra Akcan, 2018-04-09 Toward an open architecture: the International Building Exhibition in Berlin. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Weekend Utopia Alastair Gordon, 2001-05 The Hamptons are hot. Gordon, who grew up there, traces the invention of the idea of the Hamptons as a resort for the elite of New York City and shows how various forces, including artists, real estate developers, and media professionals transformed what had been a quiet rural place into a modern and worldwide phenomenon. 175 illustrations. |
| peter eisenman house 1: From Bauhaus to Our House Tom Wolfe, 2009-11-24 After critiquing—and infuriating—the art world with The Painted Word, award-winning author Tom Wolfe shared his less than favorable thoughts about modern architecture in From Bauhaus to Our Haus. In this examination of the strange saga of twentieth century architecture, Wolfe takes such European architects as Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Le Corbusier, and Bauhaus art school founder Walter Gropius to task for their glass and steel box designed buildings that have influenced—and infected—America’s cities. |
| peter eisenman house 1: House and Home Thomas Barrie, 2017-03-16 House and home are words routinely used to describe where and how one lives. This book challenges predominant definitions and argues that domesticity fundamentally satisfies the human need to create and inhabit a defined place in the world. Consequently, house and home have performed numerous cultural and ontological roles, and have been assiduously represented in scripture, literature, art, and philosophy. This book presents how the search for home in an unpredictable world led people to create myths about the origins of architecture, houses for their gods, and house tombs for eternal life. Turning to more recent topics, it discusses how writers often used simple huts as a means to address the essentials of existence; modernist architects envisioned the capacity of house and home to improve society; and the suburban house was positioned as a superior setting for culture and family. Throughout the book, house and home are critically examined to illustrate the perennial role and capacity of architecture to articulate the human condition, position it more meaningfully in the world, and assist in our collective homecoming. |
| peter eisenman house 1: Such Places as Memory John Hejduk, 1998-04-28 The poems of an architect whose affection for urban reality and imagined space is as evident in his writing as in his buildings and drawings. The poems of John Hejduk are almost nonpoetic: still lives of memory, sites of possessed places. They give a physical existence to the words themselves and an autobiographical dimension to the architect. Architect Peter Eisenman likens them to secret agents in an enemy camp.Writing about Hejduk's poems in 1980, Eisenman observed, Walter Benjamin has said that Baudelaire's writings on Paris were often more real than the experience of Paris itself. Both drawing and writing contain a compaction of themes which in their conceptual density deny reduction and exfoliation for a reality of another kind: together they reveal an essence of architecture itself. This is the first comprehensive collection of Hejduks poems to be published outside an architectural setting. |
| peter eisenman house 1: 20/1 , 1990 |
| peter eisenman house 1: Twenty Buildings Every Architect Should Understand Simon Unwin, 2010-02-25 Have you ever wondered how the ideas behind the world’s greatest architectural designs came about? What process does an architect go through to design buildings which become world-renowned for their excellence? This book reveals the secrets behind these buildings. He asks you to ‘read’ the building and understand its starting point by analyzing its final form. Through the gradual revelations made by an understanding of the thinking behind the form, you learn a unique methodology which can be used every time you look at any building. |
