Stuff from France, including a Finnish chair by Olavi Hanninen and a wall mount Lampe Gras designed by Bernard-Albin Gras.
Le Corbusier with a Lampe Gras
I went to Berlin and bought a book.
More on Interbau later.
Weekend / Stuff
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Visuals in Clay / Stan Bitters
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Weekend / Stuff
Jens Risom, La Gardo Tackett and an iron and wood shelf.
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LAMA Auction / June 2018
Ruth Asawa (1965)
Gio Ponti
If I were ever to live with a Scandinavian table, I would like it to be with this one by Paavo Tynell for Taito Oy, Finland.
Bill Lam coffee table and VKG sofa.
George Nakashima Conoid room divider with monster Moulthrop vases. Phillip is on the left and Ed is on the right.
George again. This time with Dan Christensen.
More George
Espenet chess table.
LAMbA
Dave Muller
Stephens Tru-Sonic Speaker by Charles and Ray Eames
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Weekend / Stuff
A-frame mailbox. Made in Los Angeles, 1950s
Susan Peterson
Edward Durell Stone for Fulbright Industries, 1951
Euro stuff
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Richard Saar Ceramics / AMOCA
Curated by Jo Lauria, AMOCA Adjunct Curator
Richard Saar (1924 – 2004)
To be honest, although I know I've seen Saar's work around, it never really registered with me. The only Saar I was familiar with was his ex-wife Betye Saar. They were married from 1952-70.
After serving in the Coast Guard in World War II, Richard moved to Los Angeles to finish his arts education. In 1949 he started a ceramics business will his brother William. It operated until 1962. This exhibition includes an overview of his work.
Early studio production.
Most of the output by Saar Ceramics consisted of production slipware from molds, cast from handmade originals.
The ephemera wall
I know you saw that lantern hanging back there. In the late 1940's Richard went to school with Malcolm Leland at Jepson Art Institute in Los Angeles.
The exhibition runs until September 16th
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Weekend / Stuff
Huge Martz lamps and Ben Seibel
Smalls, including Susan Peterson and a Pond Farm-y pot.
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Dieter Rams / Wright
On July 12th Wright presents Dieter Rams: The JF Chen Collection at auction. Featuring over 130 works by the seminal designer and his colleagues at Braun and Vitsoe.
The items up for sale were exhibited last year at JF Chen.
In 1955 Rams began working as an architect at Braun and was chief designer from 1961 until 1995.
In the 1960s he designed a furniture collection for Vitsœ, including the 606 universal shelving system and 620 chair series.
Dieter's desk.
Dieter at home.
Source: Yatzer
Coming in just a few months is Rams, a documentary portrait of Dieter Rams. Produced and directed by Gary Hustwit, of Objectified and Helvetica fame. Original score and music for Rams is by Brian Eno.
Source: Gary Hutswit
See all the lots available at Wright
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Harwell Hamilton Harris / Hawk House
The Edwin (Stan) Hawk House by Harwell Hamilton Harris (1939) is for sale.
Back in 2011 I posted about Stan Hawk's house being the actual Hawk House, of California iron fame. It was nice to actually see inside. Unfortunately none of the iron was left.
So I brought my own.
There is a bedroom under the deck seen in the above photo. Those windows are sliders, which open up for a nice breeze. However, it would be quite a drop if you stumbled out of bed in the wrong direction.
The Japanese influence is seen throughout the house.
It is Silver Lake but I thought the boho furniture for the staging was a little much.
Originally, it was a little more subdued.
What's with that tree brach?
The built-in shelving and soffit lighting are so good.
Stan probably tinkered around with Hawk House designs in this garage.
The view from the driveway is the Howe house by Schindler. It's getting a paint job.
Just down the street is the 1958 house and studio the architect Allyn E Morris built for himself.
As can be seen in this 1948 Arts & Architecture ad, Hawk House braziers were specified for all Case Study houses.
One of my favorite games over the years has been spotting the Hawk ashtray in period architecture photos.
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Weekend / Stuff
Inco
Not a banner weekend on the junk front.
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Bauhaus / Dessau
In May I spent some time in Europe. I saw a lot of castles, but this was my favorite.
Bauhaus at Dessau was constructed in 1925-26. It was designed by the founder of the Bauhaus, Walter Gropius and was commissioned and paid for by the city of Dessau.
Bauhaus, shortly after completion.
Source: © Lucia Moholy Estate via 99 Percent Invisible
For some context of the time period, check out the buildings in the distance.
Source: Bauhaus
It still operates as a school. There's also a museum and café.
The dorms where junior masters and promising students lived and worked.
It's where Marcel Breuer, Josef Albers, Herbert Bayer, Franz Ehrlich, Marianne Brandt, and Anni Albers slept.
It is also where a much less important design geek spent the night. I was able to call Bauhaus home for a night. It was so special.
Gropius handles are everywhere.
In bed at Bauhaus.
László Moholy-Nagy Bauhaus balconies
Source: The Charnel-House
Die Bauhausburger!
Founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar, Germany, in 1919, the Bauhaus was located in Dessau from 1925 to 1932. On the run from the Nazis, the school was moved to Berlin in 1932, before closing down in 1933. Many of the artists, designers and architects moved to the United States and taught at Harvard, MIT, Black Mountain College and even Pond Farm. Almost a century later, the Bauhaus influence on art, design and architecture is still powerful.
Dessau is less than a two hour drive from Berlin. It's a modern mecca. Besides the school, there are a few other buildings in Dessau I'll post later.
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Weekend / Stuff
Alvar Aalto at my favorite rest stop on the I-5.
The George Nelson gods were smiling down on me.
Robert Maxwell, Donald Saxby and a clock
More rusty iron.
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Dessau / Bauhaus Architecture
Kornhaus (1930) by Carl Fieger
Located on the Elbe River, the city of Dessau, with the brewery Schultheiss-Patzenhofer, commissioned the construction of the Kornhaus restaurant. Fieger was a draftsman for Walter Gropius.
Kornhaus is still a restaurant. I had asparagus and potatoes. Asparagus season is a big deal in Germany. It's large and white--I'm talking about the asparagus.
Steel House (1927) by Georg Muche and Richard Paulick. It too was commissioned by the city of Dessau. The return on that investment in architecture must have been pretty insane. I imagine thousands of people head to Dessau every year to see these buildings.
The house was planned as a prototype, but it wasn't a success.
Employment Office (1929) by Walter Gropius
Gropius designed a round building with a glass saw-tooth roof.
I really wish I was able to go inside.
Source: Bauhaus Dessau
The city of Dessau also commissioned Walter Gropius to build three pairs of identical semi-detached houses for the Bauhaus masters and a detached house for the director.
The list of people who lived in the houses is incredible: László Moholy-Nagy, Lyonel Feininger, Georg Muche, Oskar Schlemmer, Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee, Hannes Meyer, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Josef Albers, Hinnerk Scheper and Alfred Arndt.
Walter Gropius and László Moholy-Nagy only used furniture by Marcel Breuer in their house. Unfortunately, the house was destroyed in an air raid during WWII.
The Kandinsky / Klee master house, which is currently going through restoration.
New Masters’ House (2014) by Bruno Fioretti Marquez
The structures were built where the original Gropius / Moholy-Nagy house stood. It's used as an exhibition space.
On the walk over to the Masters' houses, I ran across Bauart.
They sell Bauhaus designs and art...duh.
They have some great pieces, including Wilhelm Wagenfeld light fixtures.
Plus, they like to party.
ROWAC stool designed by Robert Wagner Chemnitz (not a Bauhaus guy), but there were used in the classrooms and workshops at the Bauhaus.
Check. Here are some ROWAC stools in the mural workshop at Bauhaus, Dessau (1926).
Source: Bauhaus University Weimar, Archive of Modernity
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Weekend / Stuff
Jens Risom, Bill Lam and another Tork!
French wall shelf
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Soleri Homes / For Sale
The Paolo Soleri and Mark Mills, Dome House (1949), in Cave Creek, Arizona is for sale.
The house is listed at only $300,000! The photos on Realtor.com were actually just lifted off a post I did in 2012. At that point I was only able to see it from a distance. They could have at least used the ones from when I was there in 2017. They're better and include interior shots...
It's an amazing piece of architecture, but it was designed by two young architects at the beginning of their careers using experimental materials. One big issue is the dome was originally designed to slide open and there was a shield to protect the interior from the blaring sun. That functionality is long gone, which makes for a torturous summer under the dome.
Image: Julius Shulman, © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)
Image: Julius Shulman, © J. Paul Getty Trust. Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles (2004.R.10)
The bedroom and main entrance is located opposite of the dome. The thick concrete and stone walls make for a cooler cave-like atmosphere.
Source: Soleri and Mills model, 1949 - MoMA
Soleri and Mills were former apprentices under Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin West, and it shows. The house was commissioned by Lenora Woods, who would soon become Paolo's mother-in-law.
Also for sale is this 1981 Soleri house. His only solo single family house. It's located in Phoenix and is a lot bigger and considerably more expensive, currently listed at $1,879,000. That element on the front left is so Arcosanti.
Source: Realtor
Source: Realtor
Source: Realtor
Considering the rest of the furniture, this is probably not a real Nakashima set.
Hi "Eames" bird.
Source: Realtor
I did a drive by back in 2014 and took a few photos.
It's interesting that the only two Soleri houses not owned by the Cosanti Foundation are currently for sale. One has to wonder if this is fall out from his daughter Daniela's recent abuse allegations.
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Weekend / Stuff
I found some pots this weekend. David Cressey Pro Artisan designs for Architectural Pottery. A couple are on Malcolm Leland forms. The striped one is an atypical piece by Stan Bitters.
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JB Blunk / Oakland Museum of California
J.B. Blunk: Nature, Art & Everyday Life at the Oakland Museum of California
I began making wood sculpture in 1962. I knew how to use a chainsaw and it was one of those things. One day you just start. - J.B. Blunk
Mage and Flying Stone were both included in an exhibition at The Landing in 2015. Hawk Arch below was as well.
Bronze
Clay
A great number of the pieces in the exhibition came directly from the Blunk house.
J.B.'s buckskin shirt
The stone sculpture on the right reminds me of Isamu Noguchi's Radio Nurse. Noguchi was a big influence on Blunk.
Maquettes
This incredible stone sculpture is from the house as well.
The Oakland Museum has been a longtime fan of Blunk. The Planet was commissioned by the museum in 1969 and is still enjoyed daily by visitors, especially the kids.
Correspondence regarding the commission was on display.
A note from J.B. about the wood he would be using.
Ephemera
The exhibition runs until September 9th.
Don't miss it.
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Weekend / Stuff
ROWAC stool designed by Robert Wagner Chemnitz. They were used in the classrooms and workshops at the Bauhaus. Oh yeah, and I finally stopped off at the dunes to take a photo. I guess off the off roaders don't go out when it's 107 degrees...wimps!
I've bought so many wire baskets over the years hoping it was the one shown in this photo of Good Design 1953 at the Merchandise Mart, Chicago.
I finally found the right one.
Here is the designer, Helen Pope, holding it.
I also picked up another Edward Durell Stone table/bench.
Plus, a Kipp Stewart & Stewart MacDougall bench for Wichendon.
Wood
Maurice Grossman cup for the collection
Baby weed pot
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Cité Frugès / Le Cobusier
The Cité Frugès housing complex (1924-1926) was designed by French-Swiss architect Le Corbusier. French industrialist Henry Frugès commissioned Le Corbusier to design 135 housing units for workers in his sugar factory in Pessac, outside Bordeaux. The goal was for the cost to be such that an average worker could afford to purchase a unit with one year's salary. The minimalist architecture, which was extremely different than what people were used to at the time, did not appeal to the workers and only 51 units were actually built. It was still the first large-scale residential development by Le Corbusier.
Seven prototypes were designed for the project.
The units are individually-owned. Some have been restored and as we cane see here, some have not.
The town of Pessac, where the development is located, purchased this "skyscraper" unit and it operates as a museum. The docent who showed us around was so nice.
One of the units is available to stay in via Airbnb
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Weekend / Stuff
Large ceramic platter by Felix Tissot. This was made while he was living in California, prior to his move to Mexico. There's also a iron bowl from Japan, a welded metal sculpture and a 1940s cerused oak stool.
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More Pages to Explore .....
