Case Study Houses - (40th Edition) by Elizabeth A T Smith (Hardcover)

About the Book

The Case Study House program was a landmark of American architecture, generating 36 prototype home designs that could be easily built. John Entenza recruited the era's best architects, such as Richard Neutra, Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen, to create the designs. This book reveals the prototypes in photography, floor plans, and sketches.

Book Synopsis

The Case Study House program (1945-1966) was an exceptional, innovative event in the history of American architecture and remains to this day unique. The program, which concentrated on the Los Angeles area and oversaw the design of 36 prototype homes, sought to make available plans for modern residences that could be easily and cheaply constructed during the postwar building boom.

The program's chief motivating force was Arts & Architecture editor John Entenza, a champion of modernism who had all the right connections to attract some of architecture's greatest talents, such as Richard Neutra, Charles and Ray Eames, and Eero Saarinen. Highly experimental, the program generated houses that were designed to redefine the modern home, and had a pronounced influence on architecture--American and international--both during the program's existence and even to this day.

TASCHEN brings you a retrospective of the entire program with comprehensive documentation, brilliant photographs from the period and, for the houses still in existence, contemporary photos, as well as extensive floor plans and sketches.

Review Quotes

"If buildings were people, those in Julius Shulman's photographs would be Grace Kelly: classically elegant, intriguingly remote."-- "ARTnews"

"Once you hold it in your hands, you immediately want to get a martini and sit by one of the pools."-- "Literaturen"

"The complete CSH program portrayed in stunning photos, detailed drawings, and clear essays."-- "Architectural Review"