5 Ws of... Kykuit

 

What: Kyukit, home to America’s Rockefeller family.

Who: Delano & Aldrich designed and built the home as a country retreat for John D. Rockefeller Sr.; landscape architect William Wiles Bosworth created the gardens; and Ogden Codman designed the interiors.

Where: Pocantico Hills, New York

When: Completed 1913

Why: A study in symmetry with its tall, elaborately carved façade, Kykuit, like many American Beaux-Arts buildings, draws architectural inspiration from several European sources, including the Italian Renaissance and the French Norman house.  It is situated to overlook magnificent gardens with fountains and stone terraces, as well as to enjoy the panorama of the Hudson River beyond.  The gardens and the interiors were influenced by Edith Wharton’s book, Italian Villas and their Gardens, of 1904.  The house today provides a showcase for the Rockefeller collections of ceramics, furniture, paintings and sculpture. 

For more information, please visit www.hudsonvalley.org

Info courtesy “The House Book” (Phaidon).  Images via Google.   

5Ws of... Louis XVI Style

 

 

What: The period of Louis XVI, King of France, also known as Louis Seize, is marked by revival of ancient classicism, severe rectangular lines and architectural ornament.  The character and function of individual pieces scarcely varied from the lines established under Louis Quinze.  Commodes, chairs and sofas, desks and tables merely assumed straight lines.  Fabrics were of small-patterned silks, (small patterned tapestries, and the whole range of Louis XV materials.  The vogue for printing cotton and linen create the toiles du Jouy.

Who: Jean Francois Riesener was the great master of the era.  Others such as David Roentgen, Georges Jacob and his son known as Jacob-Desmalter, and others also contributed to the signature style of the era.  Others, like Beneman and Weisweiler, worked so closely to the antique architectural ideal that they actually created the later Empire style.

Where: Though the style is most closely associated with France, it was greatly influenced by architectural unearthing of Pompeii and Herculaneum.  Ancient architectural forms became the basis of furniture design.

When: 1774 – 1793, the period associated with Louis XVI, is also known as The Classic Revival, or the first phase of Classicism.

Why: Marie-Antoinette (Kirsten Dunst): So, I hear you like to make keys as a hobby? Louis XVI (Jason Schwartzman): Yes. Marie-Antoinette: And do you enjoy making keys? Louis XVI: Obviously.

Information: The Encyclopedia of Furniture.  Images: Furniture, Niermann Weeks; Fabric, Brunschwig; Interiors, Elle Décor; film still from “Marie-Antoinette.” Quote from “Marie-Antoinette,” 2006.   

Ada Louise Huxtable, 1921 - 2013

 

Ada Louise Huxtable, who pioneered modern architectural criticism in the pages of The New York Times, celebrating buildings that respected human dignity and civic history — and memorably scalding those that did not — died on Monday in Manhattan. She was 91.

Beginning in 1963, as the first full-time architecture critic at an American newspaper, she opened the priestly precincts of design and planning to everyday readers. For that, she won the first Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism, in 1970. More recently, she was the architecture critic of The Wall Street Journal.

“Mrs. Huxtable invented a new profession,” a valedictory Times editorial said in 1981, just as she was leaving the newspaper, “and, quite simply, changed the way most of us see and think about man-made environments.”

At a time when architects were still in thrall to blank-slate urban renewal, Ms. Huxtable championed preservation — not because old buildings were quaint, or even necessarily historical landmarks, but because they contributed vitally to the cityscape.

“I wish people would stop asking me what my favorite buildings are,” Ms. Huxtable wrote in The Times in 1971, adding, “I do not think it really matters very much what my personal favorites are, except as they illuminate principles of design and execution useful and essential to the collective spirit that we call society.

“For irreplaceable examples of that spirit I will do real battle.”

From The New York Times. Image at top: Ada Louise Huxtable, with Arthur Ochs Sulzberger, in 1970, when she won the first Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism; via The New York Times. 

5Ws of... Pomander Walk

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What: Pomander Walk is a village-in-a-city, a tiny pedestrian-only street of tiny houses running from 94th to 95th Street between Broadway and West End Avenue. Although apparently built as a temporary improvement, landmark designation in 1982 has kept it permanent.  It is named for the play ''Pomander Walk'' -- a romantic comedy set on a small street in Georgian London – which opened in New York in 1910. 

 Who: The popularity of “Pomander Walk” crested just when Thomas J. Healy was at the height of his fame as a nightclub operator.  Born in Ireland, Healy arrived in the United States as a boy and accumulated a string of cafes and catering operations.  He acquired a 200-year leasehold on the property and hired the architectural firm of King & Campbell to create a mews based on the set of the popular play.  

 When: Healy filed plans for Pomander Walk in 1921 and announced plans to build a large hotel on the site shortly thereafter. The diminutive size of the buildings and Healy's announced plans for the hotel indicate that he considered the Walk an interim improvement.  But the hotel was never built and Pomander Walk acquired Landmark status in 1982.

Where:   King & Campbell designed a row of two-story Tudor-style residences with varying facades of brick, stucco and mock half-timbering. These carried over the scale but not the exact style of the original play's stage set.   Twenty two-story houses facing one another across a walkway run from West 94th to West 95th Streets, along with seven houses fronting only on 94th and 95th Streets. 

Why: ''You have no idea the number of people who walk by and stop at the gate and say, 'You mean people actually live here?' '' – Resident Stan Clickstein

Info via The New York Times.  Images: urt.parsons.edu (1), daytoninmanhattan.blogspot.com (2,3), bitingthebigapple.blogspot.com (4), forbes.com (5). 

5Ws of… Philip Johnson’s Glass House

What:  The Philip Johnson Glass House, a National Trust Historic Site, offers its 47-acre campus as a catalyst for the preservation and interpretation of modern architecture, landscape, and art; and as a canvas for inspiration and experimentation honoring the legacy of Philip Johnson (1906-2005) and David Whitney (1939-2005).

 

Who:  Philip Cortelyou Johnson was born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1906. Following his graduation from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design in 1943, Johnson designed some of America’s greatest modern architectural landmarks. Most notable is his private residence, the Glass House, a 47-acre property in New Canaan, Connecticut. Other works include: the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden at The Museum of Modern Art, numerous homes, New York’s AT&T Building (now Sony Plaza), and the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California. An associate of Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in the 1950s, Johnson worked with the modern master on the design of the Seagram Building and its famed Four Seasons Restaurant.  Before practicing architecture, Johnson was the founding Director of the Department of Architecture at The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. His landmark 1932 exhibition, The International Style, introduced modern architecture to the American public. Johnson continued a relationship with MoMA throughout his life as a curator, architect, trustee, and patron. He donated more than 2,000 works of art to the Museum including works by Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and Robert Rauschenberg.

Where:  The Glass House sits on Johnson’s private estate in New Canaan.  The 49-acre campus now includes 14 buildings and an extensive art collection as well as an educational center. 

 

When: The Philip Johnson Glass House was completed in 1949. The Glass House began a fifty-year odyssey of architectural experimentation in forms, materials, and ideas through the addition of many "pavilions"—the Brick House/Guest House, Pond Pavilion, Painting Gallery, Sculpture Gallery, Ghost House, Library/Study, and DaMonsta—and the methodical sculpting of the surrounding forty-acre landscape.

Why: Johnson was a singular tastemaker, influencing architecture, art, and design during the second-half of the twentieth century. He referred to the Glass House site as his “fifty-year diary.”

The Glass House mission is twofold: for the 49-acre campus to become not only a center-point and catalyst for the preservation of modern architecture, landscape and art but also to foster new ideas and cultivate talent honoring the legacy of Philip Johnson (1906-2005) and David Whitney (1939-2005).

Images: Info and images (except Image 1) courtesy The Glass House/National Trust for Historic Preservation.  Image 1 courtesy New York Architecture.

5Ws of… Gift Guide, Part 3

Wrap up your holiday shopping by thinking outside the box: Please consider donating to a charity.  If someone on your list loves architecture, interiors or design, here are some suggestions.

Whether you donate to charity, select a book (from Gift Guide Part 2) or pick out a DVD (from Gift Guide Part 1), we hope all your gifts are well received. 

We wish you the happiest holidays!

What: Chic Charity… DIFFA

DIFFA: Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS is one of the country’s largest supporters of direct care for people living with HIV/AIDS and preventative education for those at risk.  Merging care and commerce, supporters of DIFFA come from all fields of fine design and the visual arts, including architecture, fashion design, interior design, photography and consumer product design. 

Since being founded in 1984 DIFFA has granted funds to organizations which fight AIDS by providing preventive education programs targeted to populations at risk of infection; treatment and direct-care services for people living with HIV/AIDS; and public policy initiatives which add resources to private sector efforts. 

To donate: www.diffa.org

Who: Women Making a Difference Right at Home…  Traditional Home’s Classic American Women

This signature program celebrates the spirit of volunteerism by recognizing standout charitable women from across the country.  Over the past eight years, Traditional Home has recognized a diverse range of extraordinary women who have made a difference in the lives of their communities.  Honorees have raised funds for public schools, healthcare, literacy, domestic abuse prevention, cancer treatment and much more.

To view honorees and learn more about how to donate: www.traditionalhome.com

Where: From Main Street to Your Street…  The National Trust for Historic Preservation

Historic preservation champions and protects places that tell the stories of our past.  It enhances our sense of community and brings us closer together: saving the places where we take our children to school, buy our groceries, and stop for coffee – preserving the stories of ancient cultures found in landmarks and landscapes we visit – protecting the memories of people, places and events honored in our national monuments. 

PLEASE NOTE: All donations made through December 31 will be matched dollar for dollar, up to $100,000, to fund NTHP’s Hurricane Sandy restoration efforts.  Your gift will help communities impacted by the storm rebuild historic treasures. 

To donate: www.preservationnation.org

When: When you empower design you empower the future…  ASID Foundation

The ASID Foundation advances the interior design profession by drawing upon its resources to promote meaningful collaboration and research, award scholarships and fund projects that broaden the value of interior design.

To donate: www.asidfoundation.org

Why: Because there’s no place like home… The American Red Cross

The Red Cross continues to focus on reaching as many people as possible who need help.  Your help is urgently needed to continue to support relief efforts.  Financial donations make the greatest and most immediate impact, helping the Red Cross provide shelter, food, emotional support and other assistance.

To donate: www.redcross.org/hurricane-sandy

All info and images courtesy affiliated charities.  

5Ws of…2012 Gift Guide, Part Two

We’re pleased to present the second in our three-part gift guide.  From a complete history of furniture to a behind-the-scenes look at some very chic lives, these cover some of the most engaging aspects of interior design.  Please see the previous post for great videos for design buffs, and please check in next week for gifts that give back to the design community.

What: Stylish and substantive lives, cataloged beautifully… “A Visual Life: Scrapbooks, Collages, and Inspirations”

Interior designer Charlotte Moss has spent years collecting as well as creating scrapbooks—a pastime both meditative and instructive about her own ideas regarding design and style. In this unique book, Moss brings together her own scrapbooks along with those of notable women, both contemporary and historical, whose flair for style inspires us, including interior designer Elsie de Wolfe and society doyenne Gloria Vanderbilt—all never before published. Organized by theme—home, garden, travel, entertaining, and fashion—each chapter includes examples of Moss’s signature style mingled with excerpts from the scrapbooks of these great women.

Who: Designer, starlet, socialite – mystery woman… “Florence Broadhurst: Her Secret and Extraordinary Lives”

Florence Broadhurst founded one of the most influential wallpaper studios of the Twentieth Century.  Her brightly-colored geometric and nature-inspired oversized designs were all hand printed. Technical advances made in her studio included printing onto metallic surfaces, the development of a washable, vinyl-coating finish and a drying rack system that allowed her wallpapers to be produced in large quantities.  Her wallpapers reportedly contained around 800 designs in eighty different colors.  In addition to being a prolific and legendary designer, Broadhurst was a starlet, a socialite… and the victim of a murder that remains a mystery 35 years later. 

Where: Home office or corner office…  “Habitually Chic: Creativity at Work”

Habitually Chic is author Heather Clawson's wildly popular blog about the finer things in life—high fashion, fine art, interior design, and arresting architecture. For Habitually Chic: Creativity at Work, Ms. Clawson has narrowed her vision and using the good will generated by her blog has found her way into the workspaces of the world's foremost cultural generators. The studios, workshops, offices, and creative sanctuaries of top designers, artists, editors, architects, and more are captured and presented in detail.

 

When: From colonial to contemporary…  “The Encyclopedia of Furniture”

It looks like it’s about 100 years old and some of the photos look like they were printed from slides, but this is hands-down the greatest desk reference for furniture styles and history. Not to judge a book by its cover but this one pretty much says it all: “Covering: Every period and development to the present, the designers and makers, the woods and other materials, the architecture and decoration.”

Why: Because there’s nothing like the original… “The Decoration of Houses”

One of America’s most important novelists, Edith Wharton was a refined, relentless chronicler of the Gilded Age and its social mores. Along with close friends Henry James, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Jack London, she helped define literature at the turn of the Twentieth Century, even as she wrote classic nonfiction on travel, decorating and her own life. Her best known works include The Age of Innocence (which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1921), The House of Mirth and Ethan Frome. The Decoration of Houses, her first book, is of special interest to designers.  House Beautiful declared, “Edith Wharton laid down the rules for decorating in her first book.  The Decoration of Houses was the law of the land, and it led to the birth of a new profession.”

Images and information courtesy bn.com, except Who, When and Why (via previous posts); image for Who via eviekemp.com.

5Ws of... 2012 Gift Guide, Part One

This holiday season, there’s a W for every design afficianado on your list… Starting with some great videos.  Check back next week for book suggestions, and the following week for gifts that give back to the design community.

What: A look behind the scenes… “Sketches of Frank Gehry”

Acclaimed film director Sydney Pollack took a five-year break from the realms of fiction to assemble a lovingly crafted tribute to longtime friend and acclaimed architect Frank Gehry in this documentary born from the sketches of its talented subject. A notoriously shy craftsman whose impressive body of work includes the Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, Ghery is shown working in his studio unobstructed as Pollack attempts to capture the very essence of the artist's bold works through use of film and digital video. Driven by an intimate but informal series of discussions between Ghery and Pollack, Sketches of Frank Gehry uses the subject of architecture as a launching point to discuss the creative process, and paints a fascinating portrait of how one humble man was able to create some of the world's most awe-inspiring structures.

Who: The iconic architect…  “Maya Lin: A Strong Clear Vision”

Maya Lin is the young artist who created the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington DC. This documentary profiles this and her other politically motivated artistic creations. It also chronicles her maturation from a very young, enthusiastic 20-year old artist who, just for a lark, submitted her winning entry in the national contest for would-be designers of the monument, to a mature and articulate artist.

Where: A little place in the country…  “Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House”

Fed up with crowded big-city living, advertising executive Mr. Blandings (Cary Grant) decides to seek out a big, roomy house in the country. Armed with more enthusiasm than common sense, Blandings causes many a headache for his lawyer/business manager Melvyn Douglas, who tries to keep the costs within a reasonable amount. Alas, Blandings bulls ahead on his own, first purchasing an estate on the verge of collapse, then opting to build his dream house from scratch.

When: Midcentury modern… “Eames: The Architect and the Painter”

Actor James Franco narrates this richly textured documentary on the celebrated husband-and-wife design team of Charles and Ray Eames. In addition to creating extraordinary plywood and fiberglass furniture, the Eames' also produced everything from children's toys to splints for wounded World War II soldiers.

Why: Because “Life is a banquet, and most poor suckers are starving to death!”… Auntie Mame

Images and copy courtesy bn.com.

Unplugged

Dear readers,

After two years and hundreds of posts, it's time to take a brief break. 

For the next 10 weeks, I'm going to look at the world without immediately taking a picture with my phone; dig through archives because something interests me, not because it might drive traffic; and write letters - alright, emails - more often than I tweet or text.  It's time to be curious just for curiosity's sake, whether or not anyone anywhere else might find my discoveries interesting.

In short, it's time to unplug.

Thank you all so much for reading, writing and recommending.  It's been wonderful to share icons and ideas and find that you like them too.  I look forward to reconnecting with you and to sharing more of the Who, What, When, Where and Why of iconic design in a few weeks.

In the meantime, please email me if you would like to stay in touch, or if you have an idea for the next round of 5Ws.  And please visit the sites on the blogroll to keep up on the latest in design, furnishings and interiors.

See you in 2013!
Kate 

5Ws of… Diana Vreeland’s Living Room

What: “Then a photograph of her living room appeared in a magazine.  Never had I seen such profusion, so much red! Red on the floor, red up the walls, and textures, textures, TEXTURES! Plaid on top of paisley, flowered chintz next to silk stripes, and silver, tortoise, ebony, conch, gilt – a magnificent explosion in the midst of a beige decade, a world in which the worst sin was to ‘clash.’ You knew the moment you looked at Mrs. Vreeland’s living room that you had seen the future. And indeed, it eventually became the great cliché of New York décor.” – Mary Louise Wilson, introduction to D.V. by Diana Vreeland.

Who: Billy Baldwin designed the living room in 1955.

When: Diana Vreeland burst onto the scene in 1936, when she began working at Harper’s Bazaar. She later worked at Vogue and The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 

 

Where: Legend has it she wanted her living room to look “like a garden, but a garden in hell.”

Why: “Why don’t you paint a map of the world on all four walls of your boys’ nursery so they won’t grow up with a provincial point of view?”

Images: With Fabulous Flair, Habitually Chic, Apartment Therapy, Architectural Digest, Harper's Bazaar (SJP as DV)

5Ws of... Hit the Books!

One of the best parts of back-to-school is cracking open all those new books.  If the back-to-school season has you in the mood to brush up on the Who, What, When, Where and Why of iconic design, the following books can help.

 Who: Billy Baldwin: The Great American Decorator by Adam Lewis

The definitive book on the legendary decorator Billy Baldwin, known as the "Dean of American Decorating," famous for his classical taste, streamlined modernism, and brilliant use of color. In the tradition of Rizzoli’s Albert Hadley and David Hicks, this is the first fully illustrated account of the career of Billy Baldwin (1903–1983), one of the most important decorators of the twentieth century, whose work has influenced contemporary designers from Bunny Williams to Jeffrey Bilhuber. With a foreword by Baldwin’s former student Albert Hadley, and enriched by never-before-published transcripts of four 1974 lectures that Baldwin gave at the Cooper-Hewitt, this is an important book for anyone interested in interior design.

What: Hans, His Chair and The World - a Children’s Book about Hans J. Wegner. 

With his 100 years anniversary just around the corner, Danish design icon Hans J. Wegner has become the center of a renewed international attention – resulting in new literary projects and exhibitions.  The richly illustrated book opens the world of the famous Danish furniture designer to the younger generations and draws attention to the old water tower in Wegner’s native city Tønder that has been transformed into a permanent collection of the Danish iconic chair designs.

When: The Stylemakers: Minimalism and Classic Modernism 1915-1945 by Mo Amelia Teitelbaum

In Paris in the 1920's a new style was born, rejecting the embellishments of Art Nouveau and Art Deco, paring down superfluous detail to the essence of classic modernism.  This new study documents how their interchange of partners and ideas led to innovation in every field of the arts. It is packed with fresh material and original insights on artists such as Man Ray, John Singer Sargent and Diaghilev.

Where: At Home with Town & Country by Sarah Medford 

These remarkable homes, lavishly photographed to the publication's singular standard, reflect the latest developments in residential architecture and design, including the “Invisible House,” Tadao Ando's avant-garde dwelling for the Benetton family in northern Italy and Antoine Predock's art-filled Dallas retreat for Deedie and Rusty Rose. But classic design also plays a part: here, too, are Chatsworth, the 400-year-old ancestral seat of the Dukes of Devonshire; Ralph and Ricky Lauren's 1920's-era family estate in Bedford, New York; and Spike and Tonya Lee's historic Manhattan town house. 

 

Why: House & Home by Orange Art Press

Go, little book, and wish to all

Flowers in the garden, meat in the hall,

A bin of wine, a spice of wit,

A house with lawns enclosing it,

A living river by the door,

A nightingale in the sycamore!

- Robert Louis Stevenson

Images and info: 1: Danish Agency for Culture/Press Release; 2, 3, 4: Potterton Books; 5: Orange Art Press.

5 Ws of... DOMINO Fall/Winter 2012

What: Domino’s new issue just hit stands this morning.  It’s a mix of old favorites from the late, great Domino magazine and some new spaces not published before. 

Who: This issue introduces the Domino Style Council, an eclectic (of course!) group of 13 designers from legends such as Steven Gambrel and Bunny Williams to retail powerhouse Jonathan Adler to bloggers and authors such as Heather Clawson and Phoebe Howard.  Their insights and advice are sprinkled throughout the issue.

Where: Inside the magazine you’ll find three sections.  For living room, dining room and bedroom ideas, see The Rooms.  In The Homes you’ll find features on six houses including the original magazine’s iconic feature on Jenna Lyon’s Brooklyn townhouse. And “It’s All in the Details” offers styling tips for mantels, bookcases and reading chairs.

When: This Fall/Winter edition will be on newsstands until December 3.  Not sure what the official on-sale date is, but copies have been popping up on a few newsstands near Conde Nast in Times Square and on the Upper East Side.

Why: “This special Domino issue satisfies several very basic human urges: the longing to stare open-mouthed at things of great beauty, to covet them, to copy them, even make them our own… Let the drooling begin…” – from the Editors’ Letter

Images courtesy Domino Fall/Winter 2012.