Synopses & Reviews
American Dream documents the Houses at Sagaponac, a groundbreaking architecture project initiated by real estate developer Harry J. Brown. The project features homes designed by internationally recognized architects on a 10-acre site near the tip of Long Island. THe region has nurtured modern housing in previous decades, and the weekend homes and artist studios of the 1960s and 1970s serve as early precursors to the project. Additonal sources of inspiration for the Sagaponac houses include Case Study Houses in California commissioned by
Arts + Architecture magazine in the 1950s and the famed 1927 Weissenhof Siedlung experimental housing in Stuttgart, Germany.
Pritzker Prize-winning architect Richard Meier is creative advisor to the initiative and is also designing one of the houses. Meier collaborated with Brown on architect selection, bringing together well-known figures like Michael Graves, Philip Johnson, and Richard Rogers with acclaimed younger practitioners, including Gisue and Mojgan Jariri, Jesse Reiser and Nanako Umenoto, Lindy Roy, and Deborah Berke.
The designs of all the Sagaponac Houses are illustrated in full-color and are accompanied by floor plans, architectural drawings, and computer renderings.
Synopsis
A bold new entry into the sometimes dreary world of real estate subdivisions is turning heads. American Dream is an unprecedented initiative bringing together thirty-eight internationally renowned architects to design affordable homes that also push the envelope of contemporary design. The one-of-a-kind project developed by architect Richard Meier and funded by real estate mogul Harry J. Brown, Jr., could serve as a model for future projects that join the high-design world of contemporary architecture with the mass appeal of suburban housing. Among the internationally renowned modernist architects assembled by Meier are Philip Johnson, Michael Graves, Zaha Hadid, Steven Holl, Eric Owen Moss, and Richard Rogers. The modern houses at Sagaponac stand in stark contrast to the oversized and gaudy "McMansions" that have become ubiquitous features of suburban America. American Dream: The Houses at Sagaponac introduces readers to a fascinating and successful project that seems destined to expand the possibilities of affordable, modern home design. The reservation list is growing.
About the Author
Harry (Coco) Joe Brown Jr. has been a fixture in the arts since his landmark 1960 production of Beckett's "Knapp's Last Tape" and Edward Albee's "The Zoo Story." Mr. Brown initially supported himself and his endeavors with real estate investments which have now grown into a large and successful holding company. Educated at Yale and Oxford, he was tutored in writing first by Robert Pen Warren and then in philosophy and writing by Iris Murdock.
Richard Meier established his office in New York in 1963. He received numerous prices for his work, including the Pritzker Prize in Architecture in 1984, the Royal Gold Medal of the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1988, the Gold Medal of the American Institute of Architects in 1997, and the Praemium Imperiale in 1997.
Alastair Godon is an architectural historian and journalist who contributes regularly to The New York Times and Dwell. His most recent book is titled Weekend Utopia.