Synopses & Reviews
The design of housing has commanded the attention of the greatest architects of the twentieth century. In this stunning volume, Roger Sherwood presents thirty-two notable examples of multi-family housing from many countries and four continents, selected for their importance as prototypes. Designed by such masters as Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and Alvar Aalto, they range from single-house clusters to row-houses, terrace houses, party-wall and large-courtyard housing, to urban high-rise towers and slabs.
The thirty-two buildings or housing complexes are illustrated with photographs, site plans, floor plans, elevations, and marvelous axonometric drawings. In each case Mr. Sherwood gives background information on the project, mention, factors the architect had to take into consideration (social, environmental, financial), points out creative solutions to particular problems, and comments on special features of the design. Laymen as well as professionals will find his presentations enlightening.
In the Introduction, Mr. Sherwood sets forth the basic principles of organization that apply to housing. He analyzes first the limited number of ways in which individual apartments or living units can be laid out (each type or plan lending itself to variations and permutations) and then the ways in which different units can be vertically and horizontally organized within a single building. Drawings and plans of more than eighty housing complexes in twenty countries accompany his analysis.
Mr. Sherwood offers his book in the belief that there is no excuse for shoddy architecture; that no branch of architecture is more important than the design of human habitations; and that much is to be learned from the study of significant buildings of the recent past.
Review
By including idiosyncratic works, Sherwood has encompassed the best that 'modern' architecture has offered us to live in. His list of examples is difficult to fault and his drawings and informative text make this book well worth owning. Journal of Architectural Education
Review
Presented so clearly and concisely, Sherwood's projects may be easily compared and are comprehensible to those unfamiliar with housing design. The book itself is attractively organized, harmoniously balancing text, photograph, and drawing. The juxtaposition of these, as well as the use of color in selected axonometrics, adds not only to the beauty of this collection but also to the accessibility and clarity of the projects presented within. The Yale Graduate Professional
About the Author
Roger Sherwood is a practicing architect and Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Southern California.
Table of Contents
Introduction Detached and Semidetached Housing
Suntop Homes Frank Lloyd Wright
El Pueblo Ribera Court Rudolph M. Schindler
Daal en Berg Duplex Houses Jan Wils
Group of Court Houses Mies van der Rohe
Kingo Houses Jørn Utzon
Rowhousing
Weissenhof Exhibition Mies van der Rohe
Weissenhof Exhibition J. J. P. Oud
Vienna Werkbund Exposition André Lurçat
Ichinomiya Kenzo Tange and Urtec
Siedlung Halen Atelier 5
Fleet Road Terrace Housing Neave Brown
Party-Wall Housing
25 bis Rue Franklin Apartments Auguste Ferret
Avenue de Versailles Apartments Jean Ginsberg
Porte Molitor Apartments Le Corbusier
Casa Rustici Pietro Lingeri and Giuseppe Terragni
Parklaan Apartments W. van Tijen
Block Housing
Immeuble Villas Le Corbusier
Spangen Quarter Michiel Brinkman
Nirwana Apartments Johannes Duiker
Hansaviertel Apartments Alvar Aalto
Slabs
Immeuble Clarté Le Corbusier
Narkomfin Apartments Moses Ginzburg and I. Milinis
Unité d'Habitation Le Corbusier
Harumi Apartment House Kunio Maekawa
Durand Apartment Project Le Corbusier
Zomerdijkstraat Atelier Apartments Zanstra, Giesen, and Sijmons
Towers
Victorieplein Tower J. F. Staal
Hoogbouw Towers Johannes Duiker and J. C. Wiebenga
Price Tower Frank Lloyd Wright
Neue Vahr Apartments Alvar Aalto
Hansaviertel Tower J. H. van den Broek and J. B. Bakema
Peabody Terrace Sert, Jackson, and Gourley
Further Reading