Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The house is the architect's favorite form: an opportunity to work collaboratively with clients on design that shapes and enhances life and gives pleasure over time. Here the "House Partners" at RAMSA, four distinguished architects, present 25 houses and apartments the firm has completed in the past ten years, each a unique design and collectively a stylistically diverse group reflecting deep knowledge of history and precedent. Located in dramatic settings across North America--from Napa and Sonoma to the Michigan lakefront to the spectacular coastline of the Hamptons and New England--these remarkable houses reveal the architect's emphasis on the importance of context and his dedication to exploring the nature of space. Each house invokes the vernacular architectural heritage particular to its region while gracefully reflecting its unique natural surroundings. Whether they are shingle style "cottages" by the sea, colonial Georgian country estates, or elegant Regency designs, these houses are unique both for their timelessness and their ability to evoke a conversation with the past--a dialogue Stern and his partners believe lies at the heart of architecture.
Also featured are apartments in the many residential towers the firm has designed in New York, Philadelphia, Toronto, and Los Angeles. Foremost among them, of course, is 15 Central Park West, acknowledged as the most successful condominium in New York.
To give insight into the design process and client goals, each of the partners describes his own designs, focusing on the plannng and interior finishes. Stern is contributing an overview essay on the overall direction of the firm and linking the projects together.
Synopsis
For more than fifty years, Robert A.M. Stern Architects has designed extraordinary houses and residences around the world, each suffused with a rich understanding of traditional architecture and an intuitive sense of how to shape a home to the needs of modern life. Many of the firm's important early commissions were houses, and while RAMSA has since evolved into an internationally renowned firm with an extraordinarily broad portfolio, an unflagging dedication to timeless residential design has remained a cornerstone of the practice. In Houses: Robert A.M. Stern Architects, RAMSA's residential Partners--Roger H. Seifter, Randy M. Correll, Grant F. Marani, and Gary L. Brewer--offer an intimate look at RAMSA houses from the last ten years and explore how these residences embody the spirit of place and find harmony between the traditional and the contemporary. A 424-page visual feast of rich, full-color photographs and elegant drawings, the book presents a selection of 17 homes that showcase RAMSA's mastery of diverse styles and highlight the firm's collaboration with leading interior designers, landscape architects, craftspeople, and builders from around the world.
Featured are a rambling oceanside retreat in East Hampton; a mountain penthouse in the Rocky Mountains; a lakeside cottage in the Midwest; an urbane Park Avenue apartment; an elegant Mediterranean Revival villa in Fort Lauderdale; and a house in Singapore in that city's distinctive Black-and-White style. Together, the homes epitomize the quality, craftsmanship, and undeniable presence that define every RAMSA residence. With every page, readers will gain a deeper understanding of how RAMSA's architects honor context and time-honored design principles while always looking to the future, infusing established tradition with fresh life and anticipating how each home will grow, change, and evolve over the years.