Staff Pick
If you had the skills and the means to build your dream home, what would it look like? As someone who's always been a bit infatuated with mid-century design, I can tell you mine would draw more than a little inspiration from the homes in this book. Handcrafted Modern showcases homes created by some of the most celebrated mid-century architects and designers — homes created for themselves. Williamson's stunning photographs capture not only craftsmanship at its finest, but also the fading colors, worn edges, and personal effects that make a house a home. Designers and daydreamers alike will find inspiration in this lavish book. Recommended By Tove H., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
An intimate and revealing collection of photographs of astonishingly beautiful, iconic, and undiscovered mid-century interiors. Among significant mid-century interiors, none are more celebrated yet underpublished as the homes created by architects and interior designers for themselves. This collection of newly commissioned photographs presents the most compelling homes by influential mid-century designers, such as Russel Wright, George Nakashima, Harry Bertoia, Charles and Ray Eames, and Eva Zeisel, among others. Intimate as well as revelatory, Williamson’s photographs show these creative homes as they were lived in by their designers: Walter Gropius’s historic Bauhaus home in Massachusetts; Albert Frey’s floating modernist aerie on a Palm Springs rock outcropping; Wharton Esherick’s completely handmade Pennsylvania house, from the organic handcarved staircase to the iconic furniture. Personal and breathtaking by turn—these homes are exemplary studies of domestic modernism at its warmest and most creative.
Review
andldquo;Heavyweight Champsandmdash;Our picks from this yearandrsquo;s tempting crop of design books. Commune (Abrams) highlights work by the Los Angeles design group, known for its bohemian-chic approach to houses, hotels (such as LAandrsquo;s Ace), and home products.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Commune was established in Los Angeles in 2004 by four like-minded soulsandmdash;Roman Alonso, Steven Johanknecht, Pamela Shamshiri, and Ramin Shamshiriandmdash; with a common mission: to enhance life through design and to blur the lines between disciplines, eras, and styles. California is for those who refuse to conform and who live for freedom of expression, indoor/outdoor living, and that golden sunshine glinting off the waves of the Pacific. Commune perfectly captures this spirit and embodies a new California style that freely mixes old and new in its layered, highly personal interiors that embrace color, pattern, and texture. This book is the first monograph of Communeandrsquo;s work, featuring its designs for private residences, hotels, commercial spaces, and restaurants, as well as the works they specially commission from virtually everyone in the artisan craftsman movement in California today.
About the Author
Commune was founded in 2004 by the four authors. Their many high-profile clients include the ACE Hotel and Swim Club (Palm Springs), ACE Hotel Downtown LA, Heath Ceramics, Farmshop, Oliver Peoples, the Standard, and Kiki De Montparnasse.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Wharton Esherick
George Nakashima
Harry Bertoia
Russel Wright
Jens Risom
Eva Zeisel
Vladimir Kagan
Irving Harper
Walter Gropius
Jerome & Evelyn Ackerman
Charles & Ray Eames
J.B. Blunk
John Kapel
ALbert Frey