Eames revisited, Paschal endangered, Lion disliked

Hi,

three subjects in todays post:

1. Eames revisited

My wife – we work together – discovered a bittersweet piece about revisiting the Eames residence after 60 years, written by Allon Schoener, a cultural historian, consultant, exhibition planner and author, posted on his blog.

Schoener, having been a frequent visitor of the Eames' in the 1950s, obviously enjoyed more than one breakfast with them. He describes how he saw the Eames house for the first time again after nearly 60 years this June.

A lovely and (understandably so) slightly melancholic short piece worth your time, about tender memories coming back from a friendship and a time long gone.

Read it here.

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2. Paschal endangered

Another endangered mid-century modern home, sitting on the juiciest of lots in Raleigh, North Carolina: the Paschal house by Fitzgibbons. 

The heirs supposedly have tried everything to save the house, but "not so" say many others, including George Smart from Triangle Modernist Houses.

Perhaps you can do something to save this beautiful example of mid-century modern architecture? Read about it here, while the listing can be seen here.

©capcityphoto

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3. Lion disliked

Before I get off my soapbox for today, a comment about Apple's next-to-newest operating system, Lion or OS X 10.7. (You: "what, on The Modernist Angle?" Me: "Yes, indeed are computers a major element of modern times". And you can always skip it if you want).

Actually, I have two comments. 

For one, Apple seems to think that people want their OS to work like their iOS. In clearer English, they have the misconception that Macs should snuggle up as closely as possible to the ways of an iphone or an ipad. 

WRONG. Not everyone likes an Apple nanny-state in one's Mac.

Secondly, Apple in its infinite wisdom decided – for the second time – to go radical. This time, moving from operating system Snow Leopard to Lion, or 10.6. to 10.7., they ditched Rosetta. This is some spiffy secret software which ran older apps on newer Macs. But not anymore.

BAD MOVE. Vital apps don't work.

As an example: for streaming audio and video, and as a light travel Mac, we just bought an 11" Macbook Air. Quite neat. 

But our MBA model runs OS Lion without the option of downgrading to Snow Leopard, which means it refuses to run 132 (!) of the programs I have on all of my Macs, including 34 which I need and use on a weekly basis. 

Boy, am I miffed. 

What would you do?

New Mid-Century Modern by Chuck Reed on the Market

I recently had the chance to meet Charles Reed Jr., or Chuck Reed as he is better known: what a wonderful, kind and humble man, and what a great life as an architect to reflect upon.

Reed, after the war working first as a carpenter, was fortunate enough to be accepted into Igor Polevitzky's studio, and told me how much he influenced by Polevitzky.

After Reed went on his own in Hollywood, one of the homes he received a commission for is now on the market (I am the listing broker): the String residence.

There are several unusual aspects to this house: for starters, it's a mid-century modern. Doesn't sound like much? Don't yawn yet.

In Southeast Florida I have documented (with address and visual verification) a bit over 2,600 truly modernist residences. Of those, only approx. 251 are currently on the market–out of 15,375 houses total for sale*. That's 1.6 percent of the inventory.

To add interest: the house, originally 1,441 sf, was expanded to 1,870 sf by the same architect. And is now for sale by the estate of the first owner, who – a lovely gentleman I unfortunately only met once – had the good sense not to throw granite countertops and tumbled marble at it. So now you have the rare case of a modernist house with architectural pedigree in near-original condition. That also means no upgrades and no central a/c (but at least quiet Mitsubishi wall-units). As long as you don't expect finds like these to come with a 2012 Subzero, you are realistic.

But hopefully, this house, just like the Hunt residence in Hypoluxo or the Wheeler house in Fort Lauderdale, will find a loving owner with a sense of style and a sensibility for the period.

A complete slide show including floor plans is here. 

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*Tri-County area as of 8/8/12, condos and townhomes not included. Source: SEF-MLS. - Photos ©tckaiser

Chance Encounters: NC Center for Architecture and Design

"Chance Encounters with Modern Architecture" is meant as a postcard of sorts, of unexpected finds of modern architecture – or perhaps art – which caught my eye.

Today:

AIA (American Institute of Architects) North Carolina Center for Architecture and Design in Raleigh, NC.

What is it:

New headquarters for the North Carolina AIA chapter, designed by Frank Harmon FAIA, opened in early 2012. The 12,000 sf project houses AIA activities such as exhibitions on the first and basement floors, with a small cafeteria open to the public to come. The first floor contains the lobby as well as flex space available to the public for rent, the second floor houses AIA offices, and the third as well as part of the second offer rental space.

Why did it catch my eye:

For one, it's the talk of the town (and the press), and if you visit friends in Raleigh – especially the architecturally-crazed like I am – you can barely escape invitations to drive over and see the building. 

And is it worth it. Harmon, after winning a statewide competition to design the building, said he saw the commission as his chance to create “an embassy for architecture”.

The triangular site is close to the State Capitol and other government buildings near downtown, at a signalized intersection with good exposure and accessibility. Harmon created a surprisingly compact building on an East-West axis, shielding part of the northern facade with a "folded over" zink roof. In contrast, the south features a glass window wall with a metal screen which eventually will be covered with vines, facing parking and a public plaza intended to also host events. 

A lot of thought was given to create a "green" structure, from the – glass enclosed! – HVAC room housing an array of heat pumps to the use of local materials such as local stone and North Carolina Cypress wood, to the low-maintenance landscape by Virginia-based landscape architect Gregg Bleam. (Compliments to the trades, which donated heavily to the project, as David Crawford, the AIA's friendly and very helpful Executive Director, pointed out). Harmon's environmental efforts gained the building an astonishing LEED Platinum rating. But besides that, it is lovely indeed and worth your time when in town.

Where is it: 

14 East Peace Street, Raleigh, NC 27604. Location map

Front (SE) elevation with entrance

Zinked screen on front façade

Lobby

Multifunction room

Staircase

View north, on a different style of architecture

Metal screen on south side

Filling station for electric cars

Parking lot/plaza designed to collect rainwater underneath

Site aerial during construction

All photos except bottom pic ©tckaiser.

South Florida House Market in June

Single family home data in June continue along the same line as in previous months, with decreasing inventory – relative as well as absolute – and increasing prices, on a monthly as well as annual basis.

Especially Broward county shows the lowest monthly inventory since this website began recording relative inventory. (January 2008).

Prices: slight overall increases in Palm Beach County, absolute as well as per sf under air, but with a very high disconnect score of 178 between sellers' and buyers' price expectations. 

In Broward, asking prices didn't move, but median selling prices went up a notch, while selling price per sf decreased a bit. Interesting: the seller/buyer price disconnect is the lowest of the counties observed, at 138 points and shrinking.  

Miami-Dade, with a disconnect as high as in Palm Beach county, showed slightly higher asking prices but lower selling prices, probably due to buyers (or lenders?) shying away from unrealistic asking prices. 

The numbers:

and the chart:

South Florida home sales June 2011-2012 ©tckaiser/modernsouthflorida.com

- Have a nice weekend, and until next time.

Preservation or Commerce? Apple or Gap?

In an interesting case of preservation versus commercial interests, Apple Computers ran into resistance in moving its hugely successful Miami Beach store on Lincoln Road Mall into new quarters.

Lincoln Road Mall was one the first pedestrian malls in the US, designed circa 1960 by architect Morris Lapidus, whose credits also include the Fountainebleau and Eden Roc hotels. It has become a major retail corridor in Miami Beach – store rents rocketed up to $200 per square foot, recent sales reached $132m (1100 Lincoln Road, housing Banana Republic) – but is still worth visiting:

Not for the myriad of tourist restaurants or chain retailers – you'll find Victoria's Secret, Gap and Starbucks anywhere – but for its architectural details old and new, such as the striped concrete floors left intact in some places, the concrete "furniture", the pergolas or an acclaimed parking garage:

Photos ©tckaiser

The dispute is (actually, was) over Apples plans to replace a single-story building without architectural significance with a glass cube, prototype for new Apple stores. The non-descript-looking building from 1926 currently houses a Gap store. But that plan caused disputes with the city of Miami Beach’s preservation board over the current building’s historic value.

Architect's rendering of the new Apple store on Lincoln Road, Miami

Short break. At this part of the story, my question to you is: Who is right – preservationists or Apple? And before you continue reading: what would you do if you were to decide?

Made your decision?

Because there's more: facing too much resistance, Apple decided to toss their plans, and guess what happened next?

You guessed correctly. In an interesting twist, the building in question suddenly lost its historical value, Gap is allowed to tear it down and do ground-up construction of a 29,000 sf (!) project:

Architect's rendering of the new Gap store on Lincoln Road, Miami

Now I am really confused – what's good for Gap is not good for Apple? What part (of a payback?) am I missing? Can you explain to me this type of logic?

Pininfarina, Giant of Car Design, Dead at 85

Sergio Pininfarina, who designed some of the world’s most glamorous cars, died last night in Turin, Italy. He was 85.

The son of a carriage maker, Pininfarina put his name on such iconic cars as the Ferrari Testarossa, the Alfa Romeo Spider, the Fiat 124 Spider, the Maserati Quattroporte and the Ferrari Scaglietti.

Pininfarina also did significant work for Alfa Romeo, Bentley, Peugeot, Rolls-Royce and Volvo.

Even the American-made 1963 Chevrolet Corvette Rondine and 1986 Cadillac Allante bore his name. But his legend was developed most intimately with Ferrari, where he served on the board of directors for 42 years.

“Calling his relation with Ferrari legendary is insufficient,” Ferrari Chairman Luca di Montezemolo says. “First with Enzo and then with me, he designed some of the most iconic models, such as the Testarossa or the Enzo, just to name two.”

In fact, every single GT serial model issued from Maranello since the 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter Cabriolet have been designed by Pininfarina.

It’s no surprise. His father, Battista Farina, founded the design house (under the name Carrozzeria Pinin Farina) in the 1930s, and the boy was groomed to join the family business after he graduated with a mechanical engineering degree from Turin Polytechnic University in 1950. Pininfarina became chief executive of the company in 1961 and chairman in 1966.

Initial success came with a unique coupé that Battista built on a Cisitalia chassis in 1946–the car was considered so perfect it earned a spot in the Museum of Modern Art. Six years later, Farina bodywork appeared to rave reviews on the Ferrari 212 Inter Cabriolet.

In 1954 Roberto Rossellini was the first notable person to commission something special: He ordered a Ferrari 375MM as a gift for Ingrid Bergman.

In 1961 its status was great enough to earn a presidential decree allowing a name change to “Pininfarina” from the original Farina. (Battista’s nickname was Pinin, which means “the little one” in Piedmont.)

Throughout his life Pininfarina served on many esteemed boards including a seat in European parliament for the Italian Liberal party from 1979 to 1988. He stepped down as CEO of Pininfarina in 2001, handing the reins to his son, Andrea, but remained as chairman. In 2008 Andrea Pininfarina died in a road accident while riding his Vespa scooter to work and was succeeded by his brother, Paolo, who continues as chairman. In 2005 the Italian president named Pininfarina a senator for life.

Pininfarina died at home with his wife, Giorgia, and children Lorenza and Paolo nearby.

Sources: forbes, wsj

Happy Independence Day!

Roaring Gap, NC, ©tckaiser