Paul Rudolph: The Florida Houses [Paperback]

Joseph King (Author), Christopher Domin (Author), Ezra Stoller (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2005 | ISBN-10: 1568985517 | ISBN-13: 978-1568985510 | Edition: 1

Paul Rudolph, one of the 20th century's most iconoclastic architects, is best knownand most malignedfor his large "brutalist" buildings, like the Yale Art and Architecture Building. So it will surprise many to learn that early in his career he developed a series of houses that represent the unrivaled possibilities of a modest American modernism. With their distinctive natural landscapes, local architectural precedents, and exploitation of innovative construction materials, the Florida houses, some eighty projects built between 1946 and 1961, brought modern architectural form into a gracious subtropical world of natural abundance. Like the locally inspired desert houses of another modern master, Albert Frey, Rudolph's Florida houses represent a distillation and reinterpretation of traditional architectural ideas developed to a high pitch of stylistic refinement. Paul Rudolph: The Florida Houses reveals all of Rudolph's early residential work. Along with Rudolph's personal essays and renderings, duotone photographs by Ezra Stoller and Joseph Molitor, and insightful text by Joseph King and Christopher Domin, this compelling new book conveys the lightness, timelessness, strength, materiality, and transcendency of Rudolph's work.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Stoller's beautiful black-and-white photos empathetically portray Rudolph's architecture in harmony with the mangrove swamps, tropical light, and easy living of mid-century Sarasota....

About the Author

Joseph King is an architect practicing in Bradenton, Florida.

Christopher Domin is an architect living in Tucson and a professor at the University of Arizona.

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (December 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568985517
• ISBN-13: 978-1568985510
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.8 x 10 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #621,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Paul Rudolph: The Florida Houses June 14, 2002

By Michael Webb

Format:Hardcover

As the Case Study program got under way in southern California, Rudolph launched his own from his office in Sarasota on FloridaŐs Gulf coast. For two decades (with time off for U.S. Navy service) he created (first with Ralph Twitchell and then independently) a succession of airy pavilions that mitigated the steamy heat and filtered the brilliant light. In Ezra StollerŐs crisp period photographs these houses seem almost dreamlikeÑtoo graceful and pure to endure storms and the crass consumerism of waterfront development. And yet, despite the pressure of escalating land prices and the cult of gigantism, most of these houses have survived in their original form, and several have been lovingly restored. Every aficionado of mid-century modern should buy this elegant volume. (Michael Webb is the book reviewer for LA Architect magazine.)

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars The modern Florida house March 11, 2003

By James Ferguson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I found myself becoming nostalgic looking through the pages of this book. Having grown up in Florida, I was stunned to see that the house I lived in had been a knock-off of one of Rudolph's houses. His early Florida houses were widely emulated for their clean lines and passive solar designs. It is an impressive collection, and illustrates the lighter side of Rudolph before he became caught up in the monumental forms that dominated the latter part of his career.

You might call him the John Lautner of Florida, creating a lifestyle as much as an architecture. You could see Travis McGee laying back in one of these houses, drinking a beer as he waits for the elusive flash of green. Rudolph really captured the spirit of Florida in the 40's and 50's. Simple, well-thought out designs that are as relavent today as they were then.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb review of Paul Rudolph's houses January 14, 2007

By J. Owens

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is an wonderful mix of photographs, drawings and text that give great insight into the work of Rudolph's understanding of the Florida's climate and the technology available in his day. It is a must for anyone seriously interested in modern architecture. What an amazing architect, what an amazing book!