Case Study Houses (Jumbo) [Hardcover]

Elizabeth Smith (Author)

Book Description

Series: Jumbo | Publication Date: February 2002

Modernist experimental homes. Prototypes for everyone The Case Study House program (1945-66) was an exceptional, innovative event in the history of American architecture and remains to this day unique. The program, which concentrated on the Los Angeles area and oversaw the design of 36 prototype homes, sought to make available plans for modern residences that could be easily and cheaply constructed during the postwar building boom. The program's chief motivating force was Arts & Architecture editor John Entenza, a champion of modernism who had all the right connections to attract some of architecture's greatest talents, such as Richard Neutra, Charles and Ray Eames, and Eero Saarinen. Highly experimental, the program generated houses that were designed to re-define the modern home, and thus had a pronounced influence on architecture - American and international - both during the program's existence and even to this day. TASCHEN brings you a monumental retrospective of the entire program with comprehensive documentation, brilliant photographs from the period and, for the houses still in existence, contemporary photos, as well as extensive floor plans and sketches.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The first thing you notice about Case Study Houses: The Complete CSH Program, 1945-1966 is its size: it's big. Contained within its 16-inch frame is the history of Arts & Architecture magazine's famed program created to inspire the building of low-cost modern homes in America. The brainchild of magazine editor John Entenza, the program drew well-known architects including Charles Eames, Eero Saarinen, and Richard Neutra. Throughout the book are spectacular photographs of modernist glass- and patio-filled homes. Most of the homes were built in the Los Angeles area and make wonderful use of the surrounding scenery. A 17-foot-tall front door opens up onto a canal; streamlined Herman Miller furniture fills out a living room that overlooks a breathtaking panorama. While not all the projects were built, each received a detailed spread in the magazine, including drawings and models. Some of the architectural drawings are lovely, drawn with the movement and fluidity of a master. Included are short biographies of each architect, a provocative epilogue by photographer Julius Shulman, and the reprinted original magazine pages that announce the birth of the Case Study idea. This book is a true gem, and considering its size it's the Hope diamond. --J.P. Cohen

Review

Perhaps what's most fun here is the flavor of the period captured by the photographs. -- Newsweek.com, 3/9/02

Product Details

• Hardcover: 440 pages
• Publisher: Taschen (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 3822864129
• ISBN-13: 978-3822864128
• Product Dimensions: 18 x 13.3 x 2.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #144,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The look not the feel of Case Study Houses, April 4, 2002

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Case Study Houses (Jumbo) (Hardcover)

A sumptuous 440 page visual record of this southern Californian house design program. It is a big book (at a BIG price) weighing TWELVE POUNDS and the landscape format opens up spreads thirty-four inches wide, beatifully printed with English, German and French text.

Each of the thirty-six houses is covered in the same way with:1 A short introduction by editor Smith2 The relevant editorial copy from Arts & Architecture magazine about the house.3 Photos, plans, diagrams, illustrations. Lots of the photos are by the brilliant Jules Shulman and I doubt you will see them this big anywhere else.4 Color photos of the house today.

Some of houses only have a spread or two (the unbuilt ones) while others have several spreads, Pierre Koenig's famous Stahl House (#22) has twenty pages. I was intriqued by a photo on one of these, it shows the living room with a small table on which are the obligatory selection of magazines, two of these are 'America', the Russian language publication put out in the sixties by the US Information Agency, were these on display when the house was open to the pubic or did Shulman put them there just for the photo session?I have given this glorious book only four stars because it is not as complete as it should be, the focus is very narrow, essentially a visual history of the Study Houses and that's it! What is missing is any historical and contemporary background and surely the reason the whole project was important was the influence it had on other architects, house builders, planners, the public and manufactures.

To get a perspective you will have to get Elizabeth Smith's earlier book 'Blueprints for Modern Living' published in conjunction with an exhibition in Los Angeles in 1989-1990. As the sub-title to the book says...'History and Legacy of the Case Study Houses' I found this a marvellous book telling me every thing I wanted to know, though there are only forty-two pages of text and photos on the actual houses. It is a pity that a lot of the information in the remaining 214 pages was not included in this huge volume.

Now that I have the book, where will I put it, who makes bookcases over sixteen inches deep anyway? Maybe I'll just leave it on a table. I bet it will soon pop up in those house interior photos you see in glossy magazines where folk have piles of large art books neatly arranged on their coffee tables, the cover with its black and white diagonal design will make it very visible. Send me an email if you catch a glimse of it in a magazine.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

IMPORTANT UPDATE Amazon have also placed this review with the ninety-six page edition. Have a look at my Listmania 'Case study houses made simple' for an explanation.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must have for the modern architecture library, November 30, 2003

By 

"gregorylv" (Dallas Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Case Study Houses (Jumbo) (Hardcover)

This book is the definitive survey of the Case Study house. It is filled with excellent detailed drawings and plans. The text is very informative. There is no "fluff" in this book. Buy this book before it goes out of print!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The look not the feel of Case Study Houses, November 21, 2002

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Case Study Houses (Jumbo) (Hardcover)

A sumptuous 440 page visual record of this southern Californian house design program. It is a big book (at a BIG price) weighing TWELVE POUNDS and the landscape format opens up spreads thirty-four inches wide, beatifully printed with English, German and French text.

Each of the thirty-six houses is covered in the same way with:
1 A short introduction by editor Smith
2 The relevant editorial copy from Arts & Architecture magazine about the house.
3 Photos, plans, diagrams, illustrations. Lots of the photos are by the brilliant Jules Shulman and I doubt you will see them this big anywhere else.
4 Color photos of the house today.

Some of houses only have a spread or two (the unbuilt ones) while others have several spreads, Pierre Koenig's famous Stahl House (#22) has twenty pages. I was intriqued by a photo on one of these, it shows the living room with a small table on which are the obligatory selection of magazines, two of these are 'America', the Russian language publication put out in the sixties by the US Information Agency, were these on display when the house was open to the public or did Shulman put them there just for the photo session?

I have given this glorious book only four stars because it is not as complete as it should be, the focus is very narrow, essentially a visual history of the Study Houses and that's it! What is missing is any historical and contemporary background and surely the reason the whole project was important was the influence it had on other architects, house builders, planners, the public and manufactures.

To get a perspective you will have to get Elizabeth Smith's earlier book 'Blueprints for Modern Living' published in conjunction with an exhibition in Los Angeles in 1989-1990. As the sub-title to the book says...'History and Legacy of the Case Study Houses' I found this a marvellous book telling me every thing I wanted to know, though there are only forty-two pages of text and photos on the actual houses. It is a pity that a lot of the information in the remaining 214 pages was not included in this huge volume.

Now that I have the book, where will I put it, who makes bookcases over sixteen inches deep anyway? Maybe I'll just leave it on a table. I bet it will soon pop up in those house interior photos you see in glossy magazines where folk have piles of large art books neatly arranged on their coffee tables, the cover with its black and white diagonal design will make it very visible. Send me an email if you catch a glimse of it in a magazine