Modernism Reborn: Mid-Century American Houses

By architectural critic Michael Webb

In the first book of its kind, renowned architectural critic Michael Webb and Esto photographer Roger Straus III examine 35 extraordinary modern houses that have been restored, enhanced, or extended by new owners who see them as timeless classics. Built in the heyday of modernism, from the 1930s through the early 1960s, these houses were designed by exceptional architects for themselves or for adventurous clients. A few were lovingly preserved as time capsules, but most endured years of neglect or abuse and might easily have been torn down.

Houses created as daring experiments

Michael Webb explores how these houses were created as daring experiments or as creative responses to site and climate-and the research and effort that went into their restoration. Included here are villas that fuse craft and invention, machines for living, and residences that embrace the landscape. Here, too, are houses inspired by the purity of classical temples, and frugal dwellings that have been sensitively enlarged. After a long eclipse, these houses and the enlightened attitudes they embody are being rediscovered by creative individuals searching for distinctive, open, light-filled places to live. Modernism is a way of living, more than a style, and this book celebrates the architects and owners who respect its character and scale.

Architects House Themselves and more

Michael Webb began writing about architecture and design in London in the 1960s, and now does so in Los Angeles, working out of a classic Richard Neutra apartment that Charles and Ray Eames once called home. Michael Webb is the author of 16 books, which include Architects House Themselves, The City Square, New Stage for a City, five monographs, and, most recently, It's a Great Wall! and Through the Windows of Paris. Michael Webb wrote Architecture + Design LA, and is executive editor of the series based on this innovative guide. An Architectural Digest contributing writer, Michael Webb also writes for A+U, Domus, Interiors, Graphis, and OneMedia.
Publisher: Universe Pub; ISBN: 078930550X

More information

Architecture Main Page