American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture

Friedman, Alice T.

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Description: American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture

BOOKAmerican Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture

Alice T. Friedman

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00012

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-15072

The sleek lines and gleaming facades of the architecture of the late 1940s and 1950s reflect a culture fascinated by the promise of the Jet Age. Buildings like Eero Saarinen's TWA Terminal at JFK Airport and Philip Johnson's Four Seasons Restaurant retain a thrilling allure, seeming to transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. In this work, distinguished architectural historian Alice Friedman draws on a vast range of sources to argue that the aesthetics of mid-century modern architecture reflect an increasing fascination with "glamour," a term widely used in those years to characterize objects, people, and experiences as luxurious, expressive, and even magical.

Featuring assessments of architectural examples ranging from Mies van der Rohe's monolithic Seagram Building to Elvis Presley's sprawling Graceland estate, as well as vintage photographs, advertisements, and posters, this book argues that new audiences and client groups with tastes rooted in popular entertainment made their presence felt in the cultural marketplace during the postwar period. The author suggests that American and European architecture and design increasingly reflected the values of a burgeoning consumer society, including a fundamental confidence in the power of material objects to transform the identity and status of those who owned them.

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Author

Alice T. Friedman

PublisherYale University Press

Print publication date June 2010 (in print)

Print ISBN 9780300116540

EISBN 9780300230932

Illustrations 165

Print Status in print

Publisher (in print)

WorldCat

Google Books

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List of illustrations

Case Study House No. 22
Empire State Plaza South Mall
Triple Elvis
Glamour magazine, cover
Joséphine Baker
Dancers on the Riviera
Razor
Harlem Couple
Cadillac Cap d'Antibes
Marcel Breuer House, Wellfleet, Massachusetts, through car window
Architectural model for the Smithsonian Gallery of Art
World's Fair night views, New York: Trylon and Perisphere from Rainbow Avenue
Poster for New York World's Fair
Glass House and Guest House
Da Monsta
Pavilion in the Lake
AT&T Building
Glass House
Farnsworth House
Glass House, interior
Brick Guest House
Brick Guest House, interior with Andy Warhol
Elevations for Syrian Arch scheme for Glass House
Seagram Building
Four Seasons Restaurant
Four Seasons Restaurant
Pepsi-Cola Building
U.N. Headquarters with General Assembly Building in background
Capitol Records Building
American pavilion for the Brussels World's Fair
Wayne State University, College of Education Building
Amon Carter Museum
New York State Theater, Lincoln Center
Pavilion in the Lake, with Johnson pictured
Kaufmann House
Fallingwater
Kaufmann's Department Store project, drawing of entrance
Kaufmann's Department Store project, interior renovation of ground floor
Lovell "Health" House
Kaufmann Desert House, rooftop terrace ("gloriette")
Kaufmann Desert House, patio
Kaufmann Desert House, floor plan
Glamourized Houses spread
Southern California United Air Lines travel poster
Miller House
Miller House, with Miller on her porch
Kaufmann Desert House, entrance with boulders
Kaufmann Desert House, glass bedroom wall and pool terrace
Kaufmann House (Boulder House) project, overview
Kaufmann House (Boulder House) project, elevation
Elrod House
Bob Hope Estate
Kaufmann Desert House
Kaufmann Desert House, pool and terrace
Kaufmann Desert House, front entrance
Saarinen House, dining room, view from pantry
Cover of Where Today Meets Tomorrow
TWA Terminal
Cover of GM Folks, featuring Cadillac tail fins
General Motors Technical Center, night view detail, water tower, and pool
Where Today Meets Tomorrow: Employees Restaurant
Where Today Meets Tomorrow: For the Traffic of Tomorrow
Proposal for U.N. Headquarters at Flushing Meadows, New York
Eames House
General Motors Technical Center, view of Bertoia screen in the Employees Restaurant
General Motors Technical Center, powerhouse
General Motors Technical Center
General Motors Technical Center, Research and Development stairs with models and 1958 Buick
Brazil pavilion at New York World's Fair, ramp
General Motors Technical Center, Styling Building stairs
General Motors Technical Center, main display area of Styling Dome
Aline and Eero Saarinen at a party, sitting in a Womb Chair
TWA Terminal at Idlewild Airport, planes on tarmac
Rear view of Chevy Impala with "gull wing" fins
TWA Terminal building at Idlewild Airport, jetway to planes
TWA Terminal building at Idlewild Airport, stair with figures
TWA Terminal building at Idlewild Airpot, lobby and sunken lounge
TWA Terminal building at Idlewild Airpot, sunken lounge
Vassar College, Emma Hartman Noyes Hall, conversation pit
TWA Terminal building at Idlewild Airport, stair under construction
Paris: Fly TWA poster
Oldsmobile Rocket advertisement
Los Angeles International Airport, Theme Building
Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, exterior
Metropolitan Opera House, Lincoln Center, interior with chandelier
Hotel Row, aerial view
Eden Roc Hotel, pool deck
New York City views: Times Square to south at night, 1933
Seagram's Distillers Corp., Chrysler Building, general view of barroom
Mangel's, exterior, at night
Beach Theatre, lobby, general view
Queen Mary Special Perfume "Nineteen Thirty-six
General Electric Tower, New York World's Fair
"Amusements," graphic from New York World's Fair Guide
World's Fair views, Constitution Mall, The Four Freedoms statues, and Trylon and Perisphere
Ansonia Shoe Store, entrance view
SS France, stairway to first-class dining room
Drawing of salon and main stairs of the SS Ile-de-France
Ship of Tomorrow, interior
Sans Souci Hotel
The Laurels Hotel and Country Club
Sans Souci Hotel, lobby
Biltmore Terrace Hotel, entrance façade exterior
Biltmore Terrace Hotel, entrance detail
Casino
Biltmore Terrace Hotel, lobby, center column
Algiers Hotel, exterior night view across water
Algiers Hotel
Algiers Hotel, lobby interior
Fontainebleau Hotel, general view from across the road
Fontainebleau Hotel
Fontainebleau Hotel, staircase to nowhere
Fontainebleau Hotel, general view of lobby
Eden Roc Hotel, lobby from above
Eden Roc Hotel, exterior with balusters and light fixtures
Americana Hotel, Bal Harbour, Medallion Dining Room
Summit Hotel, exterior from northwest
Summit Hotel, lobby, general view
Beth Sholom Synagogue
Notre Dame du Haut
Carr Chapel of St. Savior, Illinois Institute of Technology
Annie Pfeiffer Chapel, Florida Southern College
Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church
Beth Sholom Synagogue, sketch
Page of photos enclosed in Rabbi Cohen's letter
Beth Sholom Synagogue, sketch
Beth Sholom Synagogue, section drawings
Beth Sholom Synagogue, plan of upper floor
Beth Sholom Synagogue, plan of ground floor
Beth Sholom Synagogue, under construction
Beth Sholom Synagogue, presentation drawing with rays of light
Steel Cathedral project, elevation
The Living City: ground view
Beth Sholom Synagogue, night view
Beth Sholom Synagogue, exterior
Cover, Town and Country
Beth Sholom Synagogue, interior of the sanctuary
Beth Sholom Synagogue, view of the bimah, chandelier, and glass roof
B'nai Amoona
Park Synagogue
Second scheme for Adath Jeshurun, Elkins Park, Pennsylvania
Kneses Tifereth Israel Synagogue, exterior view
Kneses Tifereth Israel Synagogue, interior view
Beth El Synagogue
Sha'arey Zedek Synagogue
First Christian Church
Kresge Chapel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kresge Chapel, interior, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Drawing of the interior of Saarinen's Brandeis Chapel
First Presbyterian Church, also known as "Fish Church"
First Presbyterian Church ("Fish Church"), interior
Air Force Academy Chapel, Cadet Wing
Air Force Academy Chapel, interior
Cadets on staircase of the Air Force Academy
Air Force Academy, plaza and fountains at night
Guild House
Seattle Public Library
Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art
Guthrie Theater

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Contents

Alice T. Friedman

American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture

Contents

Author

Alice T. Friedman

PublisherYale University Press

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00012.001

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-15073

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Acknowledgments

Alice T. Friedman

American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture

Many people and institutions contributed to this book over the long period of its development. My greatest debt is to Wellesley College, which generously supported my research activities and granted the sabbatical leaves that enabled me to travel, to work in many far-flung libraries and archival collections, and to experience firsthand the wonderful buildings discussed in this study. I am also deeply grateful to the Hadassah International Research Institute on Jewish Women at Brandeis University …

Author

Alice T. Friedman

PublisherYale University Press

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00012.002

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-15074

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Introduction

Alice T. Friedman

American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture

In recent years, Mid-Century Modern architecture and design have achieved unprecedented levels of popularity and critical recognition, not only among collectors and “retro-chic” aficionados but among academic historians and scholars as well. This new enthusiasm has resulted in a virtual tidal wave of books, museum exhibitions, and specialized websites devoted to topics ranging from the history of Googie coffee shops and the furnishing of Populuxe suburban houses to specialized studies of the …

Author

Alice T. Friedman

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.1-37

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00012.003

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-15075

Chapter subject tags:Architecture--United States--History--20th centuryArchitecture--AestheticsAesthetics, Modern--20th centuryArchitecture and society--United StatesMidcentury modern (Architecture)

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1. The Stylish Style: Philip Johnson and the Many Faces of Modern Architecture

Alice T. Friedman

American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture

Early in his career, Philip Johnson (1906–2005) clearly aspired to be American modernism’s voice-over, the off-camera observer who sets the scene and analyzes the unfolding drama from a position of cool detachment (fig. 14). As co-curator, with the architectural historian Henry-Russell Hitchcock, of the groundbreaking “Modern Architecture: International Exhibition” at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in 1932, and as the coauthor of the influential publication (entitled The International Style: …

Author

Alice T. Friedman

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.39-73

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00012.004

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-15076

Chapter subject tags:Architecture--United States--History--20th centuryJohnson, Philip, 1906-2005Aesthetics, Modern--20th centuryMidcentury modern (Architecture)International style (Architecture)

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2. Palm Springs Eternal: Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann Desert House

Alice T. Friedman

American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture

Toward the end of World War II, Edgar J. Kaufmann, a wealthy Pittsburgh department-store owner, approached the architect Richard Neutra with a commission to design a substantial winter retreat for himself and his wife, Liliane, in the burgeoning resort town of Palm Springs, California. For well over ten years Kaufmann had been Frank Lloyd Wright’s most loyal and generous patron, and the two men had joined forces to produce a number of extraordinary projects: these included not only Fallingwater, …

Author

Alice T. Friedman

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.75-107

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00012.005

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-15077

Chapter subject tags:Architecture--United States--History--20th centuryNeutra, Richard Joseph, 1892-1970Architecture, Domestic--Arid regionsAesthetics, Modern--20th centuryMidcentury modern (Architecture)Wright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959

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3. Modern Architecture for the “American Century”: Eero Saarinen and the Art of Corporate Image-Making

Alice T. Friedman

American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture

When Eero Saarinen died suddenly of a brain tumor on September 1, 1961, he had already become, at the age of only fifty-one, one of the most successful architects in the United States. The darling of corporate America, Saarinen had risen to great heights over the course of his short career (his father Eliel, with whom he had collaborated since the late 1930s, had died in 1950), filling a widespread yearning among American clients for a new kind of modern architecture that would combine the clean …

Author

Alice T. Friedman

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.109-147

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00012.006

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-15078

Chapter subject tags:Architecture--United States--History--20th centurySaarinen, Eero, 1910-1961Aesthetics, Modern--20th centuryMidcentury modern (Architecture)GM Technical Center

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4. “Just Get Me Plenty of Glamour”: Morris Lapidus’s Miami Beach Hotels

Alice T. Friedman

American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture

Throughout the 1950s Morris Lapidus, who had spent the first twenty years of his career as a successful designer of retail shops and other commercial spaces, was the most sought-after hotel architect in Miami Beach, a city that was experiencing unprecedented growth and change (fig. 90). For an ever-expanding audience of seasonal visitors and new residents, many of whom were Jews of Eastern European descent, Lapidus created a highly prized experience, and a gazetteer of images, that captured the …

Author

Alice T. Friedman

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.149-185

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00012.007

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-15079

Chapter subject tags:Architecture--United States--History--20th centuryLapidus, Morris, 1902–2001Hotels--United StatesAesthetics, Modern--20th centuryMidcentury modern (Architecture)

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5. Mount Sinai in the Suburbs: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Temple Beth Sholom in Context

Alice T. Friedman

American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture

It may sound peculiar and even disrespectful to consider Frank Lloyd Wright’s Temple Beth Sholom and other postwar synagogues and churches under the heading “American Glamour,” yet of all the building types examined in this book, religious architecture offers the fullest and most complex engagement with the cultural values and aesthetic qualities associated with the concept (fig. 123). These include, as noted in the preceding case studies, strong narrative content; a penchant for drama and …

Author

Alice T. Friedman

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.187-223

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00012.008

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-15080

Chapter subject tags:Architecture--United States--History--20th centuryWright, Frank Lloyd, 1867-1959Midcentury modern (Architecture)Aesthetics, Modern--20th centurySynagogue architecture

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Conclusion: To Postmodernism and Back Again

Alice T. Friedman

American Glamour and the Evolution of Modern Architecture

The postwar decades clearly offered significant new opportunities for American architects—including Wright, Neutra, Lapidus, and a handful of younger men who were either born in the United States or had spent most of their lives there—to experiment with unconventional and innovative approaches to modern design. These challenges to established practice and to the hierarchy of the profession were clearly not welcomed by European modernism’s old guard. In the introduction to the fifth edition …

Author

Alice T. Friedman

PublisherYale University Press

Related print edition pages: pp.225-231

https://doi.org/10.37862/aaeportal.00012.009

Stable URL: https://aaeportal.com/?id=-15081

Chapter subject tags:Architecture--United States--History--20th centuryArchitecture and society--United StatesAesthetics, Modern--20th centuryArchitecture, PostmodernMidcentury modern (Architecture)Giedion, S. (Sigfried), 1888-1968

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