Tomorrow marks 32 years since Charles Eames passed away, and 22 years since Ray Eames passed away. They died exactly ten years apart. In that ten year gap Ray worked feverishly to get their studio in order, and help document the work that they did together. Eames Design is the authoritative book on the works of Charles and Ray. Written by former Eames employee John Neuhart and his wife, and under the careful direction of Ray Eames it does a wonderful job of documenting all the wonderful work that emerged from the Eames office.
Lustron homes were prefab modern WAY before prefab was even cool. I love the look of the metal cladding. The above video is a quick history of the Lustron home, as well as a nice story of preservation.
If you are interested in buying a Lustron, there is currently one for sale in the middle of Kansas for $85,000.
It's always sad when a good architect passes on, and this week Germany mourns the passing of a great one.
Gunter Behnisch, a former U-boat commander who became West Germany's top architect, died on Monday aged 88. His radical modern designs, including the Munich Olympic Stadium, marked a departure from the bombastic architecture of the Nazi era and shaped the face of the new German democracy.
Capree recently posted about the amazing Eames Blocks from House Industries. Today while I was looking for some old videos of Alexander Girard I found a great little video from the House Industries crew about all their Alexander Girard offerings. While the prices aren't cheap ($75 - $410) they do look pretty amazing.
MCM buffs, it's time to get your geek on. Cranbrook Academy of Art has turned out some of the greatest architects and designers, Harry Bertoia, Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll and Eero Saarinen just to name a few. Ever wonder about the roots of this incredibly influential school? Watch and learn.
It's hard to be a fan of mid century modern architecture without becoming a preservationist. There is so much good design out there that is currently at risk of being ruined. The two that hit my inbox this week were the Neutra designed Strathmore apartments (1937 picture shown above) that may be overshadowed by a 6 story apartment complex across the street, and the Paolo Soleri Amphitheater (shown below) that is slated for demolition.
For information about how you can help in either of these causes, please see the links below.
I have been geeking out lately about the Case Study House program, and I was amazed and surprised to find that Arts and Architecture still has all of the original Case Study house articles available on their website for free. It's an amazing wealth of information, and a must read for anyone interested in Mid Century Modern Architecture.
I'm heading out to LA this afternoon, so I figure it's only fitting that I put a little video up of one of my favorite Mid Century Modern homes in LA, Case Study House #22, the Stahl house. Unfortunately it looks like they won't be offering any tours while I am there, but maybe next time.
If you live in Salt Lake, and you love mid century modern furniture, then surely you know about The Green Ant. Shop owner Ron Green has been giving insight, advice and amazing pricing on vintage modern furniture and accessories for 12 years now. In an effort to say "Thank You" to all the wonderful people in Salt Lake that have supported them over the years, they are having their annual Anniversary Sale. Today through Monday the 17th everything in the store is 20% off. That means if there is something you have been pining for, now is the time to get it. If you haven't seen the shops new location at 179 E Broadway it's worth it for that alone. Make sure you tell Ron "Hi" for me!
For all our SLC readers, just a reminder that we have some great events coming up next week. Thursday April 29th at 6:30 will be the Utah Premier of Visual Acoustics: The Modernism of Julius Shulman at the Salt Lake Library. It is free to the public. We will also be announcing the winner of the "For the Love of Mod" photo contest and showing some of the top photo's that were submitted. Friday is the Utah Heritage Foundations annual Preservation Conference. There are a lot of great education sessions including on dedicated to Affordable Mid Century Modern Resources at 10:30. Saturday is the annual UHF Historic Homes tour. This year it is in the lovely Federal Heights area and includes a fantastic Mid Century Modern home.
Please visit the UHF website for more information and to purchase tickets for Friday and Saturday's events. Also if you haven't already make sure you stop by the SLModern Facebook page and become a fan to get all the latest information about Mid Century Modern events in Salt Lake City.
Dieter Rams is and industrial designer that was the chief of design at Braun from 1961 to 1995. Watch the film (linked below) and revel in the wonderful product design from that came from Braun while he was there.
Harry Bertoia (b. March 10, 1915 in San Lorenzo, Pordenone, Italy. d. November 6, 1978 in Barto, Pennsylvania, United States), [1] was an Italian-born artist, sculptor, and modern furniture designer.
This documentary is part of the PBS American Masters series. It first premiered on March 31st. There are several other air dates coming up, or you can watch the full documentary online until June 30th.
In 1951, American/Japanese artist and designer Isamu Noguchi started to designthe Akari Light Sculptures, a total of over 100 hand-made Shoji-paper models for table lights, standard lamps or ceiling luminaires. For the name of this lighting series he chose the word "akari", the Japanese terms for brightness, light. Vitra Design Museum Collection. "The light of Akari is like the light of the sun filtered through the paper of shoji. The harshness of electricity is thus transformed through the magic of paper backto the light of our origin - the sun - so that its warmth may continue to fill our rooms at night." (Isamu Noguchi)
Tomorrow marks 32 years since Charles Eames passed away, and 22 years since Ray Eames passed away. They died exactly ten years apart. In that ten year gap Ray worked feverishly to get their studio in order, and help document the work that they did together. Eames Design is the authoritative book on the works of Charles and Ray. Written by former Eames employee John Neuhart and his wife, and under the careful direction of Ray Eames it does a wonderful job of documenting all the wonderful work that emerged from the Eames office.
Cyan Design Lighting on Gilt today. If you are a member, you know what to do. Not a member? 
It's always sad when a good architect passes on, and this week Germany mourns the passing of a great one.
MCM buffs, it's time to get your geek on. 
It's hard to be a fan of mid century modern architecture without becoming a preservationist. There is so much good design out there that is currently at risk of being ruined. The two that hit my inbox this week were the 
For information about how you can help in either of these causes, please see the links below.
I have been geeking out lately about the 
If you live in Salt Lake, and you love mid century modern furniture, then surely you know about 
For all our SLC readers, just a reminder that we have some great events coming up next week. Thursday April 29th at 6:30 will be the Utah Premier of 
Dieter Rams is and industrial designer that was the chief of design at Braun from 1961 to 1995. Watch the film (linked below) and revel in the wonderful product design from that came from Braun while he was there.