Dear Sophie -
Among my favorite homes is that which RAY KAPPE designed for his wife Shelly and their family over 40 years ago in Rustic Canyon. He thoughtfully ensured everyone had their own private retreat, while there was open flow, light and communication among the spaces. His use of wood and the play of light from the trees foreshadowed my love for Marin and a source of inspiration (along with the vintage silver cars in their garage!)
With love,
Mom
Dear Sophie -
BERNARD MAYBECK is best known for his Arts and Crafts style buildings, including our own Outdoor Art Club in downtown Mill Valley. He was an engineer instructor at U. C. Berkeley for many years and teacher and mentor to Julia Morgan. While related to the work of Greene and Greene, he also branched out into the Beaux Arts style when commissioned to design the Palace of Fine Arts.
With love,
Mom
Dear Sophie -
JULIA MORGAN was the first woman architect licensed to practice in the state of California. She studied engineering at U.C. Berkeley and was the first woman admitted to a prestigious academy in Paris (after a few failed attempts!). William Randolph Hearst became the great patron of her San Francisco practice.
Let's head to the Fairmont and give her a toast!
With love,
Mom
Dear Sophie -
JEAN PROUVE was a self-taught metal worker, designer and architect.
His industrial designs have a palette and lines that feel just as fresh today.
With love,
Mom
Dear Sophie -
The great architect designer EILEEN GRAY was a disciple of LE CORBUSIER, actively working in Paris in the 1920's & 30"s.
Although her structures didn't survive the war, her furniture and textiles prevail, fundamental to our modernist vocabulary today.
Born in Ireland, she spent her entire adult life in France up through her 98th year.
With love,
Mom
Dear Sophie -
His commissions included private homes in the northeast, a wing to the Cleveland Art Museum and perhaps his most important work, the Whitney Art Museum on Madison Avenue in New York.
Mom
Dear Sophie -
One of the great architects of the 20th century is ERICH MELDELSON. His Einstein Tower outside of Berlin is likely his most iconic work and an enduring example of Expressionist architecture.
Upon the arrival of Hitler in Germany, Mendelsohn moved first to London, Israel and utimately settling in San Francisco teaching at U.C. Berkeley.
Luise Maas was his adored wife, an accomplished cellist. A multitude of love letters to her are archived among his papers, documenting how in partnership they weathered the upheavals of the 20th century together.
With love,
Mom
"less is more"
"god is in the details"
Dear Sophie -
MIES VAN DER ROHE is the man.
Among his masterpieces are the Barcelona Pavilion, the Farnsworth House in Illinois, the Seagrams building in New York and the Neue Nationalgalerie in Berlin, Germany. Mies was the last director or the Bauhaus upon request by his friend and collegaue Gropius, and had the devastating task of closing the school as the Nazis took control.
With love,
Mom
Dear Sophie -
GERRIT RIETVELD was an architect, designer and ardent member of the DE STIJL movement in the Netherlands.
The Rietveld Schroder house was a commission by Mrs. Schroder who lived there her whole adult life, from 1924 until 1985. It may be visited in Utrect, a one hour ride from Amsterdam.
Next time!
With love,
Mom
Dear Sophie -
CHARLES RENNIE MACKINTOSH employed the theories of modernism blended with the influences of Japonisme. When this Scottish archtiect designed a space he touched every feature, from the furniture to the textiles, down to the hardware.
With love,
Mom
Dear Sophie -
Here is some work from the Viennese architect and designer ADOLF LOOS.
Wow.
With love,
Mom
Klimt's colleague in the formation of the Viennese Secession movement was the architect and designer JOSEF HOFFMAN.
With love,
Mom
Dear Sophie -
The Russian artist EL LISSITZKY was mentored by MALEVICH and followed his abstract, geometric, suprematist doctrines.
He practiced art, architecture, design & typography.
With love,
Mom
Dear Sophie -
The 2012 Pritzker Prize winner is WANG SHU, the first Chinese citizen to win the coveted award.
With elegance he recycles the past to invent the new.
“Everywhere you can see, they don’t care about the materials,” Mr. Wang said in an interview. “They just want new buildings, they just want new things. I think the material is not just about materials. Inside it has the people’s experience, memory — many things inside. So I think it’s for an architect to do something about it.”
With love,
Mom
Dear Sophie -
The 2011 Pritzker Prize went to the Portugese architect EDUARDO SOUTO DE MOURA.
It is reassuring that such a momentous prize can be awarded to such poetic work.
lov With e.
Mom
Dear Sophie -
Welcome to the beautiful feast generously provided by the Danish/Icelandic artist/architect OLAFUR ELIASSON.
His structural experimentations hark back to Buckminster Fuller, while materials such as light and atmosphere relate to Diller Scofidio's Blur building as well as the works of James Turrell.
With love,
Mom
Dear Sophie -
The architect DANIEL LIBESKIND has assumed the daunting task of rebuilding at the site of the world trade center, designing an elegant structure that defiantly pierces the sky.
But this home is perhaps a little pointy?
Mom
Dear Sophie -
LOUIS KAHN may well be my favorite of all, as these solid heavy materials turn transparent and poetic as he plays with site and light.
He had a complex personal life as told eloquently by son Nathaniel in his documentary "My Architect".
The Salk Institute can be seen in San Diego, but apparently his ultimate masterpiece is Kahn's parliament building in Bangladesh.
Mom
A self-made man, BUCKMINSTER FULLER invented the geodesic dome in his quest for low cost, efficient shelter. More than an architect, he was an idealist.
With love,
Mom
Dear Sophie -
NORMAN FOSTER - Brit, slick, big.
Kinda took Bucky's forms and ran with it.
Mom
