Farnsworth House (Architecture in Detail)
by Maritz Vandenberg
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Book Summary Information
Author: Maritz VandenbergEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-09-01
ISBN: 0714845582
Number of pages: 60
Publisher: Phaidon Press
Book Reviews of Farnsworth House (Architecture in Detail)
Book Review: Classic Mies
Summary: 4 Stars
This neat little book opens with a foreward by Lord Peter Palumbo, the houses second owner, extolling the ability of this seemingly simple box to heighten one's perception of nature. He paints wonderful word pictures of his experiencing the house in various seasons and weather conditions. Further it is his opinion that as a weekend/vacation retreat it succeeds admirably.
The bulk of the book is divided into 3 parts: an essay by Maritz Vandenberg, a section of photographs and a drawing section. The essay gives an overview of Mie's career, the history of this house and provides a detailed assessment of the houses strengths and weaknesses. Also discussed are its restoration and the continuing threat posed by flooding of the adjacent Fox River. Interspersed in this section are photos and line drawings, a very nice touch being the side-by-side presentation of the floor plans of several of Mie's most important residential designs. The photographic section, entirely in color, contains a reasonably generous number of post-restoration photos. These show it outfitted with appropriate Mie's designed furniture, a must in this type of architecture. A concluding drawing section contains plans, elevations, building sections and numerous details.
A word or two on the negatives which prevent me giving a 5 star rating. Vandenberg identifies Farnsworth as Mie's only built house in America, as well as his last built residence. Neither statement is true. This is especially puzzling as an appendix in this very book notes both the McCormick and Greenwald Houses postdate Farnsworth. Granted this house certainly stands at the zenith of Mie's residential efforts, but those that followed should, if only for the sake of historical accuracy, not be cast into the architectural wilderness. Next, while the photos are very well done the presentation sometimes fails us. Too often the 'artistic' composition of the page is given precedence over the information to be conveyed by the photo itself. Simply put, too much white space when the photos could have been printed larger. A couple of more shots of the interior, giving it really total coverage, also would have been nice.
These quibbles aside, this book delivers a lot for a modest price.
Summary of Farnsworth House (Architecture in Detail)
The only residence built by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe in America, Farnsworth House exemplifies both the central tenet of the International Style by inverting the conventions of traditional architecture, and of Mies' own design philosophy as it had evolved over the preceding four decades. Commissioned by Dr Edith Farnsworth to be used as a weekend country retreat, the house was conceived by Mies as an envelope of glass and steel floating over the Illinois Fox River flood plain. Its spare interior - an integrated living space pared down to the last detail - was intended to enable a simpler, cleaner and healthier lifestyle. With detailed drawings and specially commissioned photography, this latest book in the award-winning "AiD" series provides an in-depth and richly illustrated account of this icon of twentieth-century Modernist architecture. It documents how, even before its completion in 1951, architect and client had fallen out over expenses and practical defects of the house. By the time it was sold to Lord Palumbo in 1972, Edith Farnsworth had changed many of the interior elements dictated so precisely by Mies. Following a ruinous flood in 1996, the house has been faithfully reconstructed to its original Miesian conception and at a Sotheby's auction on 13th December 2003, last minute contributions saved the day; the National Trust cast the highest bid, assuring that the modernist house will be preserved and open to the public. The final price was $7.5 million plus fees.Arts & Photography Books
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