Nice mid-century modernist architecture from Kevin B. Howard Architects. These houses are in the $2 million plus category, and you can do a lot of cool stuff when you have that much money to play with. Regardless, this is really nice design work. I’d love to own one of these.
Santiago Calatrava, A Spanish architect, sculptor and structural engineer, has probably the most recognizable design style in the world today. He goes all in, and his designs tend to bring out the love it / hate it reaction in people. He’s responsible for the design of the Transportation Hub in the new World Trade Center, which besides being way over budget, is evoking strong reactions. I think some of his work is stunning, like the The Milwaukee Art Museum above. I like the Serreria Bridge in Valencia as well.
The Johnson Wax Building, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the mid 30’s in a style called Art Moderne, still fascinates. Curved surfaces, brick, brass, tree shaped columns of steel and concrete, glass tubing, translucent ceilings and custom furniture of maple and steel.
Take a look at the room on the left here. Try to image conceiving this design – not just aesthetically, but structurally.
Very cool.
I saw once, I think on some documentary or something, that Wright faced some opposition for those lilly pad pillars in the Johnson building. Many were skeptical that they would hold up, so he held public demonstrations with bricks piled on top.
That house looks like it is in Phoenix. Some are in Tucson because that is where Dove Mountain is. I’ve played that golf course at Dove Mountain, the original club the Gallery. It’s a pretty easy course. I know some of the lots are very expensive. The Cargill family developed Dove Mountain. I think they are from Minnesota.
I prefer Tucson and we went looking around Christmas. My wife loved This house and we were watching it, but someone came in with a cash offer before we were ready to do anything.
I’m not that interested in spectacular houses. More modest but with nice settings. That one will be hard to beat. The owners built it custom 18 years ago and were moving to Europe.
Stuff that Frank Lloyd Wright did in the 30s-40s still looks great, too.
That desert house may be a pretty design, but like a lot of modernist style buildings, it is probably an energy sieve.
Wonderful designs. I was always impressed with The Guggenheim’s curved interior doors to match the lines of the building. We loved visiting the place when we lived in NYC. I’d agree with Gringo, that place is a beast to heat and cool. My late father was a builder, who had a number of clients with “more money than brains” and did some interesting projects. One, built into a ledge with a living roof, was fine in the hottest days of summer, otherwise was miserable, damp seven figure cave.
I know that once upon a time, glass walled houses and buildings were notorious for energy costs. However, there are a lot of engineered glass products out there now. Double panes with the air evacuated out of the inner gap creating a vacuum thermal gap, like a Thermos bottle. Also, glass is available with energy efficient coatings that reflect in the infrared. That keeps heat in during the winter and heat out during the summer. So not as bad as they used to be, at least.