Shulman didn't build these houses, he just photographed them. It's always tempting to imagine that a good photographer just gets lucky, but that wasn't true in Shulman's case. He had a vision which he imposed on his subjects. Modern architecture for Shulman wasn't only about angles and light, it was about a new sensibility which was light hearted, optimistic, adventurous and intelligent, and which somehow told a story. It was said that sometimes Shulman's photos were better than the buildings he shot.
Here (above) the architect attempted to prevent Shulman from taking the picture because he thought the house wouldn't photograph well in the fading light. Fortunately for the architect, Shulman did it anyway.
Modernism at its best had a heroic, optimistic and pioneering feel to it. Post modernism seems to say, "Look, everything worth doing has been done, so we'll just do modern versions of what the Romans did 2,000 years ago."
Shulman's best work was done in black and white, but he slowly adapted to color a little bit at a time. That diagonal above is based on a sketch by Leonardo DaVinci.
Just for the heck of it, I deleted the color from Shulman's picture. Most of it works fine this way, though the black and white drains some of the vibrancy from the right.
Here's (above) a modernist house with a strong Japanese influence. I wouldn't say it was completely practical, but it sure looks good in this Shulman picture. Should houses be practical? Maybe the architect's done his job by creating fascinating spaces that clients can customize later. What do you think?
Anyway, the drawing on the right illustrates what was wrong with certain modernist houses. When the blinds were open and the walls were transparent, the house looked great. When the blinds were closed, and the walls were opaque, the house was reduced to a big, unadorned shoebox.
It's a fixable problem...you just vary the shapes...but some modern architects considered that to be a dilution, a compromise with the old ornamental bias. Well, Shulman's job was to make the houses look good, and you can't deny that he did that.
I'll end with one more Shulman picture (above)....
...and a picture of the man at his desk. He was in his mid 90s when this photo was taken, and still perfectly lucid and thoughtful. Get Netflix to send you the documentary about him called, "Visual Acoustics." There's a book by the same name.
BTW: Is that not a tres cool design for a workspace? Oh, what I'd give to have a room like that!
And BTW again: I have lots more to say about Shulman and the vision he imposed on modernism. I'll try to post about him again soon.
Sweet photos. Those modernistic houses look great in B&W.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting. Checking back and seeing that gloomy anorexic girl was beginning to get me down.
ReplyDeleteI like how white and grey dominate even his colour pictures, with a few splashes of bright colour.
ReplyDeleteanother interesting post. many thanks for all of em! the composition of these scenes is fantastic. it really does impose a way of looking at them on to the viewer. a few of those rooms -boy, id like to stand at the window looking down at the valley, little bit of whiskey perhaps, ahh - his photos make you dream a little bit. such good stuff.
ReplyDeleteJust noticing that the spiral walkway seemingly leads to a dead end, a ramp to nowhere...
ReplyDeleteWhere is that "Leonardo" space?
A lot of California architects from this period were students of Wright; Schindler, Lautner. You can kind of see a Wright-ian influence in some of these buildings, in the Japanese influence, like you pointed out. They are just more Japanese than Wright- lighter than.
Interesting photos. The way the blog is sitting on the "page" now, it looks like there's a large portrait of you hanging in the photographers office.
I've never heard of Julius Shulman before, since I don't really know too much about architecture, nor do I desire to be an architect myself. These photos are quite magnificent though. Each of them seems like a work of art in their own ways.
ReplyDeleteCould you explain "postmodernism" a bit more though? I've been hearing that term a lot quite lately, especially in language arts, when my teacher talked about how we're studying Modernistic literature and how every piece of literature that's being published now would fall into the "postmodern" category.
Steve: Haw! Thanks. By the way, I saw the film you recommended about the artist who drew radialarians. Very interesting!
ReplyDeleteThomas: I don't know where that building is. I have the "Visual Acoustics" book on hold at the library, so maybe I'll find out that way. And you're right about my sidebar picture seeming to be a photo on Shulman's wall. I love unexpected surprises like that.
Roberto: I have no idea how to define post modern. About not wanting to be an architect...big mistake. You don't have to do it professionally, but ordinary living requires that you make architectural decisions all the time. Designing your workspace is an architectural decision.
BTW: if you don't have a knack for that sort of thing ...and a lot of talented artists don't...trade favors and get an artsy friend with a proven killer workspace of his own to design it for you. A stimulating work area is an absolute must. Give the friend 100% freedom to make changes, choose materials, and all that. Do whatever he or she tells you, as if you were a slave. Don't argue with them.
That TV show where people design rooms for other people was horrible. It only works if your firend has a real knack for it.
Ah, Case Study House #22 (cover shot) by Pierre Koenig. Nice to see that you're broadening your architectural taste. I mean who wouldn't want to live there? If you're not constantly inspired by that kind of commanding view and the freedom of thought allowed by such then I suggest you hang up your Windsor-Newtons. The "Japanese" influenced house is also by Koenig.
ReplyDeleteI was lucky enough to hear Shulman speak at an architectural event in Los Angeles a few years back. "Modernist" architects are often assumed to be cold and emotionless but he painted a completely different picture. I think of his photographs as attempting to depict some of the dynamism that the occupants feel by living in such unrestricted spaces versus the impression made by conventional architecture when viewed from outside (think of a Rhine valley castle).
Thomas - The last Shulman photo is of a Lautner house. I believe it to be the Schaffer House. It came up for sale just a few years back.
Thanks for the info Eddie... but I was curious about that one that looks like a big erector set of a public space.
ReplyDeleteLook foward to Shulman follow up posts.