50S ULTRA MODERN

Steve showed me a great Taschen book...books, actually; it's a heavy three volume set...on the subject of Julius Schulman's architectural photography. I thought you might like to see a few of the pictures.

How do you like the living room above? It makes a powerful argument for low, beamed ceilings.  Normally I like to see large spaces like this broken up into enclaves but not this time. The large space is luxurious rather than awkward.

 Here's a different house that employs what I call the "Wally Wood Theory of Entrances." It's the idea that on entering a house you should be able to see the first and second floor simultaneously.

Haw! Maybe Wood got the idea from this architect; I don't know. Anyway, it's a great idea provided you don't mind using stairs frequently. There's so many steps in so many places that, if this Escher-like layout was real, you'd end up using the carpeted steps as chairs and tables.

Above, another view of the same real-world rooms. More often than not the owner probably chooses the sunken living room but seeing both floors at the outset makes him aware of what else the house offers. It emphasizes the house's personality.

Here's (above) yet another house. Boy, talk about bringing the outside in!

Yikes! Here's a room that I like even though it's wildly impractical and looks like a set from a cheesy 60s Euro-trash film. I like the thin, iron, seemingly weightless staircase, and the funny stone walls. You might think a room this drastic couldn't be made more extreme, but you'd be wrong.....

....anything can be made more drastic. Apparently the architect lamented his earlier conservatism and added a velvet circular couch and an outrageous overhead light fixture. The top of the fixture is surrounded by a circular shower curtain...for privacy, I guess. After all, if you went to all the trouble of climbing up there, you'd surely want to relax for a bit in seclusion.

I need to find out the name of this architect and see what else he did.