The aim of the mid-century Californian “Case Study” Houses was to introduce to folk, now finished with war and ready to build, the many means both technological and material allowing design to improve the way they lived. All of them stressed what today is called “indoor-outdoor flow,” with broad openings made possible by the (then) new technology of sliding doors.
Richard Neutra’s Baily House was at the humble end of the spectrum of Case Study Houses—a small house for a young family, designed to live with nature and expand, centred around “a prefabricated utility element that contained centrally amassed plumbing and heating installations.”
Some of its features would be positively unwelcome today, especially that ubiquitous inside-outside connection. “Considering the outsides as part of the house was the solution that Richard Neutra found to face the lack of inside space. The kitchen, as an example, is opened to the backyard that -thanks to the pleasant Californian weather- could be used to have lunches and dinners or do outside house-works.” While adding greater comfort, modern air-conditioning however breaks these kinds of connections between indoors and out.
Planned to expand, the plan shows the house after its second (of three) series of extensions.
[Pics and quotes from Proyectos 7/Proyectos 8, and Mid-Century Home]
1 comment:
My house was built in 1941 and ticks most of these boxes. While I've done a fair bit to it because it was tired, the basic layout remains the same and it is a nice house to live in - it is built for the sun, takes great advantage of the 1 acre section, has lots of glass (which makes furniture placement a problem) and does not feel old fashioned. It was built by an American and that may be the key.
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