A look at post modern Architecture in California
A look at post modern Architecture in California1. General Discussion
Eric Owen Moss is in no way new to architecture. However, prior to the design and building of the Schnabel House Moss had designed few residential homes. Moss had always been associated with larger commercial buildings. This is a result of his close work with developer Frederick Norton Smith. Smith has designed a large portion of Culver City-an area located south of the Santa Monica Freeway-as the field of his endeavor. (Steele, 6) Moss's works include 8522 National Boulevard, Samitaur, Hayden Tract Company, and S.P.A.R.C.I.T.Y. "Eric Owen Moss has been able to explore what he has termed "emotive geometries' and the way these can apply to a new level of urban consciousness." (Steele, 6) Moss's past projects all allowed him to examine issues related to internalized environments which allow many people to work together in carefully determined surroundings, the final users are not know to him, and can change as the market allows. (Steele, 6) Eric Owen Moss has been described as a "Jeweler of Junk." More likely then not, Philip Johnson used this term to describe Moss for the way he combines different materials in his projects when he is exploring the complexity of his spaces. This term is not fully accurate; Moss merely wishes one to recognize or not to recognize the different materials in their functions and in their relationships to other materials. Los Angeles/Southern California is the bellwether region for architectural design. The residential home is a way for the architect and client to collaborate to create a functional, yet contemporary design. The Lawson/Weston House very distinctly and dynamically uses wood, steel, and concrete in the major part of the building. In this project, the materials used play a very important role in the way the spaces are created and how they feel. It is often interesting to see how Moss uses materials by overlapping them and removing parts of them. In this project, he removed sections of the glue lamb beams to theoretically connect the beams, yet still provide the transparency and the overlapping qualities that he desires. One example of this overlapping is the way many of the material puncture or grow out of the walls. In this project, the different materials played an important role in the forming of the building. Frank Gehry is Design Principal for the firm Frank O. Gehry and Associates, Inc., which he established in 1962. Before founding the firm, Frank Gehry worked with architects Victor Gruen and Pereira and Luckman in Los Angeles, and with AndrC Remondet in Paris. Gehry was raised in Toronto, and moved to Los Angeles in 1947. Gehry received his bachelor of Architecture for the University of Southern California, and studied City Planning at the Harvard University Graduate School of design. His illustrious career has spanned four decades and...
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