Case Study Houses

ケース・スタディ・ハウス / 1945–1966 / Style / Modern Architecture

The experimental housing program commissioned by Arts & Architecture for the postwar shortage: steel and glass from off-the-shelf parts, popularizing an image of bright modern living open to the California climate.

Case Study Houses — Eames House (No.8) (CC BY-SA 4.0) · © Gunnar Klack — Eames House (No.8) (CC BY-SA 4.0) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · © Gunnar Klack

Case Study Houses — Stahl House (No.22) — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain — Stahl House (No.22) — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

Case Study Houses — Pierre Koenig, Case Study House #21 (Bailey House) — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · © Niels Wouters — Pierre Koenig, Case Study House #21 (Bailey House) — Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 3.0 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · © Niels Wouters

At a glance

Visual cues

Lightness of steel and glass
Indoors flowing outdoors
Off-the-shelf components
Horizontally open plans

Best used for

Building a light framed house quickly on a sloping site with a view
Proposing bright living where industrial components stay visible

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Dictionary entry

Type: Space slender steel columns at a regular bay, dimensions left visible
Composition: Run the floor from living room to terrace, openings full width
Material: Assemble catalog steel, glass and colored panels without modification
Caution: Copying the glazed openness while neglecting sun and privacy control produces a hot, exposed house that photographs well and cannot be lived in.
Further study: Charles and Ray Eames / Pierre Koenig / Julius Shulman's photographs

Related entries

Mid-Century Modern (ミッドセンチュリー・モダン)Shared effects: Intimacy.Compare Case Study Houses and Mid-Century Modern
International Style (インターナショナル・スタイル)Same Modern Architecture lineage.Compare Case Study Houses and International Style

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Link: https://indexstyle.org/styles/case-study-houses
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