Esherick House by Louis Kahn

Architectural photographer Todd Eberle has photographed Esherick House, a 1961 home in Philadelphia designed by architect Louis Kahn, which is being sold at auction in May.

The photographs were commissioned by Chicago auctioneer Wright ahead of the house’s auction on 18 May, and will be published in the auction catalogue.

“Photographing Kahn’s Esherick house was the first time that I have seen such a clarity of space and volume since the early nineties when I photographed Donald Judd’s work in architecture in Marfa,” said Eberle. “The house is a monument to Kahn’s rigorous vision, which made me fully grasp Judd’s deep admiration of Kahn.”

The house is expected to fetch $2-3 million.


The following information is from Wright:


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Wright to Auction Master Architect Louis Kahn’s Esherick House on 18 May 2008

Wright announces the auction of master architect Louis Kahn’s Esherick House in Philadelphia. The house stands as one of the most important houses realized by Kahn throughout his luminous career, and is the first residence to illustrate his mature architectural ideals. The house will be offered to the art and design community as a single lot in Wright’s Important Design sale on Sunday, May 18, 2008.


As leader of the trend that other auction houses are now following, the Kahn sale furthers Wright’s commitment to bringing an interdisciplinary collection of works—art, design and architecture—to the international market. With an estimate of $2-3 million, the Esherick House is a true collectible work of art: smart, conceptual, serene, and transcending.

A celebration of light and materiality

Kahn’s principles of geometry, light and materiality are clearly expressedin the Esherick house, imbuing the intimate residence with a sense of monumentality. The material nature of the house—what it is and how it is made—is apparent at first glance: a private, contemplative building simply constructed of warm beige concrete and natural Apitong wood. Clarity and tranquility characterize the whole of Kahn’s work, and the Esherick house (1959-1961) is no exception.

Situated at a perfect angle on a property measuring more than half an acre, the house has a striking presence. The approach features a planar composition with a textured mortar finish bisected by a strong vertical chimney, while keyhole windows framed with Apitong and placed at irregular intervals punctuate the front facade. The floor plan reveals Kahn’s refined design of two symmetrical side-by-side rectangles that allow for both openness and structural clarity. Kahn’s use of pure geometry in the facades and interior spaces speaks to archetypal references that Kahn drew on throughout his body of work. Here, like in all his buildings, Kahn united this architectural history with the modern present in a truly unique structure.

The cubic layout of the interior of the two-story house is accented by beautiful Apitong wood and crisp textured white walls. Light streams in the floor-to-ceiling windows, reflecting and refracting throughout the open plan. As the house was designed for a book lover, the living room incorporates nearly ceiling high built-in bookcases within an impressive double-height space saturated with the natural light. The dining room overlooks the large private backyard that shares an edge with a pastoral park, while the expansive bedroom and original walk-in closet mirror the craftsmanship and tranquility found throughout the house.

Richard Wright, founder of Wright auction house states: “We are thrilled to be offering Kahn’s Esherick House, which is truly a jewel. The monolithic exterior in combination with the warm, thoughtful interior speaks to Kahn’s ability to create monumental structures with a humanist approach. As Kahn clearly intended, the character and style of this house belongs to no era; the house is truly timeless.”

The Esherick house was commissioned by Margaret Esherick, niece of famed Philadelphia sculptor Wharton Esherick (1887–1970). The house features a complete, one of a kind, custom kitchen by Wharton Esherick, which is one of his last remaining intact interiors. Kahn and Wharton Esherick were close friends and had worked together in Kahn’s design of Esherick’s studio just outside Philadelphia.

Located in the Chestnut Hill area of Philadelphia, approximately 10 minutes from Center City (downtown) and 90 minutes from Manhattan, the Esherick house received the distinguished honor of a Landmark Building Award from the American Institute of Architects, Philadelphia chapter in 1992. The connection between Kahn and Philadelphia extends back to Kahn’s childhood and through his successful career. The University of Pennsylvania now houses the Louis I. Kahn collection and honors the architect with a titled visiting professorship—The Louis Kahn visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

The architect and 2006 Louis Kahn professor David Adjaye states, “I had the great pleasure of visiting the Esherick House in the Spring of 2006. As a student I was always mesmerized by its playful graphic geometry of the windows and the deceptive simplicity of its plan. It was a real surprise to see the care and joy of the materials still very much intact and it being lived in as I’m sure Kahn would have approved. There were two particularly ecstatic moments for me. Firstly was ascending the beautifully crafted, Japanese- or Shaker-esque, staircase with its simple timber balustrade, which overlooks the living room. The second was opening the shutter of the window in the library where knowledge and nature seemed to freeze into one image. The Esherick House is definitely one of Kahn’s most important works which defined lessons he’d go on to use in later projects.”

Wright has commissioned artist Todd Eberle to create an original photographic essay that elaborately documents the Esherick house with Eberle’s exactness and astounding understanding of architectural spaces. With an international reputation and portfolio, Eberle has photographed several other Kahn buildings, including what is arguably Kahn’s most famous building: the Salk Institute in La Jolla,California. From abstract details that show the perfection of the construction to sweeping shots of the stunning elevations, the images showcase Kahn and Eberle’s shared affinities for the subtleties of space and light.

Todd Eberle notes: “Photographing Kahn’s Esherick house was the first time that I have seen such a clarity of space and volume since the early nineties when I photographed Donald Judd’s work in architecture in Marfa. The house is a monument to Kahn’s rigorous vision, which made me fully grasp Judd’s deep admiration of Kahn.”

The stand-alone catalogue will celebrate Kahn’s significant contribution to architectural history and the beauty of the Esherick house. It will include Eberle’s photo essay along with extensive historical documentation and an original essay by esteemed architecture critic Julie V. Iovine.

Wright was the first to recognize a new era of architecture-as-art with the sale of Pierre Koenig’s Case Study House #21 in 2006. According to Richard Wright: “Wright helped establish the trend of auctioning prominent modern homes, which helps support their preservation by offering such unique properties to art and design connoisseurs internationally. At the same time that we auction Kahn’s Esherick house, Christie’s is to sell Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann house in Palm Springs affirming this trend, which we ushered in.”

Wright is an independent company driven and directed by creativity and innovation. With recognized expertise and exceptional style, they are the premiere auction house for modern and contemporary art and design.

Opened in 2000, their specialized program and groundbreaking catalogues quickly earned Wright an international reputation as the most knowledgeable leader in the field. To great success, Wright has expanded the boundaries of the design market through specialty auctions devoted to Italian and 70s design, the artist Harry Bertoia, and significant modernist properties.

Representing all facets of design is important to Wright. Richard Wright comments: “We hope that people discovered something here, or saw a design that inspired them.” A commitment to creativity and a vision of carefully curated design defines Wright and has made them a forerunner in the auction industry.

Wright Auction About The House Quotes Fact sheet Catalog Contact

LOT 200: ESHERICK HOUSE

located in the Chestnut Hill neighborhood
of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

ARCHITECT
Louis Kahn

DATES
1959-1961

LOT SIZE
.6 acres

SPACE
Two-story structure comprised of one bedroom, one and a half bathrooms, dining room, custom Wharton Esherick kitchen and large double-height living room, totaling 2,500 square feet

PROVENANCE
Commissioned by Margaret Esherick, 1959
Mr. and Mrs. Burnap Post, 1964
Dr. and Mrs. Robert Gallagher, 1981

HONORS
Landmark Building Award, American Institute of Architects, Philadelphia chapter, 1992

ESTIMATE
$2-3 million

Design Miami/Basel 2008: Designers of the Future winners

Four winners of the Designers of the Future prize 2008 have been announced: Julia Lohmann, Max Lamb, Martino Gamper and Kram/Weisshaar .
Each of the winners will exhibit a specially commissioned piece made from concrete and wool at Design Miami/Basel in June. Here’s a selection of previous work for which the designers were nominated, followed by a press release from Design Miami/Basel:



Top image: Antonia Cowbench by Julia Lohmann. Above: Tabouret Lasting Void by Julia Lohmann. Image © Fabrice Gousset, courtesy Galerie Kreo

Above: Ruminant Blooms by Julia Lohmann. Image © Natasa Trifunovic

Above: The Catch by Julia Lohmann. Image © Yoshisato Komaki

Above: Polychair by Max Lamb

Above: Pewter stool by Max Lamb

Above: Pewter stool by Max Lamb" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5194776267460322162" border="0" />
Above: Nanocrystalline Copper stool by Max Lamb

Above: Bronze Poly chair by Max Lamb

Above: Total Trattoria by Martino Gamper

Above: If Only Gio Knew by Martino Gamper at Miami/Basel last June

Above: Together Bookcase by Martino Gamper, image courtesy Nilufar gallery


Above and below: Breeding tables by Kram/Weisshaar

Design Miami/ Basel to honour four young creatives with the 2008 “Designers of the Future Award,” reflecting the variety of approaches and styles in new design today

Award winners Martino Gamper, Max Lamb, Julia Lohmann and the partnership of Clemens Weisshaar & Reed Kram will debut new work commissioned for Design Miami/ Basel, in Basel, Switzerland, June 3 – 5, 2008

Miami, FL and Basel, Switzerland - Design Miami/ Basel, the most prominent and substantive global forum for historic and contemporary limited-edition design, has named Martino Gamper, Max Lamb, Julia Lohmann, and Clemens Weisshaar & Reed Kram as its 2008 Designers of the Future. To acknowledge this award, each designer/collective will create a new object, installation, or series using concrete and wool, supplementing their work with a short video of his/her creative process. The new work and video will be exhibited at Design Miami/ Basel, which will take place at the Markthalle Basel, Viaduktstrasse 10, Basel, Switzerland from June 3 – 5, 2008.

The decision to showcase more than one young creative person or collective within a single year was made after taking into consideration the tremendous energy in contemporary design, a field which encompasses a vast variety of compelling approaches and styles. With this award, Design Miami/ Basel demonstrates its commitment to experimental, limited edition and non-industrial design and seeks to reward creativity expressed through new forms, new processes, and new design philosophies. By honoring more than one person or collective at a time, it seeks to provide a more complete picture of where design practice is heading.

Each of the winning designers was asked by Design Miami/ to create an original piece that combines two diametrically opposed materials: concrete and wool. The constraints on each designer were identical—materials, budget and height (no higher than 3 meters). This new work will be exhibited at Design Miami/ Basel.

Concrete reflects the site of Design Miami/ Basel—the Markthalle Basel, a Brutalist dome of reinforced concrete built in 1928. The material has played an essential role in design history, used by both Modernists and Postmodernists alike, although to different ends, and is still popular among young designers today. The designers are not restricted to basic limestone cement, but are free to use any sort of composite material that falls under the ‘concrete’ umbrella.

With the resurgence of craft processes in contemporary design, wool in its many forms has gained a renewed vitality. Many young designers choose to work with some form of wool, either as thread or felt, in crochet or retro-inspired upholstery. It responds well to dyes and can take on deep, jewel-like tones. It has the ability to feel classic and conservative or edgy and progressive. The Designers of the Future are presented the challenge to approach this material in a new way, indicative of their individual approaches and styles.

In addition to creating new work, the Designers of the Future will digitally record their creative processes in order to produce a video that can be shown as part of the exhibition at the Markthalle. Design Miami values the process behind the creation of great design and sees video as one of the best ways to communicate process, contributing greatly to any design exhibition.

The award gives the recipient the unique opportunity to exhibit alongside the most reputable designers and design galleries in the world, giving them high visibility and immediate access to the most influential members of the international design community.

About the Designers of the Future

Julia Lohmann
Born in Hildesheim, Germany, Julia Lohmann became interested in design on childhood walks with her father, on which they collected abandoned objects to create small figurines of strange, imaginative creatures. This dual interest in both the natural world and overlooked items led her to investigate the contradictions in our relationship to animals as sources of food and materials. By working with offal, off-cuts of leather and other meat industry waste products, she probes those contradictions while “giving value to leftovers.” In “Flock” and “Ruminant Bloom,” sheep stomachs are used to create glowing lighting fixtures. Her most recent work, the result of a three-month residency in Japan, is “The Catch.” Created from a vast, ‘ocean’ of used empty fish boxes that are arranged in the towering waves of a stormy sea, this work confronts visitors with the consequences of over-fishing and the heedless consumption of marine life.

After graduating in Graphic Design from the Surrey Institute in 2001, Lohmann studied Design Products at the Royal College of Art, London, earning her MA in 2004. That same year, she exhibited in the inaugural Design Mart exhibition at the Design Museum, London. She was one of five featured designers to be awarded a bursary by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and to participate in the 2005 Great Brits exhibition, presented at Paul Smith headquarters in Milan and organized by the Design Museum, London and the British Council. Her work has since been commissioned by the French National Art Collection, Galerie KREO in Paris and the droog® design group. Her Cowbenches have been acquired by the permanent collections of MOMA (New York) and the British Council.

Max Lamb
“Inspiration grows from my desire to explore and re-contextualize both traditional and unconventional materials, celebrating their inherent properties and exploiting their potential,” says Max Lamb. Based in London, Lamb blends experimentation and rationale to create furniture and products that possess a visual simplicity capable of communicating the obvious. His fascination with the ‘handmade’ and zest for Britain’s industrial heritage is explored in his ongoing project “Exercises in Seating.”

Lamb aims to produce objects that are both inspired and inspiring, and stimulate positive interaction between product and user. Honesty to material and communication of process are key to Lamb’s intent. Most recently, he has been focused on exploring the implications of the dissolution of local skill-based industries when confronted with rising high-tech processes.

A native of St. Austell, Cornwall, Lamb earned a degree in Three Dimensional Design from Northumbria University in 2003. In the same year he was awarded the Hettich International Design Award and the Peter Walker Award for Innovation in Furniture Design. Lamb worked as a design consultant for Ou Baholyodhin Studio in London, designing furniture, graphics, exhibitions and private domestic interiors. In 2006, he completed his Masters Degree in Design Products at the Royal College of Art, developing a concise, process driven approach to design. After a year designing for Tom Dixon Studio, Lamb established his own practice and currently teaches on the Industrial Design course at ECAL/University of Art and Design Lausanne.

Martino Gamper
London-based designer Martino Gamper creates situations that include materials, techniques, individuals and spaces, and which favor meetings and discussion. Known for reworking furniture that he has found discarded on the street, his interest in the psychosocial implications of furnishings translates in his reuse of unwanted objects to create a disparate family of objects, sit-specific installations and special events. Last year at Design Miami/ Basel, Gamper performed “If Only Gio Knew,” during which he deconstructed vintage Gio Ponti chairs, using the resultant raw materials to create his own designs in front of a live audience as part of the “Performance/Process” series.

Born in Italy, Gamper studied sculpture and product design in Vienna under the tutelage of artists and designers like Michelangelo Pistoletto and Ron Arad. In 1995, he worked in Milan as a designer developing products and concepts for WMF, Villeroy & Boch and Lavazza. After moving to London in 1998 to study at the Royal College of Art, he began to experiment with the implications of narrow spaces—corners in particular. After graduating, he established his own studio. His recent projects include “100 Chairs in 100 Days,” which resulted in the creation of a series of hybrid seating creations fusing the different part of found chairs.

Clemens Weisshaar & Reed Kram
Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram create works that expand the intersection between architecture, industrial design, media design, and fashion. With their seminal projects for Prada’s Epicenter Stores in Los Angeles and New York with Rem Koolhaas, and their work for Authentics, Classicon, Moroso and Porzellan Manufaktur Nymphenburg they quickly garnered wide international recognition.

The break-through for Kram and Weisshaar was “Breeding Tables.” In this project, their approach towards intelligently intertwining product development and media design, while taking advantage of the newest technological possibilities, is paradigmatically outlined. The projects of Clemens Weisshaar and Reed Kram stand for a new form of integrated product and process development—and thus for a new way of thinking design. The work of KRAM/WEISSHAR is part of the collection of the Centre Pompidou in Paris, the VITRA Design Museum, Weil am Rhein and Pinakothek der Moderen, Munich.

Clemens Weisshaar was born in Munich. After an apprenticeship as a metal worker, he studied Product Design at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and the Royal College of Art in London. After three years as an assistant to Konstantin Grcic, he founded his own office in 2000. Weisshaar lives and works in Munich.

Reed Kram was born in Columbus, Ohio and studied at Duke University and MIT, where he was a founding member of the Aesthetics and Computation Group at the Media Laboratory. Kram lives and works on Södermalm Island in Stockholm.

Decouper Toile Collection and Bloody Hell by Timorous Beasties

Milan 08: textile and wallpaper designers Timorous Beasties will launch a collection printed with images of “contemporary urban life”, including skateboarders, tramps and CCTV cameras, and another design based on the conflict in the Middle East.




The Decouper Toile Collection (top, above and below) is based on 18th Century chinioserie and toiles de jouey patterns.

Bloody Hell (below) is ” an experimental wallpaper design based on the theme of war and conflict in the Middle East”.

The designers are also launching new floral patterns (below).

The collections will be launched in Milan next week.

morous Beasties:


Decouper Toile Collection & Bloody Hell

As part of the design+ event in the heart of Zona Tortona, Timorous Beasties are delighted to be in Milan once again for the launch of the Decouper Toile Collection and Bloody Hell.

The Decouper Toile Collection is a contemporary take on the chinioserie and toiles de jouey patterns of the 18th Century. The literal meaning of Decouper in French is to “cut out”; it is also the source of the term “découpage”. The Découpage style became very popular in 18th Century Britain with the upper and burgeoning middle classes. Images were cut from valuable prints and lacquered onto hatboxes, gift boxes and even walls.

Unlike the original sentimental patterns popular in this period, Timorous Beasties have used everyday images of contemporary urban life. The collection features young and old men, workers, shoppers, pregnant mothers, cyclists and tramps, all beautifully silhouetted on the decorative backdrop of traditional pattern. The Decouper Toile collection challenges both old and new ideas of class, wealth and taste.

Bloody Hell is an experimental wallpaper design based on the theme of war and conflict in the Middle East. Timorous Beasties will also be previewing new oversized floral prints.

Milan 2008

design+
Via Tortona 20,
Zona Tortona
16th – 21st April 2008

Press Preview
Tuesday 15th April 15.00h - 19.00h

Daily Opening
Wednesday 16th – Sunday 20th April
10.00 – 21.00 h
Monday 21st April
10.00 – 16.00 h

Party
Wednesday 16th April 19.00 – 23.30 h
(invitation only)

Chocolate pencils by Nendo

Japanese designers Nendo have created chocolate pencils for Tokyo patissier Tsujiguchi Hironobu.
The pencils come with a sharpener so chocolate shavings can be grated on top of pastries and desserts.
Here’s a bit of text from Nendo:

Chocolate-pencils is a collaboration with patissier Tsujiguchi Hironobu, the mastermind behind popular dessert shops like Mont St. Claire and Le Chocolat de H. Tsujiguchi created a new dessert based on his impression of Nendo after conversations with us, and we designed new tableware for them.

We wanted our plates to show off the beauty of meals and desserts like a painting on a canvas. Based on this idea, our “chocolate pencils” come in a number of cocoa blends that vary in intensity, and chocophiles can use the special “pencil sharpener” that comes with our plate to grate chocolate onto their dessert.

Pencil filings are usually the unwanted remains of sharpening a pencil but in this case they’re the star!

Bryghusgrunden Project by OMA

Office for Metropolitan Architecture has designed Bryghusgrunden Project, a building on Copenhagen’s waterfront that will house the Danish Architecture Centre and the Realdania Foundation.

Check back later as there are many more images to come…

Here’s some info from OMA:

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OMA reveals design of Bryghusgrunden Project in Copenhagen: new Realdania Headquarters and Danish Architecture Center

(Copenhagen, April 7, 2008) The Office for Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) today revealed the design for the Bryghusgrunden Project at the historic waterfront in Copenhagen. The 27,000 square meter building will include new facilities for the Danish Architecture Center (DAC), the headquarters of the Realdania Foundation, along with a distinctive mix of residential units, public program and playground facilities.

The Bryghusgrunden Project is located on the harbor on the site of an old brewery, the Bryghusgrunden, one of the few remaining areas with the potential to link the city to the waterfront. The building itself will straddle the busy Christians Brygge ring road, creating new urban connections for pedestrians and cyclists between the waterfront and Denmark’s houses of government.

The mix of program within the building is unique - for the first time an architecture center will be embedded within its own key subjects of study and research - housing, offices, public space and parking. The DAC will include several exhibition areas, research facilities, an auditorium, conference rooms, a bookstore and a café.

Ellen van Loon, OMA’s partner in charge of the project, concluded that “unlike the typical ‘stacked’ sections where individual programs remain autonomous, the program ‘heap’ of the Bryghusgrunden Project has the elements stacked in a seemingly random order. The public program, the urban routes and the DAC reach into the heart of the building and create a broad range of interactions between the different program parts.”

OMA’s design integrates the existing playground facility on the site into the project and extends it with new typologies for different age groups distributed over the entire site - facing the city as well as the waterfront. A more secure playground is integrated at the transition point between landscape and building and is directly linked to the educational spaces of the DAC. The landscape at the waterfront is designed for older children.

The building is designed in compliance with the highest standards of the new Danish energy code. The building uses a mixed system of mechanical and natural ventilation, a high performance glass facade and other environmentally sustainable systems, such as sea water cooling. The heat gained in the building will be used to heat the public spaces in winter.

Realdania is a Danish strategic foundation created with the objective of initiating and supporting projects that improve the built environment. OMA was selected for the Bryghusgrunden Project in 2006 following an interview procedure.

The project is led by OMA partners Ellen van Loon and Rem Koolhaas in collaboration with project managers Chris van Duijn and Dirk Peters. Van Loon and Koolhaas’s previous collaborations include the design of the new aquarium and science center in Hamburg, the headquarters of NM Rothschild & Sons in London, the redevelopment of Mercati Generali in Rome and the completion of Porto’s Casa da Musica and the Netherlands Embassy in Berlin

[c]space Pavilion by Alan Dempsey and Alvin Huang

[c]space Pavilion, a temporary structure designed by architects Alan Dempsey and Alvin Huang, has opened in London.

Constructed in front of the Architectural Association, the design last year won a competition to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the AA’s Design Research Laboratory.

Cork Table and Stool

I love the concept of Jasper Morrison’s Cork Table and Stool; it has a sculptural quality and it’s made out of 100% Cork material - who knew saving the planet could be so stylish?

Dramatic and eye-catching, the stylish Cork Table and Stool with its beautiful natural texture and depth is perfect for any lounge furniture arrangement. Lounging on the sleek StingRay with an oversized cork table on your side for your stuff.

Lightweight and easy to handle, the Cork can also be used as a comfortable seating stool because of its spongy features.

Architecture design Leaf Chapel

Within the grounds of the Risonare hotel resort in Kobuchizawa, you will find KDa’s amazing architecture design called the Leaf chapel. This modern chapel is formed by 2 leaves - one glass, one steel - which have seemingly fluttered to the ground.

Overlooking the beautiful views to the southern Japanese Alps, Yatsugatuke peaks and Mt.Fuji, the glass leaf architecture design with its delicate lace pattern motif emulates a beautiful pergola.


The white steel leaf, perforated with 4700 holes, each of which hold an acrylic lens, is similar to bride’s veil made of delicate lace. Light filters through the lenses and projects a lace pattern onto the white fabric inside.

Klein Dytham architecture (KDa) is a Tokyo based, multi-disciplinary design practice active in the design of architecture, interiors, and public spaces and installations.