Eames Magic

It’s almost here, the Eames documentary by Jason Cohn and Bill Jersey! Playing here in Portland November 25th – December 1st at the Clinton Street Theater,  showings at 7 and 9pm.

About the film:

The husband-and-wife team of Charles and Ray Eames are widely regarded as America’s most important designers. Perhaps best remembered for their mid-century plywood and fiberglass furniture, the Eames Office also created a mind-bending variety of other products, from splints for wounded military during World War II, to photography, interiors, multi-media exhibits, graphics, games, films and toys. But their personal lives and influence on significant events in American life – from the development of modernism, to the rise of the computer age – has been less widely understood. Narrated by James Franco, Eames: The Architect and the Painter is the first film since their death dedicated to these creative geniuses and their work.

Check out the trailer:

glass walkway

Walter Gordinier is a local  visual artist that creates functional pieces of art out of glass. Gordinier’s concept of functional art glass was conceived in 1989 and since then while working with architects and interior designers, he has produced amazing works of art that function as stairs, walkways, countertops and walls. I had a chance to see some of Gordinier’s work in action on a recent tour of a beautiful Lake Oswego home. The stairs leading to the main living space are Gordinier glass and the bridge on the second floor loft walkway have panels of art glass that glow when illuminated below showing off their beautiful colors.  Gordinier uses a mix of granite, stone, glass, metals, lighting and wood in the production of his functional artwork and does everything from concept designs with clients to installation. The artist is also known for his self described “monolithic” atrium aerial sculptures which are indeed large beautiful works of art.

More on Walter Gordinier

John Storrs Designed Mid Century Home

Open this Saturday from 1-4pm come by 11990 SW Butner Road to tour an amazing house.

Home Details:

• Listing – 1199o SW Butner Rd – John Storrs Original
• John Storrs Northwest Architect
• Visit to Butner Rd
• Virtual Tour – Butner Rd

Photo Gallery Slide Show

Laurelhurst Modern

One of the many activities going on during the 2011 Portland Architecture and Design Festival is the Tour of Exceptional Homes showcasing 6 unique modern homes designed by a handful of famed Portland architects such as Pietro Belluschi, Paul McKean, Benjamin Waechter.  This is the modernists version of a street of dreams tour so get a ticket here before they are gone.

From the AIA Portland website:

“This homes tour provides a rare opportunity for guests to glimpse inside six sensational Portland residences. Featuring both cutting-edge and historic homes designed by architects, this daylong self-guided tour is a not-to-be-missed event!

The Design Matters homes tour is open to all, from design enthusiasts to professionals, builders to homemakers, students to senior citizens, and is a highlight of the 2011 Architecture + Design Festival, presented by the American Institute of Architects Portland. For more information, please call AIA Portland at 503-223-8757.

Just $40! Includes access to six featured homes, printed program with maps, and interactive iPhone app with GPS”

When:  Saturday, October 1st, 2011 starts at 10am

What: Self guided tour of amazing homes –  easy to follow GPS/map iphone application

Cost: $40 per person

Get tickets here and check out the other Portland Architecture and Design Festival events  here

]]> http://modernhomesportland.com/2011/09/14/modern-events-around-town-aia-design-matters-a-tour-of-exceptional-homes/feed/ 0 http://modernhomesportland.com/2011/08/26/modern-events-yeon-tours/ http://modernhomesportland.com/2011/08/26/modern-events-yeon-tours/#comments Fri, 26 Aug 2011 18:44:27 +0000 swensonm http://modernhomesportland.com/?p=1261

The University of Oregon’s John Yeon Center is offering a couple of unique tours in coming up this fall that you won’t want to miss.  First, the center is offering a rare and exclusive tour of The Shire,  a carefully designed 75-acre landscape with a sculpted lawn, a series of meadows, wetlands, vista points, river bays, and walking paths which John Yeon created over a 30 year period of time.  He purchased the property in 1965 to protect it from possible industrial development.

This 3 hour tour will begin at 2pm on Saturday, October 1st. The Shire is located on the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge directly across from Multnomah Falls.

Tour space is very limited so make your reservations soon by contacting:

Hannah at: yeongrf@uoregon.edu (541)346.2072  or Karen at:karenjj@uoregon.edu (541)346.3603

Watzek House Tours

Saturday, October 2nd, there will be three 90 minute guided tours of the Watzek House. This rare tour will focus on the seminal role of this house in shaping the Northwest Regional Modernist style as well as features and themes unique to John Yeon’s designs.

Tours are $60/person and are limited to 12 people each, so make reservations soon by contacting:

Hannah at: yeongrf@uoregon.edu (541)346.2072  or Karen at:karenjj@uoregon.edu (541)346.3603

Info from the UofO website

site for the Royal 5

The newest venture for Robert Oshatz, Portland’s famed organic architect, is a project titled the “Royal 5″.  There are 5 view lots located at the intersection of NW Skyline  and Royal Blvd which Oshatz plans to sell, design and build 5 custom homes for some very lucky buyers.

You might be wondering why Oshatz doesn’t just design, build then sell his homes but according to his design approach he must first understand the clients needs and the function the home must provide:

“The starting point of my work is the clients program, so my first step is to divide the program into its functional and spiritual components. The program is more than just a set of functional requirements, technical space allocations and relationships. It should embody the emotional needs of the client/user.”*

The term “organic architecture” was used by and to describe Frank Lloyd Wrights approach to design. The idea of organic architecture refers not only to the buildings’ literal relationship to the natural surroundings, but how the buildings’ design is carefully thought about as if it were a unified organism.  Oshatz had worked for and studied under Frank Lloyd Wright Jr and is a very accomplished architect.

“Just as there is no one answer to life’s problems, due to its complex and changing nature, there is no single solution to an architectural design challenge. With a myriad of past experiences within me, I try to clear my mind of previous solutions and preconceived notions and approach design intuitively.”*

These factors guarantee that each of these homes will be artistically unique and I am excited to see this project develop. These yet to be constructed homes are available for purchase, contact me if you would like more info on purchasing one of the Royal 5 homes.

Posts about Robert Oshatz:

• Robert Oshatz – Organic Architect
• Modern Organic Architecture

Photos of other residential projects by Robert Oshatz:

Wilkinson Residence

*from the Oshatz website

]]> http://modernhomesportland.com/2011/07/26/the-royal-5-project-organic-architect-robert-oshatz/feed/ 1 http://modernhomesportland.com/2011/07/10/leroy-setziol/ http://modernhomesportland.com/2011/07/10/leroy-setziol/#comments Sun, 10 Jul 2011 16:34:34 +0000 swensonm http://modernhomesportland.com/?p=1197

Door Carved by Leroy Setziol at the Frank Shell House

As some of you know, I have been reporting on the progress at  the Frank Shell house, from short sale to bank owned and now saved and being restored by a skilled contractor with an eye for the architects original vision. I was always very curious about the front door to the home (pictured above). It is obviously hand carved and very much an original piece of  mid century art. While chatting with the current owner a while ago, he mentioned that the door was carved by a local artist friend of Shells that gave this door to the Shells as an anniversary gift and that artist had done carvings that were featured at Salishan. As luck would have it, I was at that very moment less than a 2 minute drive to the Salishan Lodge, so I grabbed my camera and went on a lodge tour. The lobby, restaurant and stairs leading to the lounge are filled with huge wooden panels that were hand carved by this artist whom I found out is Leroy Setziol.

“Recognized as the “most accomplished and respected wood sculptor in the Northwest,” Roy Setziol was born in Philadel phia and grew up in cosmopolitan Buffalo. After graduating with a degree in art from Elmhurst College he married Ruth Davis in 1940. In 1941 he completed a theological degree and then worked as a minister in Bennington, New York. During WWII he served as a chaplain with the U.S. Army 43rd Infantry in the South Pacific. Soon after the war he joined his family in Portland, Oregon.

With Ruth supporting the family Roy began his career as an artist. Setziol’s art has been influenced by his experience interacting with the immigrant communities in Buffalo, the art he observed in the South Pacific, his personal interest in European art, and his experience living in the Northwest. He is a “sculptor who happens to work with wood,” in part because of the ready availability of the material in Oregon. Long admired by the architectural community, his work has been described as monumental and intimate, sym­bolic and abstract, geometric and organic. It is rich in color and texture with many of his pieces employing a grid system he discovered nearly 40 years ago carving a piece for the Menucha Conference Center in the Columbia Gorge. Roy has been commissioned for an extraordinary number of public pieces including those that can be seen at the Salishan Lodge, the Salem Public Library, the Child Development Center in Portland, the Chevron Building in Lagos, Nigeria, and at Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood. His sculptures are also in the collections of the Salem Art Association, the Hallie Ford Museum of Art, and the Contemporary Crafts Museum and Gallery.”

From his Salem Art Association biography.

Now that I can identify Setziols work, I can easily recall having seen it before and that explains why the Frank Shell door was something that felt so familiar.  See below for more photos of Setziols work and check out the Oregon Artbeat feature on the local artist from 2001.

Birkemeier mid century home on Fremont in NE Portland

This Saturday, June 25th, 2011, is the encore presentation of the Kenneth Birkemeier lecture at the Architectural Heritage Center. I went to the first lecture last November and it was pretty fascinating, well worth the price of admission!

Details from the Architectural Heritage Center website:

The post-World War II building boom in Portland presented many opportunities for architects and builders to interpret the “modern” home. Ken Birkemeier was one such Portland builder, who designed and constructed completely original homes during this period. Though also credited with building Colonials and conventional Ranch Style houses, the Birkemeier Modern home remains his most identifiable house type. These brick (or partially brick) houses often incorporated avant-garde or whimsical features in their design and looked forward to an optimistic future filled with technological promise. Whether futuristic or conventional, the quality of construction in Birkemeier homes and his always pleasing designs have earned him legions of home-owning fans over the years. A real estate listing today with the name Birkemeier in the title always commands attention and respect.

AHC Education Committee member Jack Bookwalter will discuss the distinctive features found in all Birkemeier houses. You’ll also learn about Ken Birkemeier the man, whose remarkable career spanned the 1930s to the 1970s. Following his talk Jack will lead a short walking tour past several Birkemeier homes in NE Portland. (Transportation from the AHC not provided.)

This program is an encore of the sold-out lecture from November 2010.

Pre-registration is strongly suggested

Buy tickets here

entry atrium - one of three atriums

One of the first blog posts that I wrote here on the Modern Homes Portland site was a visit to a home that was on market designed by architect Frank Shell for his personal residence. Frank and his wife lived in this house until he passed away in 2003. The Shell house was then  sold, a little bit of work was done to it then it was sold again. The home then went back up on market a short time after, that listing turned into short sale, a sale never happened so it went back to the bank. During the couple of years it took the bank to take it back and re-sell it, the property ended up suffering from a bit of deferred maintenance. I lost count on how many times I have showed this house but let’s just say that I know it quite well.

During the years that the property was in short sale/bank owned limbo, the fear for most mid century architecture preservationists was that a builder would see a good deal in the land/lots for development and raze the house to build something more “profitable” since it is in a desirable, close-in SW neighborhood.

The good news: I was contacted recently by the new owner, who is a contractor, and very much enamored with the form as most of us are. He is currently working on preserving the structure and updating the systems as necessary but is making an effort to keep many of the details intact and taking care to research the architects original vision for the home.

The owner let me take a look around the other day and take a few photos while they were working, slideshow below:

I can’t wait to see what it is like when he is done and we are so happy that the Frank Shell house will be here for many more years, thank you new owner….next stop, historical register?

Original post on the Frank Shell House.

More posts on the architect Frank Shell:

• Frank Shell Mid Century Modern Design
• Frank Shells Personal Home – Mid Century Modern Design