Abstract
“Poker Faces” interrogates the category of modernity in the history and criticism of domestic architecture, examining the relationship between formal innovation — typically used as our measure of originality — and planning innovation, in which new ways of living and experiencing the home are enabled through the translation of unconventional programs into interior spaces. Two examples of houses built for women clients — William Brainerd’s Colonial Revival “SCARAB” in Wellesley, Massachusetts (1907), built as a home for Professor Katharine Lee Bates and her life partner, Professor Katharine Coman; and Richard Neutra’s Constance Perkins House, in Pasadena, California (1955) — suggest that sometimes the most radical households lie behind self-protectively diffident façades.
Keywords
Modern Movement,
Modern architecture,
Living heritage,
Modern housing,
Housing preservation,
Scarab House,
William Brainerd,
Constance Perkins House,
Richard Neutra,
USA modern architecture.
Issue 51
Year 2014
Pages 68-73
DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.52200/51.A.1L2KLCWN