If You Want To Build A House
New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 1946. Robert C. Osborn. First Edition. Octavo (26 cm.) 96 pp. Burnt-Orange paper boards with titles in white and black, titles in black on spine. Dust jacket in likewise colors and lettering with advertisements on rear boards in black lettering. Two short closed tears to bottom of front jacket at the corners. Very short open tear to verso of top of jacket, not affecting type. Some modest rubbing to edges of jacket. Very Good overall. Item #37
In the early to middle 20th Century, with few women in material design, Elizabeth Mock, former apprentice under Frank LLoyd Wright, emerged as a leading voice for Modern Architecture. As Director of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art (1942-1946), Mock published this wonderful and witty case for building homes with fresh approaches to design, space and material. Chapters are dedicated to such topics as the design of rooms in a home, how to let in light, furniture choice and landscaping. Over 100 photographic plates use examples from the giants of modern architecture such as Walter Gropius, Richard Neutra, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright (of course). Mock believed that too many American homes were being built by the "timid builder" who prefered the boring and conventional Colonial over the more daring and ultimately, more livable, modern aesthetic. Bold, inventive and with the addition of whimsical line drawings by cartoonist, Robert C. Osborn, Mock's book proposes inexpensive and humane choices in building that express the "joy of space"
Price: $125.00