The Fredösphere

My browsing in the architecture aisle at the Ann Arbor library led me once again to a gorgeous book on the architecture of Alexander Gorlin.  The book is gorgeous because Rizzoli International Publications reproduced the find photography excellently, but also because the buildings themselves are ... well, they make my mouth water, that's the only way I can describe it.

Gorlin has built a number of dwellings for Seaside, including several townhouses.  Most of the other work in the book consists of villas.  Most of the work is neo-traditional, with a sharp, Palladian sense of classical proportion.  Those familiar with Seaside will not be surprised that most of Gorlin's dwellings there are in the neo-traditional style, but there is one notable exception -- a townhouse with large glass curtain walls and an exposed steel support beam.

Gorlin seems to be swimming against the tide -- he is experimenting with modernist ideas increasingly as he matures.  My absolute fave is the Villa Jovis, in Jupiter, Florida.  It seems to sit in a sweet spot, perfectly balancing (for my taste) between classical and modernist sensibilities.  Can I please live there?  Now?  It ain't just because of the weather that I'm asking.

Finally, I was glad to discover Frank Lloyd Wright's Meyer May House has a website.  The Steelcase Corporation bought it and restored it, and pulled out all the stops.  ("They gave us an unlimited budget for the restoration -- and we exceeded it!")  If you are ever in Grand Rapids, you definitely will want to take the tour.