Mackintosh’s Hill House Becomes an International Iconic House!
SPECIAL – Czech Classics
Record Number of New Iconic Houses - Part 1
At Plečnik House: To Decide Where the Shadow Falls
Record Number of New Iconic Houses - Part 2
A Story of Burnt Books and Broken Bricks
Iconic Encounters: London
Remembering Irving J. Gill
Iconic Houses in the Media
Interview in Leading Catalan newspaper ARA
Bauhaus Villa in Berlin For Sale
Historical Exhibition, Marie-Laure de Noailles, Painter, Conversation
Our Badge of Honour
Istanbul’s Modernist Ataköy Housing Estate is At Risk
Early Furniture Designs by Le Corbusier on Permanent Display in Maison Blanche
Photo Report City Icons Amsterdam
Healing Through Architecture
Reopening An Iconic Modernist Landmark
City Icons Kick Off with Talk by Linda Vlassenrood
MORE MIES - Pure Architecture in Haus Lange Haus Esters
Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon
Modernism Week Lecture: 12 Years of Iconic Houses
Aluminaire House Grand Opening
Exhibition Icons of the Czech Avant-Garde
An Elementalist and Mediterranean Architecture
Icon for Sale - Loos Villa: Haus Horner
SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams Europe - Sleep in an Iconic House!
SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams North America - Sleep in an Iconic House!
SPECIAL – Dutch Delights!
SPECIAL - Vacances en France!
SPECIAL – German Greats!
SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!
SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!
SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies
SPECIAL – Iconic Collective Housing
SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses
Public Screenings and Private Streaming of Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House
Support the Frankfurt Declaration (on Housing)
Winy Wants a World Wonder
Welcome Atelier Volten!
Sleep in a Modernist Gem – Huis Billiet in Bruges
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - 100 Years Van Zessen House
Exclusive Tour and Film Screening Package
The Last House Designed by Adolf Loos Will Be Built in Prague
Icons of the Czech Avantgarde
Icon for Sale - Casa Legorreta
Rietveld Day: 200 Enthusiasts Explored 3 Utrecht Icons
Hurray! 10 Years Iconic Houses
7th International Iconic Houses Conference A Huge Success
Meet Conference Co-Chair Iveta Černá
Meet Conference Co-Chair Maria Szadkowska
Eighteen Iconic Houses Under One Roof
17 June - 'Pioneers-film' Screening Amersfoort
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Eesteren House Museum
Welcome Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Zentrum in Vienna!
Welcome Vila Volman! Jewel of Czech Functionalism
Movie Night: Adolf Loos- Revolutionary Among Architects
'Inside Iconic Houses' Case Study House #26 Webcast in Webshop
Inside Iconic Houses at Taut’s Home in Berlin
Rediscovering Forgotten Loos Interiors in Pilsen
'Inside Iconic Houses' - Online Tour Program
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - The Diagoon House
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Rietveld Schröder House
Rietveld Houses Owners Association
Corberó Space: New Life for Hidden Jewel
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Pierre Cuypers' House and Workshops
Reeuwijk Celebrates Completion of Restoration Rietveld Homes!
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Doesburg Rinsema House
Welcome Rietveld's Van Daalen House!
Architect Harry Gessner Passed Away at 97
Watch Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House Now On Demand
Icon Saved: Dorchester Drive House
Welcome Umbrella House!
Iconic Houses in the Netherlands – Berlage’s Masterpiece
Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Het Schip
Inside Iconic Houses - Tour of Maison Cazenave
Inside Iconic Houses Tours Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami
Casa Masó Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary
Inside Iconic Houses tours Roland Reisley's Usonian Frank Lloyd Wright House
Rietveld’s Experimental Housing in Reeuwijk Saved
Serralves Villa after restoration
Portraits of the Architect - Interview with Gennaro Postiglione
Test Labs for New Ideas - Interview with Natascha Drabbe
Inside Iconic Houses - Isokon Building
Inside Iconic Houses - 16 December: Sunnylands with Janice Lyle
BCN-BXL Coderch-De Koninck - Beyond Time
New Chairman Architect Nanne de Ru on The Perfect Platform
Health and Home - Interview with Beatriz Colomina
A Life Less Ordinary – Interview with Valentijn Carbo
Invisible Women - Interview with Alice T. Friedman
Winy Maas on the Green Dip
Anita Blom on Experimental Housing of the 1970s
Women’s Worlds - Interview with Natalie Dubois
The Culture of Living - Interview with Robert von der Nahmer
Hetty Berens: A Fresh Take on Modernism
Niek Smit on Supporting Modern Heritage
Alice Roegholt on Amsterdam’s Working-Class Palaces
July is Iconic Houses Month
Hans van Heeswijk on The Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House
Wessel de Jonge on Dutch Icons at Risk
Save Maison Zilveli - Sign the Petition!
How a Building Tells a Story - Recorded Event
Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House
13 Aalto Sites Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage
Villa Beer At Risk - Sign the Petition!
Business Cards of Stone, Timber and Concrete in the Brussels Region 1830-1970
Exhibiting & Visiting Modernist Monuments
Fostering Well-Researched Responsible Design
ICONS AT RISK
Enjoy a virtual visit to the California House and a Q&A with architect Peter Gluck
Exhibition 'Modernism and Refuge'
A Hidden Gem of Postmodernism
New Centre for Historic Houses of India
An Online Chronicle of the Douglas House
Villa Henny, geometric style icon in The Netherlands
A Mendini temple in Amsterdam
IH-lectures USA & Canada Feb 2020 on Melnikov House
Sponsors and Friends
An Afternoon with the Glucks
Chandler McCoy on Making Modern Houses Sustainable
Catherine Croft: Getting Away from the Demolition Mentality in the UK
Patrick Weber on Discovering an Unknown Icon
Fiona Fisher on Iconic Interiors
Jocelyn Bouraly on Villa Cavrois
Mireia Massagué on finding success through a new kind of partnership
Danish Moderns – Looking Back at Our Mini-Seminar
Venturo house complements Exhibition Centre WeeGee’s offering
Lecture report: Remembering Richard Neutra
Hôtel Mezzara and the Guimard Museum project
We welcome 13 new members!
BREAKING NEWS: 8 Wright Sites Inscribed on Unesco World Heritage List!
LECTURE 29 August - Raymond Neutra: My Father and Frank Lloyd Wright
Iconic Reads
Iconic Houses End Year Message
City-ordered rebuild of landmark house stirs debate: Appropriate or overreach?
Kohlberg House Restoration in Progress
Planned Demolition of Rietveld Homes in Reeuwijk
Renovation Gili House in Crisis
An Iconic Saga
Restoring Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 and Clarifying the Controversies
Modernism on the East Coast
Iconic Houses in Latin America
Conference testimonials
House Tours May 2018
Expert Meetings
Natascha Drabbe - Iconic Houses: The Next Chapter
Terence Riley -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Philip Johnson
New era for Villa E-1027 and Cap Moderne
Hilary Lewis on Philip Johnson and his Glass House
John Arbuckle on Great House Tours
William D. Earls on the Harvard Five in New Canaan
Stover Jenkins on Working for Philip Johnson
Frederick Noyes on his Father’s House
Scott Fellows and Craig Bassam on their Passion for Preservation
Jorge Liernur -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Latin American Modernism(s)
Fabio Grementieri on Modernism in Argentina
Catalina Corcuera Cabezut on Casa Luis Barragán
Renato Anelli on Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro
Tim McClimon on Corporate Preservation
Amanda Nelson on Building Donor Relationships
John Bacon on Planned Giving
Jean-Paul Warmoes on the Art of Fundraising in America
Chandler McCoy on Why Less is More
Katherine Malone-France on Moving with the Times
Anne Mette Rahbæk on Philanthropic Investments and Preservation
Peter McMahon on Saving Modern Houses on Cape Cod
Toshiko Kinoshita on Japanese Modern Heritage Houses
Roland Reisley on Life in a Frank Lloyd Wright House
5th Iconic Houses Conference May 2018
Kristin Stone, Pasadena Tour Company
Restoring the past: The Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Home Studio
Behind the Scenes: Hendrick de Keyser Association
Crosby Doe, Architecture for Sale
Latin America Special – Focus on Mexico
De Stijl in Drachten
Preserving the Nancarrow House-Studio
Meet the Friends - Nanne de Ru
Latin America Special – Focus on Brazil
Jan de Jong’s House is Latest Hendrick de Keyser Acquisition
Stay in a Belgian Modernist Masterpiece
In Berlin’s Modernist Network
Rietveld-Schröder House Celebrates De Stijl Anniversary
Meet Our New Foundation Board Members
Maintaining Aalto's Studio – Linoleum Conservation
Virtual Tour of a Papaverhof Home in 3D
Getty Grant for Villa E-1027
Plečnik House in Ljubljana
Iconic Dacha
Iconic Houses: A Bohemian Road Trip
Work in Progress: Capricho de Gaudí
11 Le Corbusier Homes now on Unesco World Heritage List
At home with Le Corbusier
Henry van de Velde’s Study in Haus Hohe Pappeln Restored
Lynda Waggoner reports
A Conference to Remember
4th International Iconic Houses Conference
Guest of Honor - Harry Gesner
Fallingwater: European Lecture Tour
Wright Plus 2016 Walk
Susan Macdonald, Getty Conservation Institute
John Mcllwee, Garcia House
Meet the Friends – Elisabeth Tostrup
Iconic Houses: The Story So Far
Willie van Burgsteden, designer Iconic Houses
Buff Kavelman, Philanthropic Advisor
Meet the Friends - Frederick Noyes
Sheridan Burke, GML Heritage
Meet the Friends - Raymond Neutra
Sidney Williams, Frey House
Franklin Vagnone and Deborah Ryan, Museum Anarchists
Meet the Friends - James Haefner
Toshiko Mori, architect
Malachi Connolly, Cape Cod Modern House Trust
Meet the Friends - Penny Sparke
Lucia Dewey Atwood, Eames House
Cory Buckner, Mutual Housing Site Office
Jeffrey Herr, Hollyhock House
Speaking Volumes: Building the Iconic Houses Library
Sarah Lorenzen, Neutra VDL Studio and Residences
Ted Bosley, Gamble House
Keeping It Modern - Getty Conservation Grants
Meet the Friends - Thomas Schönauer
Wim de Wit, Stanford University
Linda Dishman, Los Angeles Conservancy
Jesse Lattig, Pasadena Heritage
Join us in Los Angeles! Update
Work in Progress: Casa Vicens
Work in Progress: Van Wassenhove House
Work in Progress: Villa Cavrois
Work in Progress: The Pearlroth House
Conference calls!
Follow us!
Third Iconic Houses Conference a huge success
Conference House Tours Barcelona
Marta Lacambra, Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera
Natascha Drabbe, Iconic Houses Foundation
Special speaker Oscar Tusquets
Jordi Tresserras, UNESCO Network ‘Culture, tourism and development’
Christen Obel, Utzon Foundation
Elena Ruiz Sastre, Casa Broner
Fernando Alvarez Prozorovich, La Ricarda
Tim Benton, Professor of Art History (Emeritus)
Susana Landrove, Docomomo Spain
Rossend Casanova, Casa Bloc
Conference Program 25 November 2014
Jordi Falgàs, Casa Rafael Masó
Documentary La Ricarda
Marga Viza, Casa Míla/La Pedrera
Celeste Adams, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust
Conference 25 November 2014 at La Pedrera
Henry Urbach, The Glass House
Victoria & Albert Museum London November 12, 2013
Tommi Lindh, new director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation and Museum
Iveta Černá, Villa Tugendhat
Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater
Kimberli Meyer, MAK Center
Rent a house designed by Gerrit Rietveld
Barragán House on Screen
Gesamtkunstwerk – An Icon on the Move
Triennale der Moderne 27 September - 13 October 2013
Prestigious Art Nouveau mansions in Brussels open
September 14 + 15: Heritage Days in Paris
June's New Arrivals: Museum Apartments
Iconic Houses is now on Twitter and Facebook
Corbu’s Cabanon: Reconstruction and Lecture
Projekt Mies In Krefeld: Life-sized model of the Krefeld Clubhouse
New arrivals: Spain special
MAMO: Le Corbu’s ‘Park in the Sky’ open 12 June
Taut's Home wins Europa Nostra Award
Annual Wright Architectural Housewalk: 18 May
Frank Lloyd Wright Homes on Screen
Message from the Editor
Neutra’s House on Screen
Michel Richard, Fondation Le Corbusier
Symposium The Public and the Modern House
Melnikov House on Screen
Iconic Houses in the media
Message from the Editor
Round Table Review
Eileen Gray House on Screen
Copy Culture
At Home in the 20th Century
New 20th century Iconic Houses website launches
Philippe Bélaval, Centre des monuments nationaux
Lynda Waggoner reports
The appeal of Fallingwater is as strong as ever. Or at least that is how it seemed during my three week European lecture tour in May. The tour was organized by the indomitable Natascha Drabbe, Director of the Iconic Houses Foundation, and began in Utrecht (home base for the foundation). We began at the stunning Van Schijndel House. Designed in 1992 by Natascha’s late husband, Mart van Schijndel, the house was a complete surprise - a self- contained world of light and soaring space that seems totally apart from the city outside. There is no street façade; instead, one enters into a courtyard with the entry to the house at the far end. Its many innovations include cupboards whose doors have no hardware hinges; instead, they are attached or hinged on a thin bead of silicone; there are also glass walls that slide back in an ingenious way to open the corner of the living space onto a small enclosed garden thereby blurring the separation between the inside and outside. The triangle is a major design motif in house. It is found in the plan, architectural elements, the furnishings and even glassware..., resulting in a strikingly beautiful unified whole.
At the Van Schijndel House I led a fund raising workshop for modern house museum directors, one of whom traveled from as far away as Berlin. We discussed the unique challenges all museums face with significant cut backs in government funding. I shared how Fallingwater, over the course of twenty-plus years, has learned various ways to garner support through a combination of earned income and private or civil society engagement.
The following day we used the most popular form of transportation, bicycles, to travel to the other side of Utrecht to see the remarkable Rietveld-Schröder House, a World Heritage Site. A private tour of the small two-story house confirmed the brilliance of the design. The house is known the world-over for its abstraction of form and use of clearly defined primary colors, replete with interior walls that collapse and transform rooms from one function into another, it was a manifesto of the De Stijl Movement and remains as inspiring today as it was when constructed in 1924.
The first lecture was in Amsterdam. There we were entertained royally in the home of Tracy Metz, director of the John Adams Institute, which organized the lecture. We were thoroughly impressed by this beautifully restored 17th century canal house and enjoyed a classic Dutch supper of asparagus, eggs and ham prepared by Tracy’s husband Baptist Brayé. However, it was ‘eat and run’ as we dashed down the street to the Museum Het Grachtenhuis (Museum of the Canals) to prepare for the lecture. Happily, the house was packed with many people standing or sitting in doorways (the Fire Marshall must have been out of town). After the lecture Tracy brilliantly moderated a conversation about Fallingwater and Q&A interspersed with video clips that included footage of Fallingwater’s former owner, Edgar Kaufmann jr., and the Taliesin apprentices who helped oversee its construction. The questions were many and knowledgeable - all in all, a great way to begin the tour.
Next was Cologne. Prior to the lecture, a private tour of the rationalist German architect Oswald Mathias Ungers’ Cube House proved fascinating. In it, I found similarities to Frank Lloyd Wright’s own Oak Park Home and Studio, especially in the organization of the library space with its wrap around mezzanine. Like Wright, and Van Schijndel, Ungers used the house as a laboratory for his ideas.
That evening, the Wallraf-Richartz Museum’s 250-seat auditorium (the museum was designed by Ungers) was an ideal location for the sold-out event. Dr. Rainer Minz, CEO of the Amerika Haus, opened the evening with a welcome and thanks to co-sponsor Sophia Ungers of the Ungers Archive for Architectural Studies. As we approached the museum, a line extending around the block prompted me to ask, ‘What’s going on?’ The answer was, ‘They are here for your lecture.’ It was hard to believe. The lecture was followed by a showing of Ken Love’s film ‘Fallingwater: Frank Lloyd Wright's Masterwork’ and Q&A which elicited a number of interesting questions.
A short flight and bus ride delivered us to Brno, Czech Republic. Brno is a remarkable city and a showcase for modernism. Our hostess and guide, Iveta Černá, director of the great Villa Tugendhat designed by Mies van der Rohe, seemed to hold all the right keys as she led us from one fabulous modernist site to another, culminating with the Miesian masterpiece, Villa Tugendhat, the location of the lecture. Built between 1929 and ‘30, like Fallingwater, it simply takes your breath away. The house was designed for the Tugendhats, a wealthy Jewish family that was forced to abandon the house as they fled Brno during the Second World War. During the Nazi occupation and later under the Soviets, the house experienced one abuse after another including a period during which it was used to stable horses. Notable not only for it design, but for its futuristic mechanical systems including air cooling and cleaning technologies, an innovative heating system, and an engine room for the mechanics which operate its retractable windows. Now meticulously restored, it is a World Heritage Site and shines as one of modernism’s greatest works.
The last stop was Oslo. Following a long delay our flight arrived in late evening, but it was still daylight at 10 PM; it was the perfect introduction to the ‘land of the midnight sun.’ The following morning we had some free time, so we borrowed bicycles from the hotel and peddled off to see works by Norway’s best-known artist, Edvard Munch at the Munch Museum and the Norwegian National Gallery. Larger and even more striking than I expected, they were fascinating.
Shortly after five, Lin Stafne-Pfisterer, who oversees the Villa Stenersen, picked us up to go to the villa, the site of the lecture. En route Lin fielded a call for tickets to the event. She explained it is full but she would add their names to the waiting list. However, the caller was persistent and Lin finally relented saying, ‘Okay just show up and if we have room we will fit you in.’
Villa Stenersen sits high on a hill in a residential neighborhood with views of the Oslo Fjord. Arne Korsmo, one of Norway's most renowned architects, designed it in 1939 in the International Style as a private home for finance broker and art lover Rolf M. Stenersen and his family. In 1979 Stenersen donated the villa to the Norwegian state to be used as the prime minister’s residence, but only one Norwegian prime minister ever lived there. Now it is owned by Oslo’s National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design and functions as a meeting place for those involved in the fields of architecture and design and is opened for tours on a limited basis.
Following the lecture we went to the Ekeberg Restaurant. Located not far from where Edvard Munch painted his famous work, ‘The Scream’, it is now a Michelin-starred restaurant located in a magnificently restored art-deco building high on a hill with commanding views of Oslo. We were joined by one of Lin’s colleagues and together we talked until dark - which is late in this part of the world - about everything from architecture to Donald Trump. It was a happy and fitting end to a wonderful experience.
Lynda Waggoner, Mill Run, USA
Amsterdam, Cologne, Brno and Oslo, 12-24 May 2016
Posted June 30, 2016