Case Study Houses. The Complete CSH Program 1945-1966. 45th Ed. (45th Edition)

Taschen Basic Architecture

by Elizabeth A.T. Smith, Peter Gossel (Editor), Julius Shulman (Photographs)

The Case Study House program (1945-1966) was an exceptional, innovative event in the history of American architecture and remains to this day unique. The program, which concentrated on the Los Angeles area and oversaw the design of 36 prototype homes, sought to make available plans for modern residences that could be easily and cheaply constructed during the postwar building boom.

The program's chief motivating force was Arts & Architecture editor John Entenza, a champion of modernism who had all the right connections to attract some of architecture's greatest talents, such as Richard Neutra, Charles and Ray Eames, and Eero Saarinen. Highly experimental, the program generated houses that were designed to redefine the modern home, and had a pronounced influence on architecture--American and international--both during the program's existence and even to this day.

TASCHEN brings you a retrospective of the entire program with comprehensive documentation, brilliant photographs from the period and, for the houses still in existence, contemporary photos, as well as extensive floor plans and sketches.



About the series

TASCHEN turns 40! Since we started our work as cultural archaeologists in 1980, TASCHEN has become synonymous with accessible publishing, helping bookworms around the world curate their own library of art, anthropology, and aphrodisia at an unbeatable price. Today we celebrate 40 years of incredible books by staying true to our company credo. The 40 series presents new editions of some of the stars of our program--now more compact, friendly in price, and still realized with the same commitment to impeccable production.

Genres: Architecture, Art, Design, Nonfiction, Art Design, Photography, Reference

512 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2002

Reviews

[B Schrodinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a brilliant introduction to the Case Study Houses. These houses were selected by a architecture and design magazine through the 50s and 60s with the idea of giving designs that are affordable and innovative to the post-war housing boom.

Only some were actually built, but in here are some housing icons including the Stahl House that overlooks LA.

So anyone wanting to investigate Mid-Century house design a little, without buying a weighty tome, this is the book for you. It came out in a range from Taschen about ten years ago. All the other volumes in the series focus on the work of one particular 20th Century architect.

[Luís · Rating 3 out of 5]

Follow this link:

https://www.archdaily.com/tag/case-st...

[Natalie Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good overview of the case study houses yet I wish there were more pictures and plans.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little overview of the Case Study House program started by Arts & Architecture magazine in the 1940's. Each house (and there are many more than I had originally realized) is given a small description citing major innovations, interesting or unusual facts or features, and how it fit into the overall arc of the program. The text is accompanied by floor plans, original renderings by the architects, and photographs taken for publication shortly after construction. The book only touches briefly on the program's significance and mentions almost nothing about it's wider cultural influence. This is mostly pretty drawings and pictures, but you do get a very strong sense of the aesthetic and values that the architects were pursuing. At 96 pages and $25 dollars, you're better off photocopying the images you like at the library. I was just amped on the book because I've long had an interest in the work of Charles and Ray Eames (maybe you saw "The Powers of Ten" in your high school physics class?), who designed and built one of the most famous of the Case Study houses.

[Ioulianos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book alone at your balcony in a summer night is a 10/10 experience.
So inspiring!

[Lorenzo Diaz campos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Desde 1945 y hasta 1966 se crearon 36 viviendas prototipo que cambiaron la manera de vivir en los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica, casas que proponían nuevas formas del habitar.
En los años de la postguerra John Entenza lideró un programa visionario que buscaba crear prototipos para la vida moderna. El editor en jefe de la revista “Arts & Architecture” se propuso invitar a una serie de notables arquitectos a idear y construir una serie de casas que materializaran el pensamiento y la búsqueda alrededor del nuevo vivir. El resultado fue notable y las casas construidas, que no fueron todas las diseñadas, cambiaron el curso de la historia.
Este gran volumen es una edición cuidadosa y meticulosa del material disponible sobre estos proyectos. Caso por caso, casa por casa la documentación deja claro la relevancia de este inigualable proyecto. Con gran detalle y estudiados a profundidad cada diseño sobresale sobre el anterior y revela su trascendencia.
El volumen es impecable, la calidad de fotos y planos, la diversidad de material y la riqueza de los textos y documentos históricos hacen de su lectura una delicia. En un formato muy generoso y con 440 páginas el libro destaca y deleita.
La comprensión de las famosas “Case Study Houses” es clave para descifrar la arquitectura contemporánea norteamericana y de gran parte del mundo, su concepción cambió sin duda el arquetipo de la vivienda y definió gran parte del habitar moderno metropolitano.

[Kamakana · Rating 5 out of 5]

2000s?: this is why i ever wanted to be an architect…

[David Fulmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book provides a brief outline of the Case Study Houses Program, an initiative launched by Arts & Architecture Magazine in 1945 intended to create prototype small homes suitable for mass production during the expected housing boom following WWII. Houses were designed and sometimes built around Los Angeles, and, eventually, in other places, and were extensively documented in the magazine. Most of the designs were simple one-story homes that employed the vocabulary and materials of International Style Modernism. Some got built, some didn’t, and by 1964 there were a couple of small apartment buildings included in the project just before it fizzled out. There were many notable architects and designers involved, including Richard Neutra, Charles and Ray Eames, and Eero Saarinen. It also led to one ubiquitously famous photo by Julius Shulman of the Stahl House overlooking the sparkling lights of Los Angeles. These houses serve as inspiration to countless megamansions in the Hollywood Hills, they truly were revolutionary. The book scantily documents CSH #1 through #28 plus the two apartment buildings with between 2 and 6 pages for each. A minimal amount of text is devoted to each with a few photos and sometimes a floor plan (I think they were all 1 floor except for 1 house that had 2). As you can tell by that description, this is just a brief introduction and outline of the project, without much depth. Occasionally it's mentioned that a house was extensively remodeled not long after being built, but we get no further information - was the design unsatisfactory for modern life? did the owner win the lottery? We are left to speculate. Overall, a beautiful book, and useful if you, like me, had never heard of this experiment in domestic architecture before, but it will leave you wanting much, much more.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you have any sort of yearning for clean lines, simple architecture, or calming water elements snaking through vast courtyards, give this book a perusal. Be sure to have a sturdy surface to rest it on - it's a behemoth.

The "Case Study Houses" program was instituted in the 40s through the Arts Architecture magazine to have some talented architects demonstrate simple, replicable, and artful home designs. A few of the houses are pretty funky - most are basically cubes within cubes. I appreciated that most home entries included floor plans so you could really get a feel for the space.

As with any Taschen publication, the words are replicated in English, French, and German, so there's lots of text without there actually being much to read. Outside of the main introduction and the short introductory paragraph to each house, I mostly skimmed the pretty pictures.

[ekaeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the Taschen books I've read, this one is miles better compared to the rest. Perfect amount of text, well-written, concise, and also precise. For an older book, the picture quality is surprisingly high, with an abundance of detailed drawings.

Everything is included, urban plans with descriptions, floor plans and interior photographs. I can't help but wonder if my opinion is slightly biased, given that I snagged this book for just €10. However, it’s safe to say this is the only Taschen book so far that has inspired me enough to leave a review.

The Charles and Ray Eames house was also a pleasant pleasant surprise.

[Viktor Vlahek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the Taschen books I've read, this one is miles better compared to the rest. Perfect amount of text, well-written, concise, and also precise. For an older book, the picture quality is surprisingly high, with an abundance of detailed drawings.

Everything is included, urban plans with descriptions, floor plans and interior photographs. I can't help but wonder if my opinion is slightly biased, given that I snagged this book for just €10. However, it’s safe to say this is the only Taschen book so far that has inspired me enough to leave a review.

The Charles and Ray Eames house was also a pleasant pleasant surprise.

[Mid Century Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Case Study Houses were the brainchild of the editor of a Los Angeles-based magazine, called 'Arts & Architecture,' that had become a progressive voice for all things modern. So the editors gave incentive to young architects, to use modern design to address the housing problem, given pent-up demand after the war; they created a competition, promising to publish the plans of these houses. Full review at MidCenturyBooks.Net, Case Study Houses

[Oliver Porteous-Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7 Stars - A simple and concise introduction to an architectural movement which challenged the ideas of the general needs of a home. This book helps grasp the qualities and ties of each house, whilst displaying an incredible array of diagrams and images. I did find that the writing on some individual cases was too simple or glossed over, and I would have enjoyed more depth for each individual house. But this book fulfilled the purpose of jogging my memory of the relevance of these studies in the ideas of the changing architectural contemporary.

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this type of home architecture. This book has gorgeous drawings and photos. I wish there were more interior shots for some of the homes as I love seeing decor from bygone eras. I enjoyed the book but at the same time I rue that beautiful designed homes often only affordable for uber wealthy people but putting that irksome reality of elites aside, I really like that these case study homes were intended to be low cost modern homes. Anyway, if you are a fan of midcentury modern, this book does not disappoint.

[Topaz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall excellent reference material on the program. Each house is detailed, mostly with original vintage photos and the original text from the Arts and Architecture magazines where the projects premiered. This is a good starting point for learning about other Southern California Modernists, some of which have books detailing their full bodies of work as well. It’s very inspiring and informative and a good entry point for learning more about Modernist residential architecture.

[Margery Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love looking at these houses. so glad they published it in the smaller format! I keep my copy open on the table i work at so i can glance over and be inspired. Love this sort of house so much more than the current trend to McMansions. If I won the lottery, this is what i would use to inspire the house I would build.

[Braden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great crash course on the attempts by John Entenza et al. to establish an American branding of the postwar international modernist style of the mid-century that could be palatable to the largely conservative American public (and just how personalized, specific, and market-driven that attempt ended up being).

[Lexi Wright · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t realize how just many Case Study Homes were intended to be built in close proximity to one another, for extended family or close friends. It’s high time we revisit this (and center-home freestanding fireplaces).

[Nicholas Kalogeresis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fun to read with all its lavish drawings and images. My only complaint about this volume is that the text is small and some elevations and floor plans were shrunk so much that they were hard to read. It makes for a great coffee table book for sure.

[Kanoa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book showcasing a modern architecture project in California between 1945 and 1966. I particularly like that in addition to photos and renderings, nearly all of the houses include floor plans.

[Diego · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the completeness - excerpts from the magazine, drawings, photos. It is a complete book and is worth the read if you're interested in the Case Study Houses

[Ali Ambrušová]

Love the architecture

[Bert Huisman]

14

[Angie Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

#28 is my favorite.

[Kyle Magin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The writing isn't amazing, but there's some interesting tales to be told in peeling back the stories of each house. The pictures and blueprints sell it.

[Jill Meyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Case Study Houses, built mostly in Los Angeles and the surrounding area, between 1945 and the mid 1960’s. They were mostly done by architects and designers who either were famous or would be later. The times called for new architecture and “Arts and Architecture” magazine put together a competition, bringing architects together. Twenty eight designs were awarded prizes and many - but not all - of the designs were built and lived in.

Elizabeth Smith has put together a lovely coffee table book called “Case Study Houses”, which shows pictures, plans, descriptions of each house, even the ones unbuilt. I’ve actually visited two of the houses - Eames House and Stahl House - and I have to say that Smith has captured the beauty and uniqueness of each house, particularly in their physical settings.

I looked at the houses in the book in terms of livability. Some were so awkward in layout I wonder if they were conducive for daily living. Stahl House was occupied by a family with three children but I couldn’t think they could be comfortable in such an odd layout. But obviously the views from the house - all over Los Angeles - made up for a lot missed comfort. This is the house, maybe the most famous of all the CSHs, that you’ve probably seen in movies and ads.

In any case, Elizabeth Smith’s book is very interesting and well done.

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

America took a radical turn architecturally after the Second World War and boy, does this book emphasize that point. Julius Shulman’s camerawork makes Southern California look like some isolated planet, illustrating intergalactic deserts and mountainsides around the mostly rectangular homes. The architect’s blueprints/designs of the homes are also quite an eyeful. One home even had a heliport designed for the rooftop!
Of all the designers in the book I was the most partial to Charles Eames, who designed one of the few multi-level homes (most are only one story). This is the condensed premium priced version of the book which should wow architecture acolytes quicker than the larger, more expensive version.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The future of the past is an amazing place to be. In the 1945 Arts and Architecture magazine instituted a project that re-imagined the post war home. Architects were asked to design homes that used industrial materials to make homes that are simple but beautiful. 28 houses and 2 apartments were designed, most built in the Los Angeles area. This book is a testament to the bright sense of possibility post-war America held with it, allowing visionaries to re-think and redesign this present world.

[Gacanti Swastika · Rating 4 out of 5]

i absolutely love this book!! this one is a true catch, pencil manual drawings and all the ideas of famous houses by architects whom i admire. it's nice to learn how they think and design. although my idea on design and how to create space and environment is 100% opposite of true modernism, but it's still nice to see

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonable little introduction. It seemed to me that the photography could have been updated in many cases. The book would be greatly improved if the photography could have reflected the major design features discussed in the text.