Koenig

Immortalized in Julius Shulman’s photograph of Case Study House #22, Pierre Koenig is one of the leading figures of the Modern movement. With his two contributions to the Case Study Houses program and many other pioneering projects, he championed the streamlined elegance of industrial materials and epitomized postwar experimentalism and optimism.

Format: Hardback
Length: 96 pages
Publication date: 04 January 2023
Publisher: Taschen GmbH

Few images of 20th-century architecture are as iconic as the nighttime view of Case Study House #22. Situated atop a promontory overlooking Los Angeles, the building is a vision of streamlined glass and steel, its sleek lines mirroring the twinkling city boulevards below. With this and his other equally innovative builds for the renowned project of the Arts & Architecture magazine, American architect Pierre Koenig (1925–2004) emerged as a leading figure of the Modern movement. While still a student of architecture, Koenig designed and constructed his first exposed steel house in 1950, proving that the use of prefabricated materials could enable spatial freedom in affordable houses. Throughout his career, he championed socially responsible design, as well as buildings that deftly responded to the Southern California climate. Through windows, water, terraces, skylights, and glazing, his buildings optimized the rapport between inside and outside, while aiming for a simplistic purity of appearance. Through all of Koenig's major projects, including the Johnson House (1962) and Oberman House (1962), this book introduces an architect who was pioneering in method and material and iconic of his time, fueled by experimentalism as the postwar optimism of the age.

Few images of 20th-century architecture are as iconic as the nighttime view of Case Study House #22. Situated atop a promontory overlooking Los Angeles, the building is a vision of streamlined glass and steel, its sleek lines mirroring the twinkling city boulevards below. With this and his other equally innovative builds for the renowned project of the Arts & Architecture magazine, American architect Pierre Koenig (1925–2004) emerged as a leading figure of the Modern movement. While still a student of architecture, Koenig designed and constructed his first exposed steel house in 1950, proving that the use of prefabricated materials could enable spatial freedom in affordable houses. Throughout his career, he championed socially responsible design, as well as buildings that deftly responded to the Southern California climate. Through windows, water, terraces, skylights, and glazing, his buildings optimized the rapport between inside and outside, while aiming for a simplistic purity of appearance. Through all of Koenig's major projects, including the Johnson House (1962) and Oberman House (1962), this book introduces an architect who was pioneering in method and material and iconic of his time, fueled by experimentalism as the postwar optimism of the age.

Weight: 576g
Dimension: 216 x 264 x 16 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9783836544375