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The 4th Annual Modern Phoenix Home Tour and Expo, held last weekend (April 5-6), was an engaging tour through the architecture, minds, services, and products of those on the forefront of Mid-century Modern (MCM) design and preservation in Phoenix.
A Mid-Century Modern Kind of Love
Victoria D. Vargas
Photo by Photograph Courtesy of Modern Phoenix
Victoria Vargas, M.A., R.P.A., is a cultural resources Principal Investigator at Archaeological Consulting Services, Ltd. in Tempe. She designs, conducts, and directs architectural history, historic preservation, and archaeology projects; she is also a writer and historic house enthusiast.
Lovers of Mid-century Modern design take note: the 4th Annual Modern Phoenix (MoPho) Expo and Home Tour is this weekend, April 5-6th, 2008, in Scottsdale. The theme this year is "Progress + Preservation," highlighting both the need for preservation of Mid-century Modern design and the innovative Contemporary Modern design in the Phoenix Valley. The weekend-long event kicks off with "Modern Phoenix Does First Friday," on April 4th at Hoskin Ryan Consultants, 201 West Indian School Road in Phoenix, from 6-9 p.m. The catered reception is being hosted at the late 1950s Valley National Bank Building, designed by Herman Jacoby of Weaver and Drover. Four artists' works will be shown, including Jason Hill's silkscreen prints and photo paintings, Regina Alexandra's modern quilts, Al Glann's monumental steel scuplture, and Alison King's mixed media prints and paintings. On Saturday, April 5th, the official expo and home tour weekend begins with most of the events taking place at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art with talks, workshops, and a free public expo. (Note: Check out the full weekend schedule at www.modernphoenixweek.com).
Those unfamiliar with thinking of architecture as art are probably wondering: what is Mid-century Modern? The name seems almost oxymoronic to the uninitiated. I'm asked this frequently and some people try to puzzle it out, "Mid-century is easy. Mid-1900s, right?" Bingo. Combine that with 'Modern,' however, and that's where confusion often creeps in. Most people relate the term 'modern' with things that are current, today, hip, happening, progressive; the current trend. So how does that make sense when combined with the mid-1900s? The connection isn't immediately apparent. We're actually talking about an architectural trend, not the common use of the term 'modern.' Mid-century Modern (often abbreviated as MCM) refers specifically to an architectural design aesthetic that was prominent in the mid-1900s. I particularly like the way John Eaton at www.modusmodern.com defines it: "...houses built between 1930 and 1970 - the middle part of the century, that have clean modernist lines and were built using modern construction methods, particularly the "post-and-beam" engineering affected by Eichler and others of that period." It's used to define a construction and design esthetic that - in addition to the post-and-beam construction method - typically includes, "...clerestory windows, oriental treatments and seas of wall-to-wall carpet ..." Beginning to sound familiar?
These buildings are wonderfully striking, typically with long, low-slung, angular lines, and clean facades with a wall of windows. People either love these buildings or hate them on first sight; few are in the middle. The former, especially those lucky enough to own an original Haver or Schreiber home here in the Valley, often border on the ecstatic when describing them.
MCM architecture is enjoying a huge revival in interest, restoration, and preservation by owners and residents of many of these homes and neighborhoods. Many of our local MCM commercial and residential buildings and neighborhoods have recently reached 50 years of age, thereby crossing the magical historic period threshhold. Many of them are historically significant and are eligible for listing on the local and national registers of historic places.
I asked Alison King, co-founder of the Modern Phoenix website and co-organizer of the Modern Phoenix Expo and Home Tour, what three messages would she like attendees to take home after the weekend. She responded:
1) that midcentury modern era design preservation is largely up to the individual at this point. The cities and states all operate on their own timelines and if you are truly concerned about MCM preservation, you need to get involved and not just sit by passively while buildings crumble around us, or are stuccoed over with six turrets;
2) that the Modern Phoenicians are a rowdy, fun group of creative young people that actually know each other in real life. Our parties, open houses and barbecues are awesome; and
3) that there are wonderful ideas for adaptation of modestly-sized midcentury modern spaces for contemporary living. This lifestyle IS accessible at EVERY price point and you don't have to have a mansion to get a masterpiece.
The annual home tour is a great way to experience such architecture firsthand. There's a full weekend of activities scheduled around two main events, the free expo on Saturday and the self-guided Charles and Arthur Schreiber's Village Grove Home Tour on Sunday. The expo features modernism and modern contemporary design specialty products and services, including furniture, green design, interior design, real estate, preservation, and design education. Staff from both the City of Phoenix and Scottsdale Historic Preservation offices will have tables at the expo and will be available to answer questions and provide information about preservation programs, incentives, and more. The home tour on Sunday features Charles and Arthur Schreiber's Modern Tract Homes of Village Grove in Scottsdale, which are truly spectacular. To learn more about these prolific and talented architects and the buildings and neighborhoods they designed, visit www.modernphoenix.net/schreiber.htm .
Other cool events on Saturday include the keynote speech, "The Iconic Age of Modern Phoenix," by Frank Henry, Adjunct Professor, Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesen West; a panel discussion of 'Progress + Preservation in Phoenix' by leading local lights in architectural design; and an overview on "Modern Scottsdale" by Debbie Abele, Scottdale's Historic Preservation Officer. Want to learn more about your historic MCM home? A particularly useful presentation is being given on Saturday afternoon by John Jacquemart, Historian, on "Researching Your Midcentury Modern Home using Primary Sources." And for your DIYers, Brandon Gore's "Concrete Casting 101" should definitely be on your agenda. The Retro Cocktail After Party from 6-9 p.m. on Sunday, sponsored by Desert Living Magazine, at Design Within Reach in Downtown Scottsdale, is the afterglow that's definitely in the spirit of community and networking that the whole weekend shares; that's one happy hour not to be missed. Forget about mowing the lawn and doing laundry this weekend; you'll enjoy yourself a whole lot more being immersed in cool Mid-Century Modern design and hanging out with the MoPho tribe in Scottsdale.
So why is mid-century Modern architecture and design experiencing such a revival in interest these days? Alison holds that, "much of contemporary architecture designed today for the mass market simply doesn't make any sense. In today's information-rich environment folks are seeking a sense of order around them. In a Modern style home, all adornment is stripped away and materials speak very plainly about their nature. Concrete is concrete. Glass is glass. If your environment is orderly your mind can be at rest as well." She also clearly expresses some of the MCM allure that resonates for many of us besotted with a MCM kind of love, "it is comforting to me to live in a mid-40s Haver Home, and my imagination is simply wild with all of the history and stories we inherited with it."
Clearly, the MoPho Expo and Home Tour is for both the curious and the die-hard MCM admirer. When you visit the expo, home tour, or any of the myriad other talks, workshops, exhibits, and other events, here are some things to think about: Why is this architectural aesthetic from the mid-1900s so appealing today? Why is it receiving such enthusiastic attention and calls for grass roots preservation efforts? Does this style appeal to you? Repel you? Why? How about the size of the houses? Do they seem too small to you at an average of 950-1250 sq, ft? Or do they feel more human-scaled than the 3,000+ sq. ft McMansions that are all the rage lately? What colors, amount of light, landscaping, floor and wall materials, floor plans, and other details you see over the weekend feel good to you?
With those kinds of questions in mind as you explore the events, you'll walk away from the weekend with plenty food for thought about how you live now, how you want to live, and what constitutes for you a sense of pleasing design, comfort, community, history, and home. And, hopefully, you'll also come away with a greater understanding and appreciation for these architectural gems and the urgent need for concerted historic preservation efforts to restore and protect them for current and future generations to enjoy.
Lovers of Mid-century Modern design take note: the 4th Annual Modern Phoenix (MoPho) Expo and Home Tour is this weekend, April 5-6th, 2008, in Scottsdale. The theme this year is "Progress + Preservation," highlighting both the need for preservation of Mid-century Modern design and the innovative Contemporary Modern design in the Phoenix Valley. The weekend-long event kicks off with "Modern Phoenix Does First Friday," on April 4th at Hoskin Ryan Consultants, 201 West Indian School Road in Phoenix, from 6-9 p.m. The catered reception is being hosted at the late 1950s Valley National Bank Building, designed by Herman Jacoby of Weaver and Drover. Four artists' works will be shown, including Jason Hill's silkscreen prints and photo paintings, Regina Alexandra's modern quilts, Al Glann's monumental steel scuplture, and Alison King's mixed media prints and paintings. On Saturday, April 5th, the official expo and home tour weekend begins with most of the events taking place at the Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts and Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art with talks, workshops, and a free public expo. (Note: Check out the full weekend schedule at www.modernphoenixweek.com).
Those unfamiliar with thinking of architecture as art are probably wondering: what is Mid-century Modern? The name seems almost oxymoronic to the uninitiated. I'm asked this frequently and some people try to puzzle it out, "Mid-century is easy. Mid-1900s, right?" Bingo. Combine that with 'Modern,' however, and that's where confusion often creeps in. Most people relate the term 'modern' with things that are current, today, hip, happening, progressive; the current trend. So how does that make sense when combined with the mid-1900s? The connection isn't immediately apparent. We're actually talking about an architectural trend, not the common use of the term 'modern.' Mid-century Modern (often abbreviated as MCM) refers specifically to an architectural design aesthetic that was prominent in the mid-1900s. I particularly like the way John Eaton at www.modusmodern.com defines it: "...houses built between 1930 and 1970 - the middle part of the century, that have clean modernist lines and were built using modern construction methods, particularly the "post-and-beam" engineering affected by Eichler and others of that period." It's used to define a construction and design esthetic that - in addition to the post-and-beam construction method - typically includes, "...clerestory windows, oriental treatments and seas of wall-to-wall carpet ..." Beginning to sound familiar?
These buildings are wonderfully striking, typically with long, low-slung, angular lines, and clean facades with a wall of windows. People either love these buildings or hate them on first sight; few are in the middle. The former, especially those lucky enough to own an original Haver or Schreiber home here in the Valley, often border on the ecstatic when describing them.
MCM architecture is enjoying a huge revival in interest, restoration, and preservation by owners and residents of many of these homes and neighborhoods. Many of our local MCM commercial and residential buildings and neighborhoods have recently reached 50 years of age, thereby crossing the magical historic period threshhold. Many of them are historically significant and are eligible for listing on the local and national registers of historic places.
I asked Alison King, co-founder of the Modern Phoenix website and co-organizer of the Modern Phoenix Expo and Home Tour, what three messages would she like attendees to take home after the weekend. She responded:
1) that midcentury modern era design preservation is largely up to the individual at this point. The cities and states all operate on their own timelines and if you are truly concerned about MCM preservation, you need to get involved and not just sit by passively while buildings crumble around us, or are stuccoed over with six turrets;
2) that the Modern Phoenicians are a rowdy, fun group of creative young people that actually know each other in real life. Our parties, open houses and barbecues are awesome; and
3) that there are wonderful ideas for adaptation of modestly-sized midcentury modern spaces for contemporary living. This lifestyle IS accessible at EVERY price point and you don't have to have a mansion to get a masterpiece.
The annual home tour is a great way to experience such architecture firsthand. There's a full weekend of activities scheduled around two main events, the free expo on Saturday and the self-guided Charles and Arthur Schreiber's Village Grove Home Tour on Sunday. The expo features modernism and modern contemporary design specialty products and services, including furniture, green design, interior design, real estate, preservation, and design education. Staff from both the City of Phoenix and Scottsdale Historic Preservation offices will have tables at the expo and will be available to answer questions and provide information about preservation programs, incentives, and more. The home tour on Sunday features Charles and Arthur Schreiber's Modern Tract Homes of Village Grove in Scottsdale, which are truly spectacular. To learn more about these prolific and talented architects and the buildings and neighborhoods they designed, visit www.modernphoenix.net/schreiber.htm .
Other cool events on Saturday include the keynote speech, "The Iconic Age of Modern Phoenix," by Frank Henry, Adjunct Professor, Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture at Taliesen West; a panel discussion of 'Progress + Preservation in Phoenix' by leading local lights in architectural design; and an overview on "Modern Scottsdale" by Debbie Abele, Scottdale's Historic Preservation Officer. Want to learn more about your historic MCM home? A particularly useful presentation is being given on Saturday afternoon by John Jacquemart, Historian, on "Researching Your Midcentury Modern Home using Primary Sources." And for your DIYers, Brandon Gore's "Concrete Casting 101" should definitely be on your agenda. The Retro Cocktail After Party from 6-9 p.m. on Sunday, sponsored by Desert Living Magazine, at Design Within Reach in Downtown Scottsdale, is the afterglow that's definitely in the spirit of community and networking that the whole weekend shares; that's one happy hour not to be missed. Forget about mowing the lawn and doing laundry this weekend; you'll enjoy yourself a whole lot more being immersed in cool Mid-Century Modern design and hanging out with the MoPho tribe in Scottsdale.
So why is mid-century Modern architecture and design experiencing such a revival in interest these days? Alison holds that, "much of contemporary architecture designed today for the mass market simply doesn't make any sense. In today's information-rich environment folks are seeking a sense of order around them. In a Modern style home, all adornment is stripped away and materials speak very plainly about their nature. Concrete is concrete. Glass is glass. If your environment is orderly your mind can be at rest as well." She also clearly expresses some of the MCM allure that resonates for many of us besotted with a MCM kind of love, "it is comforting to me to live in a mid-40s Haver Home, and my imagination is simply wild with all of the history and stories we inherited with it."
Clearly, the MoPho Expo and Home Tour is for both the curious and the die-hard MCM admirer. When you visit the expo, home tour, or any of the myriad other talks, workshops, exhibits, and other events, here are some things to think about: Why is this architectural aesthetic from the mid-1900s so appealing today? Why is it receiving such enthusiastic attention and calls for grass roots preservation efforts? Does this style appeal to you? Repel you? Why? How about the size of the houses? Do they seem too small to you at an average of 950-1250 sq, ft? Or do they feel more human-scaled than the 3,000+ sq. ft McMansions that are all the rage lately? What colors, amount of light, landscaping, floor and wall materials, floor plans, and other details you see over the weekend feel good to you?
With those kinds of questions in mind as you explore the events, you'll walk away from the weekend with plenty food for thought about how you live now, how you want to live, and what constitutes for you a sense of pleasing design, comfort, community, history, and home. And, hopefully, you'll also come away with a greater understanding and appreciation for these architectural gems and the urgent need for concerted historic preservation efforts to restore and protect them for current and future generations to enjoy.