Issue 281  November 24th 2021

Don't Miss Kankakee's Christmas House Walk

Kankakee, Illinois' Riverview Historic District will once again feature five of its homes including Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bradley House during its annual Holidays in Historic Riverview Christmas House Walk.

The event will take place from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 5.

Funds raised will continue to support neighborhood events, promotion and improvements. Tickets are $20 in advance and can be purchased in person or online riverviewhistoricdistrict.org.

Click for more details: daily-journal.com  

Midland's First Mid-Century Modern Church Raising Funds To Repair Chimney

Christ Covenant Church and Mid-Century Modern Midland are launching a public fundraising campaign to restore Midland, Michigan's "first Mid-Century Modern Church" and Alden B. Dow’s first religious structure.

By 1940, Alden B. Dow had already established himself as a leading architectural presence with over 40 structures to his name. Having won a gold medal for his designs at the 1937 World’s Fair, Dow was recognized as one of the innovative architects defining a new American aesthetic in architecture and design that would become known as Mid-Century Modern.

In February of 1940, Dow was approached to design his first religious structure by the Reorganized Church of Latter-Day Saints. The elegant, rectangular, brick structure features three banks of floor to ceiling windows that are projected out from the building on each side of the sanctuary, connecting the congregation to the natural environment.

A low brick wall outlines the property and creates a buffer from the busy streets that surround it. The interior, originally furnished with Dow designed furniture, is an open and adaptable space that accommodates several functions and activities.

The most prominent and sculptural detail of the structure was the original chimney. It was designed to function as a “chime tower” to broadcast music as well as house a standard flue for the furnace.

A floating concrete pier was cantilevered atop three copper louvers, which served as part of the loudspeaker system, to ornament the chimney tower. Several years ago, the projecting pier began to fail and the original owners removed it.

In 2019, Christ Covenant, the current and second owner of the building, were scheduling repair work to the chimney when Mid-Century Modern Midland approached them about the possibility of not only repairing the chimney, but also restoring the architectural detailing that once existed.

“We are happy to be working with MCMM to make the chimney safe and to preserve this important part of Midland’s architectural legacy," stated Pastor David Sarafolean.

The church has worked with McMillan and Associates to create the repair and restoration plan. The church has completed other restoration efforts and are asking for assistance from the public to be able to complete the chimney project. More information here.

Click for more details: ourmidland.com  

When Nature And Architecture Become One: A Conversation With Dara Huang

Transcendentalist philosophers have long shared the idea that humans and nature are equal forces that should coexist in harmony. The notion has since expanded to the architecture world, with Frank Lloyd Wright shedding light on the term “organic architecture” as early as the 1900s. In recent years, driven by an increased interest in living closer to nature, architects continue to delve into the concept of integrating interior and exterior, blurring out visual and physical boundaries to bring landscapes indoors.

In Sky-Frame’s latest film, part of the series “My point of view”, a conversation with architect Dara Huang explores this notion, questioning how architecture can merge nature, sustainability and lifestyle within its form, without relying on more technology or materials to do so.

The cinematographic video presents a house where the materiality and form extends to the landscape, allowing the outside and interior living spaces to become one. Set between a dense forest and a lake, the shape is dictated by the context of the site, with each room having a different experience with nature – whether it be through views and terraces that overlook the water, or a central garden that embraces the landscape of pre-existing trees while providing natural light, ventilation, and the impression of a bigger interior space. Click here for the entire article.

Click for more details: archdaily.com  

Earl Wear-Designed House Nominated As Landmark

It was more than 60 years ago when Dr. Fong Q. Jing and his wife Lorraine were looking to build a home but often encountered deed and covenant restrictions that targeted persons of Chinese descent.

That's how they ended up buying a lot on a steep hillside in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Los Angeles, CA — which had no such restrictions on the race of the owner, and teamed up with a young architect, William Earl Wear, to build their home.

The result was a dramatic Mid-century house where the Jing's raised a family. Now, that home has been nominated as a Los Angeles historic landmark — with the current owner’s help.

The Fong Q. and Lorraine Jing, Jr. House sits midway up a hillside on Palmero Drive. The entrance is a steep, winding driveway that passes under a broad, cantilevered balcony — one of the striking horizontal planes that characterize the design.

In the nomination, architect and landscape designer Virginia Paca called the house “an exceptional example of the Mid-Century Modern style of post war 'Organic Architecture' as described by Frank Lloyd Wright.” She added, “Earl Wear was one of a small class of California master architects who perfected the style during the post-war period.” Read the entire article here.

Click for more details: theeastsiderla.com