apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I said something very similar just earlier today on the first Boston blog... "Finding a way to pay respect to that, while still looking towards the future is always a challenge. Albeit, a mostly enjoyable one." Obviously you took it further and pointed out our modern history as well. cheers!

The Gropius house is a great place to visit. The thing that most amazed me about it was the degree to which I could imagine living in just that sort of place. The scale, the furniture, everything is very accessible. It's a sign of just how successful they were in shaping modern design and architecture now.

Also, the excellent DeCordova museum is just down the street.

Good writing, knowledgable, informative, but we're not all modernistas! Will you be able to represent a variety of styles?

I was hoping for something fun and colorful to give me energy on a dreary Boston afternoon. Sadly, this wasn't it! The writing is a bit cerebral for me--more head than heart. And the photos were very big, and not particularly enticing. But perhaps this is just because Bauhaus is not my cup of tea.

lol-- I love the reductionist analogy: Gropius and Ikea

Having worked with and befriended architects and designers in the Boston area, I always find it interesting that many of them profess a love of modernity and push for it in their design work, yet they prefer to live in historical brownstone buildings. Wes and Kayla?

Kayla here:
Actually, our favorite part of modern design is seeing it juxtaposed against or integrated with tradition. Modernism, by itself, has the capacity to be very cold and uninviting. Traditional elements (like those in historic brownstones such as exposed brick, old hardwoods and elaborate moldings) can help create a lovely contrast in color and texture when mixed with modern elements.

I agree with KarenH, we're not all modernistas (I certainly don't consider myself one). I think the key to great every-day design is knowing how to integrate a taste of modern with the rest of your life - whether its in your furniture, your paint colors, your light fixtures or how you arrange your books.

No worries - Wes and I plan to bring a lot more to the table than just straight-up modern history.

Kayla got it right to the point. Modernism was not a solution however these three things tend to stick with me at all times...

-economy of form
-expressive use of materials
-elegant solutions could also be economical and practical

I think these are also very much the spirit of AT and can be found in many places and applied to many things.

I love pattern, color, and texture and grew up in a 200 year old farmhouse (on a farm). Traditional New England farmhouses embody all the principles above and Gropius saw that and manipulated it into his own visual style while maintaining a traditional farmhouse layout. Contrast is the key. I prefer living in brownstones because it creates wonderful contrast with modern furniture. If I moved to a slick modern apartment I would probably be happier with more traditional furniture or at least some rococo wallpaper.

what's under that black throw?

I agree that the writing is not much fun, and the subject matter is well-known to most of us up here. I want to see more whimsy in the writing and learn something new!

i saw a tour of the house featured on This Old House. it was amazing. :-)

Good post. And, I disagree with another poster who said the writing was too cerebral. Some of us tire of the misspelled fluff that pervades this site. A clear narrative is appreciated.

I would have loved some interior shots - was that not allowed?

Sadly, no, they don't allow photography inside the house. We were only able to get the image of the living room from outside the window. The house is full of wonderful interiors - definitely worth the trip to see it in person.

A great article on the house's renovation:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE7D81338F93BA35751C1A96E948260

GOOOOO BOSTON!!!! Sure, the Gropius house is an obvious subject to blog on in Boston - which I'm sure is why it was chosen. It's iconic, relative to AT's mission and something that anyone, anywhere can relate to. However, I've no doubt that Kayla and Wes will have ample lesser-known yet exponentially more intriguing examples if (and hopefully when) they get the job :)

The writing is a little cerebral, and thats ok. Design, particularly something as radical as Gropius, requires using your head a little bit. It's not all magazine spreads and furniture porn.

Ok post, but as a Bostoner I kind of wonder what the point of it all is? I was hoping the new Boston AT would get me excited about what this city offers the world of design, rather than simply add to the well-documented modernist movement occuring everywhere.

It's interesting to see that part of modernism's history exists in this area. But is the modernist trend unique to Boston or New England in any way? Do Gropius or his Bauhaus design invoke thoughts of this city? No and no.

Informative and nicely written, but I'm not sure this post differentiates itself from simply another iteration of modernism. I was hoping to get pumped about AT's foray into a special city that brings so much more to the table.

I've taken classes with Gropius' daughter, Ati, and in one class, she said that she'd been reading a book about her father and the building of the house and remarked that there were things in the book about the house that she didn't know. She did say that she enjoyed living in the house. It was a very influential house as people would drive to the countryside to watch it being built.
I find it ironic that the Lincoln Public Library used to have two parts, the old original part and a new modern part. It still has two parts, but the old and new parts are now blended together in materials and style.

I studied the Gropius House back in college as an Architecture student. It is undoubtedly one of the most important structures to represent the Bauhaus movement. After reading the blog, I was left wondering why Wes and Kayla didn't use this opportunity to express their views on how it bridges the connection between modernism and the rich traditions of Boston.

Keep at it but try to tie in how your subject of research inspires your inner creativity in your everyday lives.

Thanks for finally bringing up Walter Gropius and Bauhaus on AT...living in Berlin, I am trying to do my apartment in Bauhaus/early Art Deco style with locally supplied antiques. I would love to see to more posts on how to do this... more pictures of the interior would have been nice!

I am totally enjoying the accurate grammar and thought-provoking post--and I think it is important to remember that a number of AT folks don't have an educational backgound in related subjects--I majored in human rights and government and work in law! I really enjoy some of the more educational posts and I certainly didn't know this about Boston.

I think the blogger for a city needs to educate, inform, and inspire residents as well as make it accesible to the larger community.

Well done Wes and Kayla!