haiku for the book "Cabin Porn"

lurking in shadows

there is something in the woods

a homemade something

I was prepared to love this book because I love the website and its politically incorrect name. However, I was underwhelmed. The book is a series of vignettes about building cabins in the boonies, including the authors' story. The primary focus of the vignettes is on do-it-yourself outdoorsmen cabin building. Between the vignettes are photos of, presumably, the authors' fave cabins from all over the world.

The vignettes are interesting but oddly dispassionate; oddly oddly dispassionate in the same style as Anais Nin's erotica (for example, see Little Birds) or a biologist describing the dissection of a field mouse. The writing thoroughly describes who and what, but doesn't sparkle. And while I know that river-bottom hardwoods are used to produce those fine glossy photo books you see and that perhaps a book about cabins in the woods shouldn't tax the woods (too much), the rough pages feel cheap and don't adequately convey the photos. There is some Modernism among the pages, but not enough for required reading for an outdoorsy Modernist.

If you want to build your own rustic cabin out in the middle of nowhere, the book may be a good buy. Otherwise, surf the site.

art interlude: HULA

We just ordered a print of the above, a photo of a mural painted by HULA, a street (canal?) artist who made his name painting murals just above the water line. Simply gorgeous stuff. 

 

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i freaking love these stairs

more from Dezeen

european (architectural) vacation: punch list

Next month we are heading to Europe to see art and architecture in France, Belgium, The Nederlands, and West Germany. The key architectural stops are various Corbusiers in Paris (Villas Savoye, La Roche, and Jeanneret), the Schoder-Rietveld House in Ultricht, and the Weissenhof in Stuttgart. Everything else is gravy sopped up along the way. If everything goes well, that groovy gravy includes Robert Mallet-Stevens, Theo von Doesburg, Adolf Loos, Henri Sauvage, Gustave Perret, Bernard Bijvoet, Hector Guimard, Victor Horta, J.J.P. Oud, Mart Stam, Willem Marinus Dudok, Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, Behrens, Max Taut, Scharoun, and Bruno Taut. 

Whew!

If you have any suggestions, please let us know. Here's a Google map of our plans at this point. Reds are MustSees, oranges are Maybes, and greens are where we are staying.

paris (mon, tues, wed, thurs)

A walking tour of Le Corbusiers to consider.

MUST SEE: Le Corbusier's Villa Savoye (1928-31; photo at top; the photo below is of the absolutely freaking adorable gardener's quarters): tourable; closed Mondays:

MUST SEE: Le Corbusier's Villa la Rouche and Villa Jeanneret: tourable; closed Sundays:

maybe: Robert Mallet-Stevens' Villa Poiret (1924-5): gawkable (somewhat near Villa Savoye)

maybe: Le Corbusier's Villa Stein de-Monzie (1927): gawkable

maybe: Le Corbusier's studio apartment: tourable; only open on Saturdays till 5 pm (probably won't be in Paris on a Saturday, but could make it on the 24th...)

MUST SEE: Theo von Doesburg's studio (1930): tourable by appointment

maybe: Le Corbusier's Villa Cook (1925): gawkable

MUST SEE: Rue Mallet-Stevens (1925; an amazing street of five villas by Robert Mallet-Stevens): gawkable; possibly visitable

MUST SEE: Le Corbusier's Ozenfant Studio (1922): gawkable

maybe: Swiss Pavilion (1930-1); gawkable (may be visitable)

maybe: Bijvoet's Villa de Verre (1928-32): gawkable?

MUST SEE: Adolf Loos' Villa Tristan Tzara (1926): Gawkable

maybe: Le Corbusier's Maison Planiez (1928): gawkable

maybe: Henri Sauvage's Flat at Amiraux (1922-7): gawkable

maybe: Auguste Perret's Church of Notre Dame du Raincy (1922-3): gawkable, may be vistable

paris to lille (fri)

~ 3 hour drive

lille (sat)

We'll be in Lille to visit an old friend. Not much of early-Modern architectural interest in the area except for this interesting wee bit of Art Nouveau:

maybe: Guimard's Coillet House (1898): gawkable, possibly visitable:

lille to utrecht (sun)

~2.5 hours

Because the Rietvelt-Schroeder house is closed on Mondays, we need to hightail it to Utrecht to catch the last tour of the day at ____. If we get up early enough may stop in at Brussels to see:

maybe: the Victor Horta Museum (1898-1901); tourable; 2 to 5:30 pm [yikes on the opening hours; may kill the visit...]

maybe: Victor Horta's Cauchie House (1905): gawkable

maybe: Gustave Strauven's Maison Saint-Cyr (1901-3): gawkable

MUST SEE: Rietveld-Schröder House (1924): tourable, closed Mondays, open 1100 to 1700, last tour at 1600; need reservations:

nederlands (mon)

maybe: Reitveld's Music School (1932) in Utrecht: gawkable 

MUST SEE: J.J.P. Oud's De Unie (1925) in Rotterdam: visitable (still a cafe!):

maybe: J.A. Brinkman's Sonneveld House (1933) in Rotterdam: tourable (but closed on Mondays)

maybe: G.W. Baat's Chabot Museum (1938) in Rotterdam: tourable (but closed on Mondays)

MUST SEE: J.J.P. Oud's Kiefhok (1928-30) in Rotterdam: gawkable

MUST SEE: J.J.P. Oud's Superintendant's House (1923) in Rotterdam: gawkable

maybe: Van Nelle Factory (1926-31) in Rotterdam: gawkable

maybe: J.J.P. Oud's Hotel Savoy (1923) north of The Hague: visitable

maybe: Bijvoet and Duiker's Aalsmeer House (1924): gawkable

maybe: Rietveld's Van Gogh Museum (1965): tourable (but closed on Mondays)

maybe: Rietveld's Pavilion (1965): tourable

utrecht to stuttgart (tues)

~5 hours

MUST SEE: Mies van der Rohe's Lange and Esters House (1927-30) in Krefeld, Germany: gawkable (only open for special events)

MUST SEE: Walter Gropius's Dammerstock Colony (1928-9) in Karlsruhe, Germany:

stuttgart (wed)

MUST SEE: The Weissenhof (1927): tourable 1100 to 1800

stuttgart to dijon (thurs)

~ 4.5 hours

MUST SEE: Theo von Doesburg's Aubette (1926) in Strasbourg: tourable, wed thru sat 1400 to 1800

MUST SEE (but may not be possible this time of year): Le Corbusier's Notre-Dame du Hait (1954): have to inquire from September 1st to December 31st please make enquiries at +33 3 84 20 73 27

dijon (fri)

dijon to paris (sat)

~3.5 hours

paris (sun)

paris to texas (mon)

crash (tues)





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