Tangent: A Case for Another Case Study

I visited the Neutra VDL Studio last year and was overwhelmed. I felt seen. It sent me on a journey of extensive research. I ended up touring 6 more modernist houses that following month.

Iconic architecture fulfills you in ways you didn’t know you needed, or even wanted. Modernists like Richard Neutra + Charles Eames create spaces for people. They connect you with the little piece of nature you come home to everyday. They know where the sun hits the kitchen counter while you brew your morning coffee —  where the dappled light dances on the wall across from the sofa. They thought of you. 

Modernists prioritize function, creating efficient spaces that make your life easier, and even better. But form follows function close behind, because usually when something is functioning well, it is beautiful. 

These houses prove that good design doesn’t have to be expensive, and shouldn’t be reserved for the elite. That was the whole idea for the 1954 Case Study Program, when Art + Architecture Magazine commissioned architects to design + build inexpensive, efficient model homes that could be easily replicated to combat the post-war housing boom. The program generated wildly innovative, affordable solutions. Some of the houses were built for the architects themselves, others were built for ordinary people and families. Case Study House No 22 designed by Peter Koenig was designed for an ordinary couple who worked in aviation — you might know it as the Stahl House. 

I’m writing this sitting in my half-baked windowless apartment, when I should be living out my minimalist dream in a Craig Ellwood.  

If you go on any one of these 4 Modernist Architectural Tours, I think you’ll agree, it’s time for another Case Study Program.

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