The Case Study House program (1945-66) was an exceptional, innovative
event in the history of American architecture and remains to this day
unique. The program, which concentrated on the Los Angeles area and
oversaw the design of 36 prototype homes, sought to make available plans
for modern residences that could be easily and cheaply constructed
during the postwar building boom.
The program's chief motivating force was Arts & Architecture editor John
Entenza, a champion of modernism who had all the right connections to
attract some of architecture's greatest talents, such as Richard Neutra,
Charles and Ray Eames, and Eero Saarinen. Highly experimental, the
program generated houses that were designed to redefine the modern home,
and thus had a pronounced influence on architecture--American and
international--both during the program's existence and even to this day.
TASCHEN brings you a monumental retrospective of the entire program with
comprehensive documentation, brilliant photographs from the period and,
for the houses still in existence, contemporary photos, as well as
extensive floor plans and sketches.