Articles by Aleksandr Bierig

By Anthony Vidler. The Monacelli Press, 2011, 368 pages, $50 Some first impressions about this new collection of old essays by Anthony Vidler are misleading. The title, for instance, The Scenes of the Street, and the city plan on the cover indicate a broad coverage of topics regarding the city. In fact, two thirds of the book is dedicated to Paris and most of that to Paris before the turn of the 20th century. Those essays that do not deal with Paris directly are mostly concerned with theories created by 19th century French male architects, authors, and humanists. Vidler’s texts

The Trenton Bath House, just restored by Farewell Mills Gatsch, respects Louis Kahn’s original design, even if his full vision remains unrealized. To many architects, Louis Kahn’s 1955 Trenton Bath House in Ewing, New Jersey, just restored by Farewell Mills Gatsch Architects (FMG), exudes everything that worked in 20th-century architecture. This concise design for the Jewish Community Center in a Trenton suburb engages in a thoughtful dialogue with history using modest materials. But the Bath House also is a disappointment. It began crumbling soon after completion, and Kahn’s larger civic vision for the site proved too idealized for the clients

The American Institute of Architects has announced the 18 winners of the 2010 Housing Awards. Now in its tenth year, the awards program recognizes exemplary residential design and promotes "the importance of good housing," according to the AIA. Awards were bestowed in four categories—one/two family custom housing, one/two family production housing, multifamily living, and special housing. Diamond Project; San Francisco Click on the slide show icon to see additional photos. Related Links: RECORD Houses 2010RECORD Houses 2009AIA 2009 Housing Awards Members of this year’s jury were: Jury Chair Andrew V. Porth, AIA, of Porth Architects; Jane Kolleeny of Architectural Record

As China’s population becomes increasingly urbanized, its cities must not only grow, but find new forms.

Houses by three Modernist masters ' Breuer, Neutra, and Schindler ' present different challenges to new architects. Schindler in the suburbs The story surrounding a 1940 spec house in Inglewood by Rudolph Schindler is less tortuous than that of the Sten-Frenke. To begin with, the circumstances of its construction are basically unknown. The architect built three houses on a typical block in a middle-class section of the town, each with a different layout, reacting to the changing slope of the land. All are modestly sized at about 1,000 square feet, which includes two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a large common

Houses by three Modernist masters ' Breuer, Neutra, and Schindler ' present different challenges to new architects. Neutra by the sea Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra were “Southern California’s favorite architectural couple,” writes historian Barbara Mac Lamprecht, “Schindler playing id to Neutra’s superego; Neutra’s Apollo to Schindler’s Dionysus; the former the verbose go-getter, the latter an articulate hippie.” Two houses recently renovated in California — the 1934 Sten-Frenke House in Santa Monica by Neutra, and a 1940 spec house in Inglewood by Schindler — both seem inexorably to follow the legacy, or the idea of the legacy, of their separate

Houses by three Modernist masters ' Breuer, Neutra, and Schindler ' present different challenges to new architects. New work on an old house necessarily follows the original text. An archaeological site, original doorknobs and windows, floorboards and foundations become artifacts, embodying history. Every building, made up of thousands of parts, demands thousands of decisions. Whose decisions were they originally? Which ones are worth keeping? When an existing house — in this case, by the notable Modernists Marcel Breuer, Richard Neutra, and Rudolph Schindler — speaks louder than its new designers can, each step forward encounters a host of potential problems.