ARC 327R, ARC 386M
TH 2:00PM-5:00PM, WMB 4.118
Open to ARC Upper Division Undergrads and Grads, ARI Upper Division Undergrads and Grads, LAR Grads, U D grads, Arch Studies minors, Arch History minors, Interior Design minors, and Fine Arts students
Instructor: Charles di Piazza
What can a house reveal about the relationship between an architect and a client—and how does an architectural idea change as it moves across decades, landscapes, and cultures? This seminar examines four residences designed by Philip Johnson between the 1940s and the 1960s: the de Menil House in Houston, the Glass House and Boissonnas I House in New Canaan, and the largely undocumented Boissonnas II House in Cap Bénat, France. Considered together, the houses trace the evolution of Johnson’s domestic architecture while illuminating the consequential role of the de Menil and Boissonnas families as patrons, collaborators, and occupants. Students will investigate the houses through varied lenses, including patronage, domestic life, interiors, landscape, materiality, representation, preservation, and architectural detail. Archival research will be paired with close visual analysis, drawing, writing, interviews, and field documentation. Subject to funding, the seminar will include trips to Houston and New Canaan. We are actively seeking financial support to make these opportunities accessible to participating students. The proposed itineraries feature privately arranged visits to significant houses, buildings, and collections— several of which are not ordinarily accessible to the public—as well as conversations with architects, scholars, preservationists, and people directly connected to the projects. Students will develop an original line of inquiry culminating in a rigorous visual and written contribution to the collective study of the four houses
