Product Description

Gregory Ain joined the ranks of the architectural elite when he was invited by The Museum of Modern Art to design an exhibition house—other invitees included Buckminster Fuller, Marcel Breuer, and Frank Lloyd Wright—but he was vastly different from these architects in his political engagement, counter-cultural leanings, and his commitment to designing for the middle class. A timely reexamination of Ain, this book explores his life and work. With a rich mix of gorgeous color and archival photography, and beautifully reproduced plans and drawings, Gregory Ain: The Modern Home as Social Commentary brings this underappreciated modern master to a wider audience.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #210872 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-30
• Released on: 2008-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 256 pages

Review
"...architect and writer Anthony Denzer talks about how the mid-century legend was one of the first to meld low-slung and low-income housing into one singular, single-family housing concept." ~Angeleno Interiors

From the Inside Flap
Gregory Ain (1908-88) argued that "architecture is a social art" that should serve the "common people," and he demonstrated that belief as one of America's most prominent modern architects in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s. Ain helped pioneer several design strategies for houses and housing patterns - such as the open kitchen and the greenbelt - that would become part of the American vernacular. Until now, there had not been a comprehensive study of his career, and he had been, to some extent, forgotten. This book, the product of six years of research, brings new light to Ain's works and ideas, showing that many of his critical contributions remain as relevant and potent as ever. The book also reveals that Ain's architectural priorities were tied to left-wing politics: many of his clients were Communist Party members, and Ain attended meetings himself. In short, there is an extensive unreported history of a Communist subculture in architecture in Los Angeles, which was organized around Ain. The `Red Scare' of the 1950s effectively ended this underground movement, and Ain pursued a second career in academia. According to Thomas S. Hines, "In Denzer's skillful hands, Gregory Ain finally has gotten his due."

From the Back Cover
Ain pioneered several critical alternatives to basic assumptions about some of the most important issues in American civilization: our housing patterns, our social relationships, and the character of our dwellings. His designs sought to restructure the spatial organization of the single-family house, while at the same time he sought to offer alternatives to the housing patterns of suburbia.

Customer Reviews

Overdue, Thoughtful, Relevant
First-rate primary source research, forming a well-defined and illuminating portrait of Ain, both biographical and professional. The writing is clear and insightful, drawing valuable connections between Ain's socialist-leaning upbringing, his first-hand exposure to the ideas and working methods of Schindler and Neutra, and the development of Ain's own perspective on progressive, affordable housing. The narrative is focused on post-war California, but the conversation about architecture's role in shaping how we might live and build our communities remains open and relevant nationally and globally.

As usual with books that try to provide both lengthy, serious scholarship and a beautiful layout, the images suffer. Plans and photos are fewer and smaller than they should be. Nevertheless, the selections are relevant and include rarely published housing studies and plans. An excellent companion book with complementary illustrations would be Esther McCoy's "The Second Generation," a great book in its own right.

The author's description of the architectural and social biases of the federal government and the banking industry with regard to post-war housing are highlights and bring greater clarity to the radical nature, and intellectual rigor, of Ain's attempts to redefine quality affordable housing. The quality of the writing and scholarship (no fashionable theorizing here about "surface" or Analog End Times) make this a must-have volume for anyone interested in learning more about the trials and tribulations of developing modern homes in the US and why post-war suburbs look the way they do.