McMansion to McModern

[peterm]

(D?)evolution of the McMansion:

https://www.curbed.com/2017/6/30/158938 ... bs-history

[SDR]

Aha. A whole lexicon of newly-coined architectural terms. Who knew there was a "cedar contemporary" -- whatever that might be. Still, it's interesting to learn that MCM has hit -- or is that "descended to" -- the McMansion category.

A few photographs would have helped illustrate the author's points. But journalism is a haphazard affair (I hesitate to call it a profession) now . . .?

SDR

[peterm]

Cedar Contemporary is a new term to me, too, but the type was immediately clear to me when I saw the moniker in the piece. It all started with the influence of Sea Ranch. As building codes became stricter, and the use of massive amounts of single paned glass became less of an option, that type, influenced by vernacular farm structures began to take over. Charles Moore and landscape architect Lawrence Halprin were in the vanguard; it spread to the new trend of condominium complexes throughout California and later the rest of the US.

Stacked boxes used for "visual interest" featuring horizontal slats and a few corner windows here and there can, on the most superficial level, simulate the effects of architecture like that produced by Schindler or Aalto. Slap on a veneer of some randomly cut stone and you've got Wright. It's easy to spot all over Southern California, and will soon be ubiquitous across the rest of the nation.

[SDR]

I was disappointed to read that Sea Ranch houses were clad in "redwood panels"; boards were used, and I wonder if they weren't cedar rather than redwood.

" . . .massive amounts of single paned glass became less of an option" . . . why?

SDR

[peterm]

I think sea Ranch was redwood cladding over Douglas fir framing. The effect is nearly identical when left to weather without stain or varnish. Cedar would have been the less expensive alternative as the "look" spread across the US.

[egads]

" . . .massive amounts of single paned glass became less of an option" . . . why?

SDR

Energy codes

[peterm]

Exactly... also, energy prices. The "Cedar Contemporary" style coincides with the energy crisis of the mid seventies.

[SDR]

Sorry, I'm not getting it. What's the alternative -- small-paned windows ?

http://www.moorerubleyudell.com/project ... -residence

http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings ... inium.html

S

[peterm]

The ratio of glass to wall was reduced after the mid 1970s due to the oil crisis of 1973 which radically increased energy and heating costs. The thinness of the fifties and sixties changed. Compare, say Craig Ellwood '50s/60s, to Charles Moore at Sea Ranch. The glass box was no longer as feasible as a building type.

Of course, there are so many other factors, growing concern with contextualism, vernacular forms, a reaction against corporate modernism, a post-hippie woodsy back to nature aesthetic...

[DRN]

While the 1973 oil embargo and resulting energy crisis of the mid-'70's played a part in the shift from the glassy modernist houses, I suspect the shallow need for new fashion by wealthy homebuyers was a larger factor. Moore's Sea Ranch boxes were springing up in toney but progressive Philly suburbs and Atlantic beach enclaves in Delaware before 1973. The dawn of PoMo may have played a part too. Abstracted East Coast saltbox forms lent themselves well to the vertical siding and crip window detailing.
Scroll down for a 1970 Hugh Newell Jacobsen house I liked to see while bicycling with my parents at Rehoboth Beach DE during vacations in the '70's:
https://www.google.com/amp/www.architec ... career/amp
...a mix of Gwathmey on the Hamptons and Moore on the Ranch.

I remember reading an interview with Moore about the impact Sea Ranch had on the design of houses in which he noted, "I wish architects paid more attention to the siting and less attention to the siding."

[Roderick Grant]

Those so-called "McModerns" are growing like bacteria in West Hollywood. The old houses, dating back to the 20s, are modest in size, not, for the most part, particularly handsome, so the loss of them is not all that bad. However, the McMods replacing them are huge, bulging to the setback limits, two-stories at least as tall as three-story houses, gaping maw garages out front (one such with the basement parking of an apartment complex). They are bleak, invariably white with a bit of wood or fake stone to relieve the dullness. Not at all an improvement over the McMansions.

[clydethecat]

Cedar Contemporary is a new term to me, too, but the type was immediately clear to me when I saw the moniker in the piece. It all started with the influence of Sea Ranch. As building codes became stricter, and the use of massive amounts of single paned glass became less of an option, that type, influenced by vernacular farm structures began to take over. Charles Moore and landscape architect Lawrence Halprin were in the vanguard; it spread to the new trend of condominium complexes throughout California and later the rest of the US.

I always thought of this as "Third Bay Lite"...

You can still see elements from this style in houses built in my area through the early 1990s, mixed with Ranch and Colonial (sometimes on the same house...), up until the Po-Mo McMansion style took over.

[SDR]

"Third Bay Lite" -- exactly. Time to update Gebhard, Winter et al ?

S

[peterm]

Urban Third Bay: https://youtu.be/eydZiWrwBB0

[SDR]

Oy. Well, maybe there isn't too much out there online, on this topic. Good to see a number of local examples, some of which are new to me. But -- doesn't every wall, or window, have both "Vertical" and "Horizontal" elements ? Don't most multi-floor urban buildings have a "Vertical" emphasis ? And, too bad about the editing.

But thanks. Now we've got a handle on the Third Bay Tradition; carry on.

SDR