Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Adolf Loos and His House for Josephine Baker

This tiny maquette of the never-realized house that Adolf Loos designed for Josephine Baker in 1928 sits on a bookshelf at My Ranchburger. It was to have been built in Paris on a corner of Avenue Bugeaud in the 16th arrondissement.


The facade was to have been covered in black and white marble.


The original maquette, along with a number of drawings, is in the Albertina Museum in Vienna. This above maquette: Model design: Paul Groenendijk and Piet Vollaard. Scale: 1:100; copyright, Elsie Altmann-Loos.


Posted by Picasa

I constructed my little model from the pages of this book, Adolf Loos: Huis voor/house for/maison pour/Haus für Josephine Baker by Paul Groenendijk and Piet Vollaard. The publication was found at the Bookstore & Gift Shop, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston some years ago.

Josephine Baker has inspired generations with her great intelligence, talents and charm. Looking at this maquette of a house she inspired, makes me smile, as I imagine her living there, swimming in the indoor pool, dancing across marble floors in her banana skirt, or walking her pet leopard around the neighborhood.
Posted by at
Labels: , , ,

13 comments:

  1. Hill Country House GirlJuly 23, 2009 at 6:39 AM

    I love this, Annie. I always learn from you.Thanks for such an interestng post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. KelleyJuly 27, 2009 at 6:53 PM

    What a little treasure for you to have. I too love Josephine Baker. In fact, my little Evangeline was thiiis close to being my little Josephine.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousAugust 28, 2009 at 1:17 PM

    Hello! Thanks so much for posting this. I always wondered what the paper model looked like. I used this book to analyze this building for a semester at Cooper Union. The pages for the model were ripped out as the book was from the library. Its so interesting to see that the back of the house may have been black marble! Here is a link to my semester project with a partner at Cooper. Hope you enjoy! http://www.emilyamartinez2.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnnieAugust 28, 2009 at 2:57 PM

    Hello Emily,
    I took a look at your analysis. What beautiful work you did on that project!

    Do you know about the 1980's Guy Hermans Loos-inspired house in Antwerp? Its facade is stripped in the black and white of Loos's project and it is a five-story building with portholes. I have an old magazine clipping of this Antwerp building, written by Hugh Aldersey-Williams and photos by Antoine Bootz.

    Thanks for sharing your project.

    Regards,
    Annie

    ReplyDelete
  5. BenAugust 29, 2009 at 9:11 AM

    Hello Annie,

    this is Ben from THe Netherlands. I want to let you know there is a fantastic book called "raumplan versus plan libre" wich polarises the theorie of Loos and Le Corbusier, also published by 010. The house for Josephine Baker is also mentioned in it, contributed by Beatriz Colomina. I love the theory of Loos and I'm investigating it for my architecture graduation.

    Regards,

    Ben

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnnieAugust 29, 2009 at 1:30 PM

    Hello Ben,

    Thanks for stopping by this blog!

    I have a friend living in The Netherlands, who is designing the electronics for a new LED lamp or light bulb which should be available next year. It is far brighter than current LEDs and will not have mercury waste or UV emissions of the fluorescent lighting, which I hate, as I have photosensitivity and cannot work under fluorescent light without getting quite ill. I say this, because designers need to know that there are thousands of people in the world with photosensitivity.

    Thanks for the information about the new book. I can't wait to see it. Le Corbusier is one of my favorites. I make frequent visits to his his Villa La Roche and Villa Savoye and have several licensed reproductions of his furniture in My Ranchburger.

    Regards,
    Annie

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousApril 27, 2013 at 10:20 AM

    Having read this I thought it was very enlightening. I appreciate you taking the time and effort to
    put this informative article together. I once again find myself spending way too much time both reading and commenting.
    But so what, it was still worthwhile!

    Also visit my web blog: diet plans to lose weight

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousMay 17, 2013 at 7:30 AM

    Incredible! This blog looks exactly like my old one!

    It's on a completely different subject but it has pretty much the same page layout and design. Outstanding choice of colors!

    Feel free to surf to my web-site book of ra online spielen ohne anmeldung kostenlos

    ReplyDelete
  9. AnonymousMay 21, 2013 at 5:02 PM

    This post will assist the internet users for creating new web site or
    even a blog from start to end.

    My blog - Boo Of Ra

    ReplyDelete
  10. AnonymousMay 22, 2013 at 12:01 AM

    Now there's often an exception to every rule so pay attention up!

    my blog post: bowflex selecttech 552 adjustable dumbbells pair

    ReplyDelete
  11. AnonymousJune 5, 2013 at 9:23 PM

    Everybody is different, so consider your time and effort and make an effort to focus on what functions nicely for you personally.


    My web-site ... Skip Navigation

    ReplyDelete
  12. chenmeinv0May 5, 2017 at 2:35 AM

    adidas stan smith
    scarpe hogan
    fred perry outlet
    burberry handbags
    mlb jerseys
    michael kors
    coach outlet
    ralph lauren
    michael kors outlet
    louis vuitton outlet
    20175.5chenjinyan

    ReplyDelete
  13. Lich Am Hom NayJuly 14, 2020 at 3:09 AM

    Also visit my website
    Thien Menh.Net
    Xem Lich Am hom Nay
    Lich Van Nien
    Lich Van Su
    Van Khan
    Tu Vi Hang Ngay
    Tu Vi Hang Tuan
    Tu Vi Thang Moi
    12 Cung Hoang Dao

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)