The Architecture of Power 2: The White House

If the Capitol building is a symbol of a powerful nation (see previous blog entry), the White House is the symbol of a powerful individual, the President of the United States.

White House stationery.

The White House is interesting as much for what it is not as for what it is. The White House, as signified by name, is not a palace. It is not a castle. It is not even called a mansion. It is a house. (Although it should be noted that early appelations referred to it as the President's Mansion or the President's Palace.) As seats of power go, it is comparatively humble, meant to reflect the idea that our President is a man of the people. He is not a king or sultan or dictator. We do not have, therefore, something like Buckingham Palace with its brutally imposing facade and massive size.  Where palaces of potentates are deliberately intimidating and seemingly impenetrable, the White House is gentle by comparison. The grounds are bucolic and welcoming; most powerful administrative functions are downplayed. It presents a domestic visage. The Oval Office, the epicenter of power, is tucked to the side of the main quarters. Other important functions are shifted to to the executive office building. (An exceedingly ugly and ornate Victorian structure a block away). The core of the White House looks like a white house, not the nexus of national and international activity it certainly is.  Sure, it is a mansion, but a mansion not much different than your local run-of-the-millionaire might inhabit. The leader of the free world lives here, but that fact is cleverly downplayed.

The north facade looks like a two story building. Note how the east and
west wings and third floor are barely visible. 

Earliest known photo of the White House. (South Lawn.)

This self-effacing White House is a deliberate illusion.  The under-played west wing is one device that keeps the main house looking like a "simple" mansion. The third floor above the main house is downplayed as an incidental attic, set back from the outer walls and mostly hidden behind a Palladian balustrade. In reality, it houses full size rooms put to various support purposes.  Major functions are hidden from public view, including extensive basement bunkers and tunnels, and certainly a lot of things to which only the secret service is privy.

The White House structure is much more complex than first meets the eye.  At a glance it appears to be a two-story home.  In reality, the ground plane has been manipulated so the ground floor is hidden from view on the north (front) elevation.  The "first" and "second" floors are raised a full story above natural grade. The apparent attic is essentially a fourth story.  Two levels of basement below the ground floor make this a six story enterprise - half of it hidden or disguised.  Contiguous with the main building, the west and east wings are attached by the ground level and basement, visually diminishing their true importance and extent. It is all very clever.

White House interior during the Truman renovation.

The basic form of the current White House can be attributed to the Truman renovation constructed from 1949 to 1952.  When Truman took office, the White House, without exaggeration, was a wreck. Things were so rotted and shaky that Truman claimed there was imminent danger of his bath tub crashing through the second floor while the Daughters of the American Revolution were having tea in the room below. He would be forced to greet them "wearing nothing more than reading glasses." Indeed, in 1948 a leg of Margaret Truman's piano actually crashed through a second floor sitting room through the ceiling of the dining room below.

The White house had been altered many times to accomodate the tastes and preferences of different administrations. Most notably, perhaps, was the restoration after a major fire during the War of 1812.  But the Truman renovation created the basic shape of the White House we know today. This rebuilding preserved the outside walls of the White House, but not much else.  This extent of rebuilding is quite obvious in period photographs.

Schematic overview of the White House complex. 

Detail plan of the west wing. (Reversed and up side down from the preceding drawing.) 

Like the Capitol building, the White House is an icon of political power. As such, it is almost impossible to judge as architecture. What can we say about the design? It succesfully uses architectural  deceptions to hide its true size. It is an textbook example of neo-classical residential architecture, completely in tune with the architectural fashion the late sixteenth century. The original design was created by architect James Hoban, selected by George Washington in a competition.  (Thomas Jefferson had anonymously submitted a competing design.) In the end, is it good architecture? Maybe. Probably. But that is overshadowed by everything else it represents.

Basic plans of the first and second floors. 

The home of the president of the United States is an awesome presence in Washington D.C.  Perhaps we should be grateful it's impact has been somewhat tempered by design lest any self-centered, duplicitous, megalomaniac president assume more power and authority than is actually allowed the office. One can hope.

This aerial view reveals the attic addition as well as part of the ground level.
There are two additional basement levels. 

Sometimes Old Architectureecture is Best

A recent trip to Los Angeles provided an opportunity to visit some old buildings that few people take the time to see. Here are a some of my favorites.

1. A mid-century modern gem is the Avalon hotel, located a few blocks south of Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. I love this place, a boutique hotel that eschews the frenzy and size of better know venues. The Avalon boasts a classic kidney-shaped pool in its courtyard, flanked by a groovy restaurant and balconies overlooking it all. It is an intimate place, convenient to all of the central LA basin. Modern updates respect the original architecture without mothballing it.  Marilyn Monroe reportedly stayed here in the 1950s.

Avalon hotel, Beverly Hills. 

2. Everybody disdains downtown L.A.  I rather like it. It is no longer a forgotten corner of the city that seemed dangerous and shabby.  Okay, it's still a bit shabby and, frankly, boring.  But it's no longer forgotten.  New high-rise apartments flank the edges of downtown and old bank buildings on Spring Street are being converted to stylish lofts. Several subway lines now link downtown with Hollywood, Santa Monica, and other far-flung neighborhoods. Granted, it lacks shopping and restaurant magnets, but the original Grand Central Market still serves downtown as it has since 1917.

Grand Central Market, downtown L.A.

3.. L.A.'s grande dame of hotels, the Biltmore, is one downtown destination that still is worth seeing. It demonstrates the truism "...they just don't build 'em like they used to." It is richly detailed in its very accessible lobbies (yes, there are more than one), grand tavern, meeting rooms, and galleries. It is the kind of place that makes a visitor feel like royalty.

Biltmore lobby. 

Biltmore lobby.

Biltmore ceiling.

Biltmore chandelier. 

Biltmore lobby.

Biltmore lobby bar. 

4. Broadway, in downtown L.A., was once a street of many lavish movie palaces.  The buildings are still there, but, sadly, mostly abandoned. Occasionally they are used (interiors and exteriors) for movie locations.  For the most part they are probably destined for the wrecking ball.  Enjoy them while you still can.  Also on Broadway, and lovingly restored, is the Bradbury building.  Built in 1893, it  is one of the earliest examples of a skylit atrium building with exposed elevator cages. This was created nearly a century before John Portman brought the concept to the Hyatt hotel chain. Architecture students know this building from their history classes. Film buffs should know it from numerous location shots, including the final scenes of Bladerunner.

Theater on Broadway.

Bradbury building.

Bradbury building.

5. Union Station is a Spanish revival building that still has real train service.  Also the nexus for two subway lines, it has gained a renewal of purpose that attracts bustling crowds as it must have during the heyday of travel by train.

Union Station. 

Union Station.

6. Finally, what could sum up Los Angeles better than a classic movie studio. Paramount still has its main gate, featured in numerous film classics including Gloria Swanson's famous scene in Sunset Boulevard. If you take the studio tour you get two cities for the price of one.  "New York City" is recreated as faćade-only buildings in sunny Los Angeles.  (Usually sunny.  It was raining that particular day.)

Paramount studios entrance gate. 

"New York City."

It's only a movie set. 

All photos : MJK with an iPhone 6.

Knorr Lecture on Mid-Century Modern Architecture

Architecture Mid-Century

The Virginia Village Mid-Century Modern Home Tour took place yesterday in Denver. The featured homes were buiilt as the Krisana Park neighborhood, a small development comprised of 176 hgomes within Virginia Village in Southeast Denver.

The official tour brochure describes the origins of Krisana Park.

In the late 1940s, Brad Wolff and his father, developer H.B. Wolff, acquuired an alfalfa field in southeast Denver. Responding to Denver's post-war housing shortage, they planned the construction of a new subdivision. The design of Krisana Park, however, stood out. Unlike the more common cul-de-sacs of ranch-style houses under development across metro-Denver, the Wolffs were inspired by the modernist designs of California developer Joseph Eichler. They named their development Krisana Park, and began construction on its 176 homes in 1954. Marketing their homes as '3-D Contemporaries,' prices started at $15,950. Financing was offered. With the GI bill, returning soldiers could pay $50 down payment and monthly payments of $104.02. 

The brochure for the tour features architectural inllustrations of each home by Denver artist Chris Musselman. Musselman's work has been previously featured in this blog.  His website is worth a visit at http://www.christianmusselman.com.

The homes on the tour have been lovingly restored and, in many cases, augmented in the spirit of the original designs.  The openess and efficiency of the plans explains why mid-centtury modern architecture is enjoying a resurgence in newly constructed projects thoughout the city and, indeed, the entire country.

• Illustrations from the tour brochure by Chris Musselman. 

Grand Opening: Venue 221

This week saw the official grand opening for Venue 221 in Denver's Cherry Creek North district.

My office worked for three years with the owner/developer Cindy Wynne to create a luxury multi-use venue. The design is influenced by mid-century-modern architecture with 21st century amenities: folding doors open to a sidewalk patio, a white onyx bar with LED illumination, linear fireplace, caterer's kitchen and state-of-the art A/V system. The interior design consultant was Studio 10 of Denver. The general contractor was Coe Construction of Fort Collins, Colorado.

From their website:

Venue 221 is intended for all types of corporate, non-profit, social and community events such as: Sales Meetings, Conferences, Training Events, Executive Retreats, Employee Recognitions, Product Launches, Media Releases, Holiday Parties, Employee Picnics/Receptions, Volunteer Appreciations, Galas, Fundraisers, Award Dinners, Board Meetings, Bar/Bat Mitzvah, Anniversary Parties, Birthday Celebrations, Weddings, Graduations, Reunions, Proms, School Fundraisers, Academic Competitions, & Shows, Religious Gatherings, Club Meets, HOA Meetings & Presentations and Political Meetings or Receptions.

They have also added pop-up retail events to their offerings. Detailed information is available here: Venue 221.

Credit to Architectural Artists

Some time back I blogged about Bruce Goff's Crystal Chapel project and included a stunning image of the proposed building. I neglected to give credit to the very capable illustrators;  "Perfect Prisms: Crystal Chapel" was created in 2009 by Ellen Sandor, Chris Kemp, Chris Day, Ben Carney, and Miguel Delgado of (art)n. Click on their link to see additional architectural images. The artists have also produced very creative architectural art as GIFs. Here are a few examples of their GIFs to pique your interest:

Mies-en-scene: The Farnsworth House by (art)n. 

Second Illusion About Antonio G. in New York by (art)n.

Reconstructing the Wright Space by (art)n.

Punta Pacific: A Deconstructed Vision by (art)n.

The above images remind me of some Salvador Dali paintings. He often extracted abstract structures from literal images. As an example, consider Galatea of the Spheres:

Galatea of the Spheres by Salvador Dali, 1952.

Capturing Architecture in Art

Every once in a while someone comes along with a fresh, invigorating approach to art and architecture. Chris Musselman is carving out an artistic niche with a unique rendering style that will be of interest to architects, builders, and marketing professionals.

I became aware of Chris through a series of renderings published in Modern in Denver magazine. His illustrations focused on the Denver neighborhood of Arapahoe Acres. This 1950s-era community is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a beautiful example of mid-century modern architecture. I decided to track Chris down to commission a rendering of my own home. His phone contact  contained an out-of-state area code and his tracks ran through Chicago and Santa Fe.  But it turns out he now lives and works in my town, Denver, Colorado.

Chris applies a spare graphic approach to architectural renderings, with lots of atmospherics and a lively sense of color. His technique is highly stylized but approachable. Here is a link to his website: www.christianmusselman.com. And here is the rendering he produced for my house.

Architectural rendering by Chris Mussellman. 

Thanks, Chris!