Author : Christopher Bascom Rawlins
Release : 2013
Genre : Seaside architecture
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 091/5 ( reviews)
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Book Synopsis Fire Island Modernist by : Christopher Bascom Rawlins
Download or read book Fire Island Modernist written by Christopher Bascom Rawlins. This book was released on 2013. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the Sixties, architect Horace Gifford executed a remarkable series of beach houses that transformed the terrain and culture of New York's Fire Island. Growing up on the beaches of Florida, Gifford forged a deep connection with coastal landscapes. Pairing this sensitivity with jazzy improvisations on modernist themes, he perfected a sustainable modernism in cedar and glass that was as attuned to natural landscapes as to our animal natures. Gifford's serene 1960s pavilions provided refuge from a hostile world, while his exuberant post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS masterpieces orchestrated bacchanals of liberation. Celebrities lived in modestly scaled homes alongside middle-class vacationers, all with equal access to Fire Island's natural beauty. Blending cultural and architectural history, this book ponders a fascinating era through an overlooked architect whose life, work and colorful milieu trace the operatic arc of a lost generation, and still resonate with artistic and historical import.