The Vanna Venturi House Essay
The Vanna Venturi House Essay
Robert Venturi’s early design; the Vanna Venturi House, has been a reference for contemporary architecture. His domestic masterpiece challenged the definition of modern architecture.1 It seems the Vanna Venturi House contradicted many of the rules that modern architects were expected to follow. This essay will discuss the architectural qualities of the Vanna Venturi House and the precedents which influenced its design.
Robert Venturi was only thirty-four when he was requested by his mother to design and build a house for her. Up until this time all of Venturi’s designs had been mostly theoretical. He was now given a chance to make them concrete.2 It could be understood that Robert’s mother’s house was designed to help him with his career; he was given an opportunity to design and construct a building instead of writing and teaching about them. The Vanna Venturi House was to be Robert Venturi’s first building. Like many architects he was driven to test his ideas through construction.3 The house went through six basic schemes and six models were made to clearly exhibit the form of the house and Venturi’s evolving ideas.4
Vanna’s house was to be Venturi’s first building. However, the design took so long that another building was constructed first, the North Penn Visiting Nurses’ Association Headquarters in Pennsylvania (completed in 1961). While the North Penn distorted the pure order of the box of modern architecture on the outside, Vanna’s house distorted it on the inside. It is evident that both buildings shared common ideas.5 Complex entries with symbolic, non-structural, arched openings, and conventional and big-scale elements expressed a new and complex architecture.
All of Venturi’s architectural decisions are thought-provoking as they were very unusual in the 1960s, but very typical today. His ideas of symbolism and experimentation with symmetry are evident in the Vanna Venturi House. Symbolism seemed to be a very
Robert Venturi’s early design; the Vanna Venturi House, has been a reference for contemporary architecture. His domestic masterpiece challenged the definition of modern architecture.1 It seems the Vanna Venturi House contradicted many of the rules that modern architects were expected to follow. This essay will discuss the architectural qualities of the Vanna Venturi House and the precedents which influenced its design.
Robert Venturi was only thirty-four when he was requested by his mother to design and build a house for her. Up until this time all of Venturi’s designs had been mostly theoretical. He was now given a chance to make them concrete.2 It could be understood that Robert’s mother’s house was designed to help him with his career; he was given an opportunity to design and construct a building instead of writing and teaching about them. The Vanna Venturi House was to be Robert Venturi’s first building. Like many architects he was driven to test his ideas through construction.3 The house went through six basic schemes and six models were made to clearly exhibit the form of the house and Venturi’s evolving ideas.4
Vanna’s house was to be Venturi’s first building. However, the design took so long that another building was constructed first, the North Penn Visiting Nurses’ Association Headquarters in Pennsylvania (completed in 1961). While the North Penn distorted the pure order of the box of modern architecture on the outside, Vanna’s house distorted it on the inside. It is evident that both buildings shared common ideas.5 Complex entries with symbolic, non-structural, arched openings, and conventional and big-scale elements expressed a new and complex architecture.
All of Venturi’s architectural decisions are thought-provoking as they were very unusual in the 1960s, but very typical today. His ideas of symbolism and experimentation with symmetry are evident in the Vanna Venturi House. Symbolism seemed to be a very
References: (accessed September 19, 2011) PHOTOGRAPHS Fig 1: http://www.moma.org/collection_images/resized/199/w500h420/CRI_58199.jpg. (accessed September 17, 2011) Fig 2: http://lh4.ggpht.com/XbZISsi7bL0/SfhSizS5RI/AAAAAAAAEgE/wYurdX3yUgw/low.jpg Fig 3: http://www.countrylifeimages.co.uk/ResizedImages/Large/959364.jpg. (accessed September 17, 2011) Fig 4: http://www.prairiestyles.com/images/architects/wright/flw_home.jpg Fig 5: http://web.kyoto-inet.or.jp/org/orion/img/hst/pcd03-39.jpg. (accessed September 17, 2011) Fig 6: http://sofaarome.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/lm33.jpg