Raphael Soriano

by Shulman, Julius; Wagener, Wolfgang

• ISBN13: 9780714840635
• ISBN10: 0714840637
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-09-26
• Publisher: Phaidon Press

Summary

Raphael Soriano (1907-88) was one of the early Case Study architects working in postwar Los Angeles and a talented advocate of the new building materials and construction techniques developed at the time. Soriano was a significant member of this informal gang of architects that also included Charles and Ray Eames, Pierre Koenig, Eero Saarinen, Richard Neutra and Craig Ellwood. Though not as familiar a name now, Soriano was a major influence on his colleagues and was rediscovered by today's practitioners for his innovative use of steel and aluminum and his early interest in low-cost, prefabricated structures. This is the first monograph on Soriano, providing a comprehensive study of the architect's life and oeuvre. It includes detailed descriptions of thirty key Soriano buildings, and a listing of Complete Works that documents for the first time every known project in Soriano's archive. More than twenty of Soriano's buildings have been destroyed and many others remodelled beyond recognition; this book offers the only published record of these important works.Wolfgang Wagener is an architect and has written articles on twentieth-century modern architecture. Since 1997 he has been a visiting professor at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.

Author Biography

Wolfgang Wagener is an architect who has written numerous articles on twentieth-century modern architecture. Since 1997 he has been Visiting Professor at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

Foreword	6	(3)
The Postwar Dream Takes Hold	9	(30)
The Promise	10	(3)
New Deal Reforms	13	(3)
Peacetime Conversion	16	(4)
Hotbed California	20	(8)
Typology of the Modern California House	28	(6)
A Different Kind of Dream	34	(5)
Pioneering Steel Houses: 1935--1970	39	(126)
The Effects of Europe and the Great Depression	40	(8)
Learning from California	48	(10)
Challenged by the War Machine	58	(16)
Defining the Case Study Style	74	(12)
Prototypes for a New Lifestyle	86	(36)
Perfecting the Steel Pavilion	122	(28)
Culminating with a System Blueprint	150	(15)
Complete Works	165	(30)
References	195	(1)
Map of Los Angeles showing realized Soriano buildings	196	(2)
Chronology	198	(8)
Unfinished Autobiography	206	(6)
Raphael Soriano
Notes	212	(2)
Selected Bibliography	214	(4)
Index	218