City Icons: Amsterdam - Final Call!

An Elementalist and Mediterranean Architecture

MORE MIES - Pure Architecture in Haus Lange Haus Esters

Through a Bauhaus Lens: Edith Tudor-Hart and Isokon

Modernism Week Lecture: 10 Years of Iconic Houses

Aluminaire House Grand Opening

Exhibition Icons of the Czech Avant-Garde

Icon for Sale - Loos Villa: Haus Horner

SPECIAL – Iconic Dreams Europe - Sleep in an Iconic House!

SPECIAL – German Greats!

SPECIAL - Vacances en France!

SPECIAL - Casas Icónicas en España!

SPECIAL – Dutch Delights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Artist Residencies

SPECIAL – Northern (High)Lights!

SPECIAL – Iconic Housing

SPECIAL – Women & Iconic Houses

Winy Wants a World Wonder

Welcome Atelier Volten!

Public Screenings and Private Streaming of Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Sleep in a Modernist Gem – Huis Billiet in Bruges

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - 100 Years Van Zessen House

Exclusive Tour and Film Screening Package

The Last House Designed by Adolf Loos Will Be Built in Prague

Icons of the Czech Avantgarde

Icon for Sale - Casa Legorreta

Rietveld Day: 200 Enthusiasts Explored 3 Utrecht Icons

Hurray! 10 Years Iconic Houses

7th International Iconic Houses Conference A Huge Success

Meet Conference Co-Chair Iveta Černá

Meet Conference Co-Chair Maria Szadkowska

Eighteen Iconic Houses Under One Roof

17 June - 'Pioneers-film' Screening Amersfoort

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Eesteren House Museum

Welcome Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky Zentrum in Vienna!

Welcome Vila Volman! Jewel of Czech Functionalism

Movie Night: Adolf Loos- Revolutionary Among Architects

'Inside Iconic Houses' Case Study House #26 Webcast in Webshop

Inside Iconic Houses at Taut’s Home in Berlin

Rediscovering Forgotten Loos Interiors in Pilsen

'Inside Iconic Houses' - Online Tour Program

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - The Diagoon House

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Rietveld Schröder House

Rietveld Houses Owners Association

Corberó Space: New Life for Hidden Jewel

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Pierre Cuypers' House and Workshops

Reeuwijk Celebrates Completion of Restoration Rietveld Homes!

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Van Doesburg Rinsema House

Welcome Rietveld's Van Daalen House!

Architect Harry Gessner Passed Away at 97

Watch Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House Now On Demand

Icon Saved: Dorchester Drive House

Welcome Umbrella House!

Iconic Houses in the Netherlands – Berlage’s Masterpiece

Iconic Houses in The Netherlands - Het Schip

Inside Iconic Houses - Tour of Maison Cazenave

Inside Iconic Houses Tours Vizcaya Museum & Gardens in Miami

Casa Masó Celebrates 10 Year Anniversary

Inside Iconic Houses tours Roland Reisley's Usonian Frank Lloyd Wright House

Rietveld’s Experimental Housing in Reeuwijk Saved

Serralves Villa after restoration

Portraits of the Architect - Interview with Gennaro Postiglione

Test Labs for New Ideas - Interview with Natascha Drabbe

Inside Iconic Houses - Isokon Building

Inside Iconic Houses - 16 December: Sunnylands with Janice Lyle

BCN-BXL Coderch-De Koninck - Beyond Time

New Chairman Architect Nanne de Ru on The Perfect Platform

Health and Home - Interview with Beatriz Colomina

A Life Less Ordinary – Interview with Valentijn Carbo

Invisible Women - Interview with Alice T. Friedman

Winy Maas on the Green Dip

Anita Blom on Experimental Housing of the 1970s

Women’s Worlds - Interview with Natalie Dubois

The Culture of Living - Interview with Robert von der Nahmer

Hetty Berens: A Fresh Take on Modernism

Niek Smit on Supporting Modern Heritage

Alice Roegholt on Amsterdam’s Working-Class Palaces

July is Iconic Houses Month

Hans van Heeswijk on The Pioneers of the Dutch Modern House

Wessel de Jonge on Dutch Icons at Risk

Save Maison Zilveli - Sign the Petition!

How a Building Tells a Story - Recorded Event

Toolkit for Owners of a Modern House

13 Aalto Sites Nominated for UNESCO World Heritage

Villa Beer At Risk - Sign the Petition!

Business Cards of Stone, Timber and Concrete in the Brussels Region 1830-1970

Exhibiting & Visiting Modernist Monuments

Fostering Well-Researched Responsible Design

ICONS AT RISK

Enjoy a virtual visit to the California House and a Q&A with architect Peter Gluck

Exhibition 'Modernism and Refuge'

A Hidden Gem of Postmodernism

New Centre for Historic Houses of India

An Online Chronicle of the Douglas House

Villa Henny, geometric style icon in The Netherlands

A Mendini temple in Amsterdam

IH-lectures USA & Canada Feb 2020 on Melnikov House

Sponsors and Friends

An Afternoon with the Glucks

Chandler McCoy on Making Modern Houses Sustainable

Catherine Croft: Getting Away from the Demolition Mentality in the UK

Patrick Weber on Discovering an Unknown Icon

Fiona Fisher on Iconic Interiors

Jocelyn Bouraly on Villa Cavrois

Mireia Massagué on finding success through a new kind of partnership

Danish Moderns – Looking Back at Our Mini-Seminar

Venturo house complements Exhibition Centre WeeGee’s offering

Lecture report: Remembering Richard Neutra

Hôtel Mezzara and the Guimard Museum project

We welcome 13 new members!

BREAKING NEWS: 8 Wright Sites Inscribed on Unesco World Heritage List!

LECTURE 29 August - Raymond Neutra: My Father and Frank Lloyd Wright

Iconic Reads

Our Badge of Honour

Iconic Houses End Year Message

City-ordered rebuild of landmark house stirs debate: Appropriate or overreach?

Kohlberg House Restoration in Progress

Planned Demolition of Rietveld Homes in Reeuwijk

Renovation Gili House in Crisis

An Iconic Saga

Restoring Eileen Gray’s Villa E-1027 and Clarifying the Controversies

Modernism on the East Coast

Iconic Houses in Latin America

Conference testimonials

House Tours May 2018 

Expert Meetings

Natascha Drabbe - Iconic Houses: The Next Chapter

Terence Riley -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Philip Johnson

New era for Villa E-1027 and Cap Moderne

Hilary Lewis on Philip Johnson and his Glass House

John Arbuckle on Great House Tours

William D. Earls on the Harvard Five in New Canaan

Stover Jenkins on Working for Philip Johnson

Frederick Noyes on his Father’s House

Scott Fellows and Craig Bassam on their Passion for Preservation

Jorge Liernur -KEYNOTE SPEAKER- on Latin American Modernism(s)

Fabio Grementieri on Modernism in Argentina

Catalina Corcuera Cabezut on Casa Luis Barragán

Renato Anelli on Lina Bo Bardi’s Casa de Vidro

Tim McClimon on Corporate Preservation

Amanda Nelson on Building Donor Relationships

John Bacon on Planned Giving

Jean-Paul Warmoes on the Art of Fundraising in America

Chandler McCoy on Why Less is More

Katherine Malone-France on Moving with the Times

Anne Mette Rahbæk on Philanthropic Investments and Preservation

Peter McMahon on Saving Modern Houses on Cape Cod

Toshiko Kinoshita on Japanese Modern Heritage Houses

Roland Reisley on Life in a Frank Lloyd Wright House

5th Iconic Houses Conference May 2018

Kristin Stone, Pasadena Tour Company

Restoring the past: The Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo Home Studio

Behind the Scenes: Hendrick de Keyser Association

Crosby Doe, Architecture for Sale

Latin America Special – Focus on Mexico

De Stijl in Drachten

Preserving the Nancarrow House-Studio

Meet the Friends - Nanne de Ru

Latin America Special – Focus on Brazil

Jan de Jong’s House is Latest Hendrick de Keyser Acquisition

Stay in a Belgian Modernist Masterpiece

In Berlin’s Modernist Network

Rietveld-Schröder House Celebrates De Stijl Anniversary

Meet Our New Foundation Board Members

Maintaining Aalto's Studio – Linoleum Conservation

Virtual Tour of a Papaverhof Home in 3D

Getty Grant for Villa E-1027

Plečnik House in Ljubljana

Iconic Dacha

Iconic Houses: A Bohemian Road Trip

Work in Progress: Capricho de Gaudí

11 Le Corbusier Homes now on Unesco World Heritage List

At home with Le Corbusier

Henry van de Velde’s Study in Haus Hohe Pappeln Restored

Lynda Waggoner reports

A Conference to Remember

4th International Iconic Houses Conference

Guest of Honor - Harry Gesner

Fallingwater: European Lecture Tour

Wright Plus 2016 Walk

Susan Macdonald, Getty Conservation Institute

John Mcllwee, Garcia House

Meet the Friends – Elisabeth Tostrup

Iconic Houses: The Story So Far

Willie van Burgsteden, designer Iconic Houses

Buff Kavelman, Philanthropic Advisor

Meet the Friends - Frederick Noyes

Sheridan Burke, GML Heritage

Meet the Friends - Raymond Neutra

Sidney Williams, Frey House

Franklin Vagnone and Deborah Ryan, Museum Anarchists

Meet the Friends - James Haefner

Toshiko Mori, architect

Malachi Connolly, Cape Cod Modern House Trust

Meet the Friends - Penny Sparke

Lucia Dewey Atwood, Eames House

Cory Buckner, Mutual Housing Site Office

Jeffrey Herr, Hollyhock House

Speaking Volumes: Building the Iconic Houses Library

Sarah Lorenzen, Neutra VDL Studio and Residences

Ted Bosley, Gamble House

Keeping It Modern - Getty Conservation Grants

Meet the Friends - Thomas Schönauer

Wim de Wit, Stanford University

Linda Dishman, Los Angeles Conservancy

Jesse Lattig, Pasadena Heritage

Join us in Los Angeles! Update

Work in Progress: Casa Vicens

Work in Progress: Van Wassenhove House

Work in Progress: Villa Cavrois

Work in Progress: The Pearlroth House

Conference calls!

Follow us!

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Conference House Tours Barcelona

Marta Lacambra, Fundació Catalunya-La Pedrera

Natascha Drabbe, Iconic Houses Foundation

Special speaker Oscar Tusquets

Jordi Tresserras, UNESCO Network ‘Culture, tourism and development’

Christen Obel, Utzon Foundation

Elena Ruiz Sastre, Casa Broner

Fernando Alvarez Prozorovich, La Ricarda

Tim Benton, Professor of Art History (Emeritus)

Susana Landrove, Docomomo Spain

Rossend Casanova, Casa Bloc

Conference Program 25 November 2014

Jordi Falgàs, Casa Rafael Masó

Documentary La Ricarda

Marga Viza, Casa Míla/La Pedrera

Celeste Adams, Frank Lloyd Wright Trust

Conference 25 November 2014 at La Pedrera

Henry Urbach, The Glass House

Victoria & Albert Museum London November 12

Tommi Lindh, new director of the Alvar Aalto Foundation and Museum

Iveta Černá, Villa Tugendhat

Lynda Waggoner, Fallingwater

Kimberli Meyer, MAK Center

Rent a house designed by Gerrit Rietveld

Barragán House on Screen

Gesamtkunstwerk – An Icon on the Move

Triennale der Moderne 27 September - 13 October 2013

Prestigious Art Nouveau mansions in Brussels open

September 14 + 15: Heritage Days in Paris

June's New Arrivals: Museum Apartments

Iconic Houses is now on Twitter and Facebook

Corbu’s Cabanon: Reconstruction and Lecture

Projekt Mies In Krefeld: Life-sized model of the Krefeld Clubhouse

New arrivals: Spain special

MAMO: Le Corbu’s ‘Park in the Sky’ open 12 June

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Annual Wright Architectural Housewalk: 18 May

Frank Lloyd Wright Homes on Screen

Message from the Editor

Neutra’s House on Screen

Michel Richard, Fondation Le Corbusier

Symposium The Public and the Modern House

Melnikov House on Screen

Iconic Houses in the media

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Round Table Review

Eileen Gray House on Screen

Copy Culture

At Home in the 20th Century

New 20th century Iconic Houses website launches

Philippe Bélaval, Centre des monuments nationaux

1 November 2018

An Iconic Saga

  • Tim Benton in Prague. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Villa E-1027, Eileen Gray, 1926-1929, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. Photo Manuel Bougot.
  • Tim Benton at Villa Stenersen with from left to right Le Corbusier curator Bruno Hubert, Jean-François Dobelle, French ambassador and Villa Stenersen supporter and Karin Hindsbo, Director of The National Museum.
  • Tim Benton giving his lecture at Villa Stenersen in Oslo.
  • Cologne, from left to right Sophia Ungers, Tim Benton, Anja Sieber-Albers, Dr. Marcus Dekiert, Director of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. Photo Heidrun Hertel.
  • Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne.
  • Visiting Sonneveld House in Rotterdam.
  • Visiting De Kiefhoek housing estate in Rotterdam.
  • Dinner prior to Rotterdam lecture. From left to right: Huub Wüst, treasurer Iconic Houses Foundation, Hetty Berens (board member IHF), Tim Benton and Natascha Drabbe (Founding Director IHF).
  • Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam.
  • Tim Benton and Hetty Berens, lecture hall Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam. 
  • Maria Szadkowska and Tim Benton in Villa Müller, Prague. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Tim Benton, speaking in Villa Müller’s Documentation and Study Centre in Prague. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • David Cysař, Tim Benton and Kristina Cysařová in front of Villa Winternitz in Prague. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Tim Benton and Iveta Černá in from of Villa Tugendhat’s onyx wall, Brno. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Lecture Tim Benton in Villa Tugendhat. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Tim Benton and Sylva Schwarzenegger, granddaughter of architect Jiří Kroha. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Tim Benton and Sylva Schwarzenegger, granddaughter of architect Jiří Kroha. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Tim Benton and Sylva Schwarzenegger, granddaughter of architect Jiří Kroha. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Tim Benton at the Kroha House in Brno with Kroha’s duaghter and granddaughter. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Tim Benton in Prague. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Villa E-1027, Eileen Gray, 1926-1929, Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, France. Photo Manuel Bougot.
  • Tim Benton at Villa Stenersen with from left to right Le Corbusier curator Bruno Hubert, Jean-François Dobelle, French ambassador and Villa Stenersen supporter and Karin Hindsbo, Director of The National Museum.
  • Tim Benton giving his lecture at Villa Stenersen in Oslo.
  • Cologne, from left to right Sophia Ungers, Tim Benton, Anja Sieber-Albers, Dr. Marcus Dekiert, Director of the Wallraf-Richartz-Museum. Photo Heidrun Hertel.
  • Wallraf-Richartz-Museum, Cologne.
  • Visiting Sonneveld House in Rotterdam.
  • Visiting De Kiefhoek housing estate in Rotterdam.
  • Dinner prior to Rotterdam lecture. From left to right: Huub Wüst, treasurer Iconic Houses Foundation, Hetty Berens (board member IHF), Tim Benton and Natascha Drabbe (Founding Director IHF).
  • Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam.
  • Tim Benton and Hetty Berens, lecture hall Het Nieuwe Instituut, Rotterdam. 
  • Maria Szadkowska and Tim Benton in Villa Müller, Prague. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Tim Benton, speaking in Villa Müller’s Documentation and Study Centre in Prague. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • David Cysař, Tim Benton and Kristina Cysařová in front of Villa Winternitz in Prague. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Tim Benton and Iveta Černá in from of Villa Tugendhat’s onyx wall, Brno. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Lecture Tim Benton in Villa Tugendhat. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Tim Benton and Sylva Schwarzenegger, granddaughter of architect Jiří Kroha. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Tim Benton and Sylva Schwarzenegger, granddaughter of architect Jiří Kroha. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Tim Benton and Sylva Schwarzenegger, granddaughter of architect Jiří Kroha. Photo Els Zweerink.
  • Tim Benton at the Kroha House in Brno with Kroha’s duaghter and granddaughter. Photo Els Zweerink.

In support of a crowdfunding campaign to help restoring the furniture in E-1027 -with only 10 days left- the topic of our annual Iconic Houses lecture was the Modernist villa that Eileen Gray designed and built on the French coastline. Architectural Historian Tim Benton toured Oslo, Cologne, Rotterdam, Prague and Brno in October to present the house to our fans and followers and screen a film about the restoration of the villa of the past two years. For those who have missed the lecture, it can be watched now in our video section or here below. And Tim Benton shares his diary with us of his journey.

Tim Benton's Iconic Houses Lecture at Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam
 

Tuesday 8 October
Setting off full of hope, I was met at the Central Station Oslo by Gudrun Eidsvik, Curator in the Department for Architecture of the National Museum, who runs Villa Stenersen, and who had kindly come to meet me. We went straight to the Architecture Museum Library, where I worked on the Norwegian journal Byggekunst. Next morning, Talette Simonsen came to meet me at the hotel and we spent the morning working in the Archive. I then had lunch with Professor Espen Søbye the biographer of Rolf Stenersen, patron of the Stenersen villa.
Arriving at the Stenersen villa, I found it already full of people, inspecting the exhibition of Le Corbusier’s photographs and drawings on holiday at the Bassin d’Arcachon – an exhibition I had opened with its creator, Bruno Hubert, a few months previously. I recognized many of the visitors, who had heard me lecture on E-1027 already. The lecture went well, I think, with some interesting questions, followed by the projection of Vincent Cattaneo’s film on the restoration of Villa E-1027. There were about 60 people present, which is as many as the living room of the Villa Stenersen can hold. Afterwards, there was a beautiful dinner with a dozen friends of the Villa Stenersen, in the living room of the Villa.

Wednesday 10 October
Uneventful flight to Cologne-Bonn where I was met by Sophia Ungers, Director of the Ungers Archive for Architectural Studies and Haus Ungers, who took me to the Archive. This is housed in the house that Ungers adapted and extended over time. The core of the archive is a magnificent library, rich with historical and architectural references and a wonderful collection of architectural treatises and books. Sophia had decided to show Gray Matters (75 minutes) instead of the Vincent Cattaneo film (40 minutes) on the restoration of E-1027. This made for a long evening but the audience (around 120 people) paid close attention and seemed interested. Afterwards, I was treated to a splendid dinner and met a number of interesting people.

Thursday 11 October
No rest for the wicked! I took an early train to Rotterdam and was met by Natascha Drabbe, founder of the Iconic Houses network and organizer of this tour, who kindly gave up her day to show me round the Sonneveld House (very interesting comparison with both the Villa Stenersen and E-1027). We were also given a personal tour of the Kiefhoek housing estate, including the specimen house, which has been restored to its original condition. Hetty Berens, Curator of the Sonneveld House and my host in Rotterdam, welcomed a full auditorium at the New Institute (120 people). I was surprised and delighted to find Christian Müller in the audience, whose drawings featured in my presentation. I had fascinating conversations with him at the reception afterwards and we promised to stay in touch.

Friday 12 and Saturday 13 October
Then it was a morning train to Paris, where I intended to stay home for two days. But on the spur of the moment decided to fly a day earlier to Prague, a city I had not visited since 1973. The photographer Els Zweerink, who was documenting this part of the trip for the Iconic Houses organization, was waiting for me at Prague airport and we went together to the Documentation Centre of Villa Müller, a few meters from the villa. There then followed an intense programme of photography over the next couple of days, in which Els and I were given privileged access to a number of houses by Adolf Loos and Jože Plečnik’s pupil Otto Rothmayer (Villa Rothmayer). We began with a long walk around the Baba estate, an exhibition housing estate with many modern villas in various states of decay or restoration. After this, we visited the National Museum for contemporary art, which is housed in the former Trade Fair building by Oldřich Tyl and Josef Fuchs. We saw a moving presentation of the films and photographs of Joseph Koudelka of the Warsaw pact occupation of Prague. We were offered splendid accommodation in the documentation centre, complete with a little kitchen where we could prepare breakfast.

Sunday 14 October
We were able to spend time in the Villa Müller, with the help of Zuzana Hronková, to take some photographs but, more importantly, get a feel for the house. There is so much there that one or two hours is not enough. I decided to return there on Monday and take more photographs. My hard disk is groaning under the weight of wonderful images of Adolf Loos’s masterpiece with its state-of-the-art restoration. We were shown round the Villa Winternitz, which is a simpler and more economical version of the Villa Müller but with some interesting features. The family are trying to restore it bit by bit and have an imaginative cultural programme of events in the house. Daniel Verner, who has studied the building, and the owners, were our guides. Then we were lucky enough to be shown an apartment that Loos had designed for Richard Hirsch in Pilsen and that had been transferred and reconstructed in Prague. The owner Vladimír Lekeš, of what is now called the Adolf Loos Apartment and Gallery, showed us round and explained how he had acquired furniture and artefacts to complete the interior. This is a very impressive achievement.
The lecture took place in the exhibition space in the Documentation Centre, where a small but interested audience filled the available seating.

Monday 15 October
We caught the train to Brno and were met at the station by Iveta Černá, Director of the Villa Tugendhat and a member of the International Advisory Board of Iconic Houses network, who took us straight to the villa for a first look. The light was so good that we spent time taking photographs. Iveta then introduced us to the daughter and granddaughter of Jiří Kroha, in the house he had designed in 1930. The house is a time capsule of avant-garde culture, including many of Kroha’s paintings, drawings and furniture. The lecture, which was simultaneously translated, took place in one of the functional spaces in the Villa Tugendhat, with an attentive and knowledgeable audience.
Next day, we visited the Jurkovic House and the Brno exhibition grounds, before flying back to London where I had a seminar to give at the Architectural Association. Our Brno stay was made highly agreeable by Iveta Černá, who drove us everywhere and fed us generously. Our hotel was the leading example of the 1960s modern manner known in Brno as the ‘Brussels style’.
I want to thank Natascha Drabbe for her initiative and meticulous planning of this trip which will leave a lasting trace, not only in my memory, but also on thousands of digital images.

Posted 1 November 2018