The Case Study House program (1945–1966) was an
exceptional, innovative event in the history of American architecture
and remains to this day unique. The program, which concentrated on the Los Angeles area and oversaw the design of 36 prototype homes, sought to make available plans for modern residences that could be easily and cheaply constructed during the postwar building boom.
The program’s chief motivating force was
Arts & Architecture
editor John Entenza
, a champion of modernism who had all the right connections to attract some of architecture’s greatest talents, such as
Richard Neutra
,
Charles and Ray Eames
, and
Eero Saarinen
. Highly experimental, the program generated houses that were designed to
redefine the modern home,
and had a pronounced influence on architecture—American and international—both during the program’s existence and even to this day.
TASCHEN brings you
a retrospective of the entire program
with comprehensive documentation, brilliant photographs from the period and, for the houses still in existence,
contemporary photos
, as well as extensive
floor plans
and
sketches
.