Fire Island modernist : Horace Gifford and the architecture of seduction / Christopher Bascom Rawlins ; Foreword by Alastair Gordon.

Main entry:

Rawlins, Christopher Bascom.

Title & Author:

Fire Island modernist : Horace Gifford and the architecture of seduction / Christopher Bascom Rawlins ; Foreword by Alastair Gordon.

Edition:

First edition.

Publication:

New York, NY : Metropolis Books, [2013]

Description:

202 pages : illustrations ; 32 cm

Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Best looking boy -- Oasis of free love -- Fire Island modernist -- Reaching for light -- Boys in the sand -- Entasis -- Form follows foreplay -- Elegy.

Summary:

"As the 1960s became 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. Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift once spurned Hollywood limos for the rustic charm of Fire Island's boardwalks. Truman Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's here. Diane von Furstenburg showed off her latest wrap dresses to an audience that included Halston, Giorgio Sant' Angelo, Calvin Klein and Geoffrey Beene. Today, such a roster evokes the aloof, gated compounds of the Hamptons or Malibu. But these 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, Fire Island Modernist 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."--Publisher description.

ISBN:

9781938922091
1938922093

Subject:

Gifford, Horace, 1932-1992 Criticism and interpretation.
Gifford, Horace Criticism and interpretation.
Gifford, Horace, 1932-1992.
Seaside architecture New York (State) Fire Island (Island) History 20th century.
Seaside architecture New York (State) History Fire Island (Island) 20th century.
Architecture and Planning.
Seaside architecture.
New York (State) Fire Island (Island)

Form/genre:

Biographies.
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
History.

Holdings:

Location: Library main 283104
Call No.: BIB 221122
Status: Available

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