stylenewjersey | GOOD READS The clamshell surface of the building was made with poured concrete, which was then coated in a protective layer of synthetic rubber. SCULPTURED HOUSE Golden, Colorado Charles Deaton, 1965 When humans first orbited the earth in the early 1960s, a fascination with space exploration and new ways of looking at old customs led to forward-looking advancements in many areas, including architecture. The Sculptured House in Golden, Colorado, is a prime symbol of a wave of sinuous buildings that drew inspiration from nature. Designed by architect Charles Deaton (1921-1996) and built between 1963 and 1965, the Sculptured House “turned its back on the strict, linear modernity of the International Style and embraced free-flowing curves and fluid lines,” Bradbury writes. “‘People aren’t square, so why should they live in squares?’ [Deaton] wrote in Art in America magazine in the mid-1960s.” The house, Deaton’s only residential design, takes the form of a clamshell sitting on a plinth, with one side cracked open to view the treetops from atop Genesee Mountain. Steel supporting rods tie the pediment to the bedrock. The pediment then supports the clamshell structure, which is made of steel mesh cage coated in concrete and finished with synthetic rubber mixed with white pigment and ground walnut shells. Construction was so expensive that the interiors remained unfinished, and the Denton family was never able to move in. His daughter, Charlee, and her husband, Nick Antonopoulos, also an architect, finished the house for a new owner. “The crowning glory is an interconnected sequence of living spaces that connect with both the open views and an elevated terrace via a curving wall of floor-to-ceiling glass,” Bradbury writes. The home, now on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places, may look familiar. It was featured in Woody Allen’s 1973 sci-fi comedy Sleeper, set 200 years into the future. …… The Iconic American House also features many other homes built since 1900, each with its own pedigree, each with its own fascinating background. The book includes brief biographies of the people who designed the homes and a list of the 21 homes that are open for public tours. Whether you are a design aficionado, industry professional or someone who dreams of building a hard-to-categorize house of your own, this book will provide hours of interesting reading—and dreaming. The Iconic American House: Architectural Masterworks since 1900, $65, wwnorton.com. DNJ 28 October/November 2021
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