David B. Runnells with Eero and Eliel Saarinen on the Steps of Cranbrook Academy of Art - Photo by "Charlie" Charles Eames - 1941

This photo of Architect, David B. Runnells (left foreground) with Architects, Eero and Eliel Saarinen and others was taken on the steps of the Cranbrook Academy of Art.

The Saarinens were powerhouses of design and architecture at that time, winning many architecture competitions and commissions. They also educated and entire generation of the best designers in America at the time. Other students who were there at the same time as David Runnells included: Charles and Ray Eames, Florence Knoll, Harry Bertoia, Benjamin Baldwin, Harry Weese, Ralph Rapson and Jack Lenor Larsen.

The back of the photo says in script, "Photo by Charlie Eames Cranbrook 1941" (Charles Eames).

The names of the people from left to right appear to be: Ed Leuders, David Runnells, Jamy Schilling, Eero Sarrinen, Carl Water, Eliel Saarinen and Art Breuer.

This photo was loaned to me for scanning by Jill (Runnells) Grose, who is David Runnells' daughter. Jill and her husband Gary will be the guests of honor at the events this weekend.

Eero Saarinen Shaping the Future - Exhibition in St. Louis


Three members of KCMODERN headed off to St. Louis this past weekend to see the exhibit, Eero Saarinen Shaping the Future at the Mildred Lane Kemper Art Museum. It was an exceptionally well curated show. My personal favorites were the GM and the Deere headquarters. The Modern furniture lover in me enjoyed the section on his furniture including the Organic Chair and the classic Knoll pieces such as the womb chair and the pedestal or "tulip" series. I recommend that anyone interested in Modern architecture or furniture should try to see the show before it closes on April 27, 2009. Otherwise you will have to catch it in New York in late 2009 early 2010. Also be sure to check out the book by the same name.

We also met up with a few Modern friends to tour some great Modern neighborhoods (thanks Dan, Grant, Nathan and Neil) and were surprised by some spontaneous invites into several really sweet Modern houses. We will take turns elaborating on the houses in the near future.

The Cover Boys of Modernism

What a photo! I wish I was a fly on the wall for this photo shoot.

Can you name all of the Design Stars of Modernism in this photo from Playboy Magazine without looking? Perhaps their chairs give you clues to their identities. The furniture from left to right is, Herman Miller Serving Cart (unknown model), circa 1950s; Dunbar 5480 "A" Cane Back Chair, 1954; Knoll 70 "Womb" Lounge Chair, 1948; Knoll 421 Small Diamond Chair, 1950; Herman Miller DCM Chair, 1946; "Caribe Hilton" Open Armchair, 1949.

And the Cover Boys of Modernism from left to right are, George Nelson, Edward Wormley, Eero Saarinen, Harry Bertoia, Charles Eames, Jens Risom. Some were life long friends, others were serious rivals and competitors. Bertoia worked for Eames at one point, but had a falling out. Saarinen and Eames designed the groundbreaking designs for the New York MoMA's Organic Design in Home Furnishings. Eames and Nelson were the primary designers for Herman Miller.

The egos that must have filled the studio while taking that picture. How did they get all of these Design Heroes in the room together? Or did they get them together. Maybe it is two or more photos joined together. There is a peculiar gap in the middle, but that could be the photographer planning ahead for the gutter of this two page spread.

A while back I purchased this July, 1961 issue of Playboy Magazine that contains this article and photo spread and I think it is the best Playboy centerfold ever. This is Modern furniture P O R N. I told my wife that I just bought the magazine for the pictures, not the articles.

Modern House Tour - Eames-Saarinen Case Study House #9 For Sale

My view of the north elevation or garage face of Case Study House #9 from Chautauqua Lane


My oblique view of the west elevation and side entrance to Case Study House #9 off of Chautauqua Lane


My view over the hedge from Case Study House #8 to the south elevation of Case Study House #9

Recently I wrote about the sale of Eero Saarinen's Miller House and the fact that a Saarinen designed house was about as rare as it gets. Well it appears that the Eero Saarinen and Charles Eames designed Case Study House #9 is for sale in LA. The only caveat with this, you must buy the 9700 square foot, relatively new modern house adjacent to it. It seems that the owners of the Barry Berkus designed house have been using the Entenza House as a guest house or maids quarters, depending on who you talk to. The whole thing will only cost you a cool $14 million!

The home was designed by Saarinen and Eames for the publisher of Arts & Architecture Magazine, John Entenza. Entenza had this house designed and built for himself and documented the process in a series of articles in his magazine about the Case Study Houses.

With this house, you will be in some enviable company on Chautauqua Boulevard in the Pacific Palisades of California. The home of Charles and Ray Eames, Case Study House #8 is next door. Case Study House #18, the West Residence by Rodney A. Walker is next door the other way and Architect, Richard Neutra's Bailey House, also known as Case Study House #20 is across the lane.

For the professional Photo Tour of the Entenza house and the attached new house click here.

To see the listing for the house click here.

Saarinen Icon to be Open to the Public

It is hard enough to find a house designed by Architect, Eero Saarinen, never mind finding one that you can visit and tour. That is all about to change. The Miller House is about to join the ranks of a handful of modernist houses such as Fallingwater that are open to the public.

The Miller House, designed for late J. Irwin Miller, former chairman and co-founder of the Cummins Engine Company in Columbus, Indiana has been given to the Indianapolis Museum of Art by the Miller family. After a brief freshening-up the museum plans to open the modern house for tours in a town known as a destination for modern architecture junkies.





Mr. Miller gained fame among Modernists when he started the Cummins Foundation, "a charitable program which helps subsidize a large number of architectural projects throughout the city by up-and-coming engineers and architects." The first of these projects was the First Christian Church designed by Eero's father Eliel Saarinen in 1942. In 1954, Eero would design the Irwin Union Bank which was recently designated as one of the rare modern National Historic Landmarks by the National Park Service. The younger Saarinen also built the Columbus North Christian Church in 1955 before designing the J. Irwin Miller Residence in 1957.

The Irwin residence is also highlighted by modern gardens designed by Landscape architect Dan Kiley (Kiley designed the west gardens of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of art) and interiors designed by Alexander Girard.

I, for one, am planning a trip to see the house as soon as it opens. This could be our first KCMODERN bus tour to see the house and other modern landmarks around the city of Columbus, Indiana.