Contents of a box labelled 'Future'.
Contains colour slides of the Future Pavilion, the Double Stairs, the Time Garden and the rear elevation of The Cosmic House.
Contents of an unlabelled folder, mostly relating to furniture.
Includes:
-invoice from Agobar & Longhurst for work completed at 56 Holland Park and for the Dice Stools and Danae Light
-article for an unidentified magazine on the furniture designs of Eliel Saarinen
-letter from Zeev Aram sending an article by Rosemary Hill from Country Life and displays of Charles' furniture designs
-postcard from Rosemary Hill regarding difference of opinion
-reply from Charles to Rosemary Hill replying to criticisms in her article
Bundle relating to furniture designed by Charles, originally for the Thematic House and later commercially produced.
Includes:
-Medite News Spring '85 containing an article titled 'Furnishing The Future' on Charles' use of MDF with a b&W reproduction of the Sun Table and Chairs in Summer
-Building Design Interiors Supplement 1985 containing a one page feature on Charles' furniture designs recently on display at Aram Designs, London, with colour reproductions. (duplicates)
-photocopy of a document reating to the V&A RCS MA Course History of Design
-letter to Charles from the V&A Museum regarding a potential acquisition for the Department of Prints & Drawings and Photographs and a potential forthcoming exhibition. The letter has been annotated with dates and prices
-offprint from Country Life January 23 1986 of an article by Rosemary Hill titled 'A Designer's Guide to the Galaxy' about Charles' furniture designs with b&w reproductions
-correspondence from Sawaya & Moroni Contemporary Furniture regarding the production of the Symbolic Furniture and copy replies from Charles, plus photocopies of articles about the furniture in European press
-typescript annotated document titled 'Outline for an exhibition - SYMBOLIC FURNITURE' with prices of items suggested press
-page from The Times October 19-25 1985 with an article on children's furniture by Sarah Stallard highlighted.
-Cutting from The New York Times, August 12 1990 on Formica with a covering note from Robert D. van Roijen regarding a Sun chair in the accompanying picture
-correspondence from Lerner, David, Littenberg, Krumholz & Mentlik law offices regarding a legal case between IPF International and Lambert Furniture, enclosing a photocopy of an article about the Sun Chair and a US Patent for a chair filed by IPF International
-colour postcard of a Sun chair on a grass lawn from the exhibition 'Symbolic Furniture' at Aram Designs, London
-catalogue for Miele vacuum cleaners featuring a version of the Sun Chair on the cover.
-pages from House & Garden magazine on the Designs for Interiors exhibition at the V&A museum featuring work by Charles, and a forthcoming lecture series on 20th century decoration.
-Invitation to a preview launch and price list from ALMA Furniture Co Ltd
-letter from Milo Baughman regarding slides
-photocopy of a page from Blueprint Dec-Jan 1985/6 reporting on the opening of Charles' exhibition at Aram.
File relating to furniture designed by Charles both for the Thematic House and Elemental House, and for commercial licensing.
For conservation reasons, the file has been split into two folders.
Folder one includes:
-slides of Window-Seat-Window, Egyptian Room furniture, Hermitage Chair, the Face Table, Spring and Winter Furniture, screens, the Light House lamps, the sundial arcade, the Bookhouses and the Slidescrapers, and Leon Krier and Rita Wolff sat in the Spring Chair.
-photocopies of light designs and the Alessi tea and coffee service designed by Charles
-a letter from Derek McNally regarding the exhibition at Aram
-transparencies by Richard Bryant.
-colour slides from Sawaya & Moroni of the furniture
-b&W photographs of the Sun table & chairs in Summer and a matching stool and chair set.
Folder 2 includes:
-cutting from Building Design Interiors Supplement 1985 on the exhibition at Aram with colour reproductions of the furniture [duplicate]
-b&w negatives, colour polaroids and b&w photographs of furniture
-colour photographs of Sun Chairs produced commercially
-private view card for an exhibition at Sawaya & Moroni spa, Milano, opening 8 April 1987 and including work by Charles
-estimate from Albert E Chapman Ltd Upholsterers to Maggie for making, supply and fitting of blinds and curtains, 1984 and invoice for the supply of 2 hair-stuff circular seats, 1985
-MODO design magazine Nov 1986 including a discussion between Bruno Zevi and Charles, 'Post-moderno: si chiude?' [Italian language]
-House & Garden Jul 1987 cover and article titled 'The Riddle of the sphinx' by Nonie Niesewand featuring the Nile collection and Sun chair and table by Charles, available from Aram
-article from London Portrait 1988 titled 'English Modern Classics' on furniture design
-correspondence with Aram Designs regarding credit for the manufacture of Charles' furniture, statement of accounts, contracts and publicity
-invitation to a photographic exhibition at RIBA from Morley von Sternberg
-manuscript notes of costs
-typescript 'Symbolic Furniture: invoice for work done Nov 12 1985'
-typescript letter from Wendy to Charles regarding approximate prices for dining room table and chairs
-Retail price list for Charles Jencks: Symbolic Furniture
-typescript list of repairs to 'C. Jencks Furniture' 1985
-typescript list 'Symbolic Furniture: rough quotes'
-copy licence between Aram Designs Limited and Eileen Gray Designs
-typescript notes with manuscript annotations titled 'Meeting Sept 16 Zeev, Andrew, CJ'.
-manuscript notes regarding light fittings
-typescript notes with manuscript annotations titled 'Conversation with E.P. Moroni July 18, 1985'.
-typescript notes with manuscript annotations titled 'Items to discuss with Zeev July 23 1985'
-typescript notes with manuscript annotations titled 'Symbolic Furniture: items for production'
-photocopied manuscript estimation of costs for work on Dice Stools, Kitchen Chairs, Kitchen Table and Extension [Sun Table and Chairs], invoice titled 'Exibition Furniture' [sic] and 'Day Work sheet no. 1'
-letter from Aram Designs listing people who accepted and declined the exhibition invitation
-letter from Seaboard International regarding the Medite reception, 1985.
-rough drawings of furniture with measurements
-telegram correspondence between Charles and Paolo Moroni regarding contracts
-copy manuscript notes titled 'World Rights' and also listing photographs
-letter from Dan Woodside and Wendy regarding repairs to the lights
-statement from Sandell Perkins plc
-pencil and pen sketch designs titled 'Dome Chair'.
-postcard from 'Juliet & John' regarding the exhibition
-Financial Times Oct 28 1985 'The post-modernistic house that Jencks built' [photocopy duplicates]
Contents of a folder labelled 'Furniture Design'.
Includes:
-post-it note with multiple manuscript notes
-MODO magazine October 1986 [Italian language] with a Slide Skyscraper on the cover, with a covering note from Sawaya & Moroni tucked inside. Also inside are a typescript furniture price list; a letter from Aram Designs enclosing measurements of the furniture and regarding orders; a list of addresses titled 'Patrons of New Art'; an article titled 'Good Solid Stuff' by Deyan Sudjic from an unknown magazine; an article titled 'Best Bets' from an unknown magazine showing modern furniture; cover of MODO Aug-Sep 1986 and an advertisement for the Sun chair, as well as pages torn out of the same issue relating to furniture.
-invitation to an exhibition 'Furniture in the Aluminium Vein' at Kaiser Art Gallery, California, 1986
-private view cards for 'Design in the '80s: Surface & Ornament' at the Contemporary Arts Centre, Cincinnati, 1986, with a covering letter and invitation to an associated conference, sponsored by Formica
-brochures for furniture by Berghof Landes Rang
-business cards
-letter regarding a mechanism for raising and lowering a television
-correspondence with Seaboard International regarding supplying Medite from Sandell Perkins Ltd
-copy letter from Charles to Travis Dale & Partners regarding co-ordinating publicity
-correspondence between Charles and Aram Designs around costs and manufacturing
-letter from Marti Koplin at the Koplin Gallery regarding Terry Schoonhoven
-correspondence Max Protech regarding selling the Sun table and Chairs
-invoice from Wendy Baker for work on Maggie's desk, kitchen cabinet and ceiling, Room of Doubles and varnishing furniture
-printed document titled 'The Hermitage Chair'
-typescript and photocopied programs for furniture
-cutting from an unidentified magazine promoting the exhibition of Symbolic Furniture at Aram Designs
-pencil, pen, coloured pencil and photocopied designs for furniture
-statements from Nu-Line Paints Ltd and Sandell Perkins
-letter from Stephen Calloway regarding Charles' exhibition opening and the forthcoming exhibition at [the V&A]
-letter from the Formica Corporation about a visit to the Design Center, Cincinnati and draft reply from Charles, 1985.
![Furniture Designs [1]](/uploads/r/the-jencks-foundation/2/6/7/267e11b4113fb8c107b723e860b16aec707d191743b954341af778aa801f6082/CJA_TCH_1_23-008_142.jpg)
The Cosmic House is one of the key landmarks in the development of Post-Modernist architecture. A hugely influential distillation of the ideas at the heart of Post-Modern thought in culture and science, it is a remarkable testament to the polymathic talents of Maggie and Charles Jencks.
Built between 1978 and 1983 the house subverts the genteel architecture of Holland Park, exaggerating, caricaturing and embellishing the white stucco until it becomes a microcosm of contemporary architectural theory, semiotics and historiography. An almost human character is imposed on the architecture with each element related to the human body and then to the larger cosmos. It is an architectural essay about our relationship to proportion, building, culture and the universe.
Densely packed with ideas, symbols and motifs, its architecture embraces an entire cosmos of architectural allusion, history, metaphor and reference. Switching between pop and classical culture, between high art and accessible kitsch, it became a built manifesto for the architecture that emerged in reaction to the slowly solidifying canon of Modernism as it faded in the late mid-century. Designed in collaboration with architect (Sir) Terry Farrell, and built between 1978 and 1983, the house became a forum for conversation and dialogue at the epicentre of the Post-Modern moment and the cultural discourse around ideas, history, science and aesthetics.
The spaces are characteristically Post-Modern with multiple changes in levels, shifted axes, fragmented forms, architectural quotations, views obliquely across spaces and glimpses of neighbouring spaces enticing the visitor around the interior. Unusually for an interior of this period it remains substantially as it was designed, built and lived in with all its original bespoke furniture and fittings intact.
Jencks, Charles Alexander