Showing 2766 results

Archival description
Print preview Hierarchy
Card view Table view
1296 results with digital objects Show results with digital objects
The Cosmic House
CJA-TCH-d · Series · 1978-
Part of Charles Jencks Archive

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
Furniture Designs [1]
Furniture Designs [1]
CJA-TCH-c-5 · File · 1983- 1990
Part of Charles Jencks Archive
Includes:
-pencil, coloured pencil, felt tip and photocopied furniture designs on paper and tracing paper
-letter from Art Monthly to Charles commissioning a contribution to a book 'Art in Public Places' based on Charles' "ICA contribution', 1983
-private view card from Medite House at RIBA, 1990
-designs for cushions for Johnny's Room with fabric samples
-correspondence with James Stirling and Robin Hamlyn at the Tate Gallery regarding interview text, with ink drawings on reverse, 1987
-cutting from the Sunday Times 22 Sep 1985, 'Heavy Metal in Milan' by Deyan Sudjic
-letter from the Formica Corporation regarding the donation of a Sun chair to the Art Institute of Chicago
-printed programs for furniture
-pencils sketches of a gateway
-sketch plan of furniture in rooms on the reverse of notepaper from Interior Design '84 Sapporo
-correspondence with Shinji Kohmoto, National Museum of Modern Art Kyoto regarding inclusion of the Alessi Tea & Coffee set in the exhibition 'Contemporary Landscape: From the Horizon of Postmodern Design'
-letter from Spiral Staircase Systems quoting for the manufacture of ten sets of Alloy spheres, 1985
-cutting from an unidentified newspaper about designer Albert Hadley
-colour transparency of a table
Furniture Design
Furniture Design
CJA-TCH-c-4 · File · 1985 -1986
Part of Charles Jencks Archive

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.