SMITH HOUSE

BY
RICHARD MEIER

THE ARCHITECT

RICHARD
MEIER

ARCHITECT

Richard Meier(born October 12, 1934) is an Americanabstract artist

and architect, whose geometric designs make prominent use of the color
white.

He was born as the oldest of three sons of Jerome Meier, wholesale wine and
liquor salesman,and Carolyn Kaltenbacher inNewark, New Jersey.

He attendedColumbia High School and he earned aBachelor of Architecture

degree fromCornell University in 1957.

Early in his career, Meier worked with artists such as painterFrank Stellaand
favored structure that were white and geometric.

Meier's work was mostly influenced on the work of architects of the early to
mid-20th century, especially that ofLe Corbusierand, in particular, Le
Corbusier's early phase. Meier has built more using Corbusier's ideas than
anyone, including Le Corbusier himself. Meier expanded many ideas evident
in Le Corbusier's work, particularly theVilla Savoyeand the Swiss Pavilion.

His work also reflects the influences of other designers such as

Mies Van der Roheand, in some instances,Frank Lloyd Wrightand
Luis Barragn(without the colour). White has been used in many architectural
landmark buildings throughout history, including cathedrals and the whitewashed villages of the Mediterranean region, in Spain, southern Italy and
Greece.

Some of Meiers works includes,Atheneum (197579) inNew Harmony, Ind.;

the Museum of Decorative Arts (197985) in Frankfurt am Main, Germany; the
High Museum of Art (198083) in Atlanta, Ga.; the City Hall and Library (1986
95) inThe Hague, Neth.; and the Museum of Contemporary Art (198795) in
Barcelona, Spain.

These structures are characterized by geometric clarity and order, which are
often punctuated by curving ramps and railings, and by a contrast between
the light-filled, transparent surfaces of public spaces and the solid white
surfaces of interior, private spaces. Indeed, they all embody Meiers
description of his goals: I am expanding and elaborating on what I consider
to be the formal base of the Modern movement.I work with volume and
surface, I manipulate forms in light, changes in scale and view, movement
and stasis.

CAREER

During his early career in New York Meier was an architect by day and Abstract Expressionist painter at night.
For a period of time he shared a studio with his close friend Frank Stella. Meier eventually gave up painting
to devote himself more fully to architecture, although he continued to work on collages occasionally.

In 1963 Meier left Breuer to establish his own practice in New York. From 1963 to 1973 he taught at Cooper
Union in New York and was a visiting critic at a number of other institutions.

He began to meet with a group called CASE (Conference of Architects for the Study of the Environment),
whose discussions of each other's buildings and projects resulted in the 1972 book Five Architects, featuring
the work of Peter Eisenman, Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk, and Richard Meier.

Despite Meier's assertion that this was never a unified group, the "New York Five" were identified with a
return to the heroic early period of the European International Style, particularly the buildings of Le
Corbusier during the 1920s and 1930s. Some writers attempted to recognize the "white," revitalized modern
architecture of the "New York Five" as the opposite pole from the "gray" architecture of such post-modern
architects as Robert Venturi, Charles Moore, and Robert A. M. Stern.

However, by the early 1980s such a distinction seemed less clear-cut.

AS AN ARCHITECT

Meier first gained attention with his white and immaculate neo-Corbusian
villas set in nature, such as his Smith House (1965-1967) at Darien,
Connecticut. With its exterior walls of vertical wooden siding, this crisply
composed, compact house is a modern New England house, following a genre
established earlier by Gropius and Breuer. A central theme of Meier's is seen in
the clear separation between the enclosed, private rooms of the entrance
front and the much more open main living area at the back, which is here
organized into a tall vertical space, glazed on three sides, allowing a
panoramic view of Long Island Sound. Meier stated that his "fundamental
concerns are space, form, light, and how to make them.

One of Meier's most striking residences is the Douglas House (1971-1973) at

Harbor Springs, Michigan. Perched on a steep bluff overlooking Lake Michigan,
this tall, vertically organized, white and machine-like villa is dramatically
juxtaposed with the unspoiled greenery of its idyllic site. Meier preferred the
purity of white, his favorite color, for most of his buildings. White boldly
contrasts with nature, yet it constantly responds, through reflection, to
surrounding colors and the changing quality of light.

THE PROJECT(THE SMITH HOUSE)

The Smith House is part of a series of houses that marks the first rationalistic
stage in the work of Meier, when he was part of the group, The Five Architects.

The house is in Darien, Connecticut. It is located on a wooded hillside sloping

toward the water. The house is inserted into the natural landscape but is
designed as an artificial object.

As it is located on a hillside, the structure is a white prism that emerges

between the trees and creating a strong visual contrast.

SMITH HOUSE

Based on an operation-style rationalism made popular by Le Corbusier, in

which category some critics have characterized the mannerist-principal of the
cubic house, Meier worked at carving the house out of the basic cubic base
with operations of addition and subtraction.

The reverse side is treated as a closed facade, with small openings, while the
front is an open facade with large glass panels offering extensive views over
the horizon.

FRONT FACADE

BACK FACADE

SPACES

The architect organizes the floorplan by zoning, a characteristic of his first

houses. The bedrooms and private areas are located in the closed rectangular
prism, while the service, social, and entrance areas are located on the open
ground floor.

The rear facade facing uphill is wrapped in opaque walls with only small,
geometrically arranged openings for windows to protect the occupants'
privacy. The social areas are all located toward the front of the house, where
the large glass panes open laterally, facing down the hillside.

In some spaces, the height of the rooms in the front area can reach two or
three stories, and the extreme height contributes to the dramatization of the
interior space.

The curved staircase that descends from the first floor to the ground, the
small reservoir cubic annex and the access ramp to the house, being additions
to the central cubic volume, serve as anchor points for the house.

SECTIONS

MATERIALS USED

With Smith house Meier used wood and glass as the materials for the
construction

It is often thought, mistakenly, that this house was built in concrete, when in
fact it was made of wood. The chimney is brick pillars and metallic interiors.