Fire Island Modernist: Horace Gifford and the Architecture of Seduction
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Author: Rawlins, Christopher
As the 1960s became the “Sixties,” architect Horace Gifford executed a remarkable series of beach houses that transformed the terrain and culture of New York’s Fire Island. Gifford’s serene pavilions provided refuge from a hostile world, while his exuberant post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS masterpieces orchestrated bacchanals of liberation. This title ponders a fascinating era through an overlooked architect whose life, work and colourful milieu trace the operatic arc of a lost generation. Growing up on the beaches of Florida, Gifford forged a deep connection with coastal landscapes. Pairing this sensitivity with jazzy improvisations on modernist themes, he perfected a sustainable modernism in cedar and glass that was as attuned to natural landscapes as to our animal natures. Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift once spurned Hollywood limos for the rustic charm of Fire Island’s boardwalks. Truman Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany’s here. Diane von Fürstenberg showed off her latest wrap dresses to an audience that included Halston, Giorgio Sant’ Angelo, Calvin Klein and Geoffrey Beene. Today, such a roster evokes the aloof, gated compounds of the Hamptons or Malibu. But these celebrities lived in modestly scaled homes alongside middle-class vacationers, all with equal access to Fire Island’s natural beauty.
First published in 2013 and long out of print, this iconic book returns in an expanded edition, including four new featured houses and a new afterword by Charles Renfro.
ISBN 9781881616993. Metropolis Books. hb. 224 pages. 181 colour, 107 b/w ills. 30.5 x 22.9 cm.
available
As the 1960s became the “Sixties,” architect Horace Gifford executed a remarkable series of beach houses that transformed the terrain and culture of New York’s Fire Island. Gifford’s serene pavilions provided refuge from a hostile world, while his exuberant post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS masterpieces orchestrated bacchanals of liberation. This title ponders a fascinating era through an overlooked architect whose life, work and colourful milieu trace the operatic arc of a lost generation. Growing up on the beaches of Florida, Gifford forged a deep connection with coastal landscapes. Pairing this sensitivity with jazzy improvisations on modernist themes, he perfected a sustainable modernism in cedar and glass that was as attuned to natural landscapes as to our animal natures. Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift once spurned Hollywood limos for the rustic charm of Fire Island’s boardwalks. Truman Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany’s here. Diane von Fürstenberg showed off her latest wrap dresses to an audience that included Halston, Giorgio Sant’ Angelo, Calvin Klein and Geoffrey Beene. Today, such a roster evokes the aloof, gated compounds of the Hamptons or Malibu. But these celebrities lived in modestly scaled homes alongside middle-class vacationers, all with equal access to Fire Island’s natural beauty.
First published in 2013 and long out of print, this iconic book returns in an expanded edition, including four new featured houses and a new afterword by Charles Renfro.
ISBN 9781881616993. Metropolis Books. hb. 224 pages. 181 colour, 107 b/w ills. 30.5 x 22.9 cm.
available