Each week you will write a total of two to three pages and You must pick at least one article from the Weekly Reading folders and one film from the lecture to write about. You may also use two readings. Please make sure you include the title of the article and the film. You are also able to do extra credit worth up to 5 or ten points or extra films or articles or the extra credit from the syllabus. Attach your extra credit of at least a 1-2 page to the weekly submission for it to count. Please use the following format in either doc or pdf format:
Read Article: What’s in a Name? Becoming the Edith Farnsworth House
Week 8 Activity
The article ‘What’s in a Name? Becoming the Edith Farnsworth House’ highlights the sense of identity a person attaches to their dwelling. The article begins with the information that on November 17, 2021, the Farnsworth House will officially become the Edith Farnsworth House (savingplaces.org, 2017, p.1). The house in many ways throughout the course of this article has been described as the beloved of Edith Farnsworth. Their ‘love story’ was filled with trials and tribulations, as there was a literal battle, Edith Farnsworth had to fight in order to stay united with her dwelling. The architect, once Farnsworth’s close friend Mies van der Rohe, had sued her for not paying him his dues and she countersued him saying that the provisions pointed out by him were never in place. The design of the house completely reflected the unique soul of Edith Farnsworth. It was essentially a ‘Glass House’ with one bedroom and an open floor plan. The beauty of the house first came into everyone’s purview when Edith posed alongside her house in the Architectural Forum. The Weekend House was decorated in accordance with her taste by adorning it with things from Florence Knoll, Bruno Mathsson, and Jens Risom. Though she occupied the house during the years of legal turmoil, her dream finally got fulfilled when both sides settled the case in 1955. The house every week provided this luminary independence and escape from the world that in her opinion judged her. This feeling of hers is evident in the lines “released from dimensions that I was used to thinking of as mine. So wide, so long, so thick, and with certain traits thrown in, but always through the refraction of other people’s eyes. But now, there was nothing to limit one’s transcending.” The space within the house enabled her to live on her own terms, garnering the amount of privacy she required through the opaque window covers. Her desire for the house comes out in her poems where she is so excited to reach her house that she is counting the mailboxes, in her path. As a woman, Farnsworth was a recluse, as she felt the world had little understanding of her. It was because she attained a very unique identity in the American Society of those times, of a single successful woman. She found understanding in her dwelling. At the conclusion, the writer makes it clear that the house should be known by her name as the last photos of the house taken by Edith differ starkly from the ones in Architectural Forum. The house was more lush and filled with her warmth, she made it a home, her home.
The documentary titled 01/23 | The Dessau Bauhaus focuses on the outstanding creation of Walter Gropius known as the Bauhaus Building. The building from the outside seems like a structure of glass. The video begins by underlining the importance of Bauhaus during its inauguration. Almost 1000 people came to Dessau in order to attend this inauguration and witnessed a city rooted in the past century. On the night of its inauguration, Bauhaus was illuminated from every side. The building in many was a symbol of the path of progress that the country was undertaking after the Great War. The Inauguration celebration continued for two days with theatrical performances and exhibitions. The house was encompassed by a metal shell, to protect its glass structure. The beautiful creation was brought to life by Walter Gropius who was also the director of the building. The process began a few years ago when Gropius formulated the Bauhaus movement which literally meant the art of building. The aim of this movement is to reconcile art and crafts in order to create a new aesthetic. Today, this process is known as design. There was a conventional building in the Weimar. The building was a success as it housed various art forms, such as paintings taught by luminaries, and it also became the place for creating experimental movies. After the far-right won the election the ‘school’ was shut down and needed to find a new home. The Socialist Democratic Government of Dessau invited them to open a school at their locale. The locale was perfect for the school as the town was a rare mixture of aesthetics and industrialization. Gropius was overjoyed as the land provided to him was in a relatively remote location and massive. Since it was remote therefore he did not need to follow any regulations and was able to build an institution having a theatre, studio, administrative housing, and a technical school where people of the town could become apprentices. Thus, the Bauhaus came into being.
Reference
savingplaces.org, 2017, What’s in a Name? Becoming the Edith Farnsworth House, Retrieved From: https://savingplaces.org/stories/whats-in-a-name-becoming-theedithfarnsworthhouse?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=historic%20sites#.Yi0PIXpBw2y [Retrieved On: 12-03-2022]
