Title: Open house : unbound space and the modern dwelling /
Authors: Zion, Adi Shamir.; Ngo, Dung.
Publisher: Rizzoli ;
Year: 2002
Subjects: Architecture, Domestic; Open plan (Building)
Abstract: "At the beginning of the twentieth century, a new vision of architectural space was born, made possible by new construction techniques that eliminated the need for interior load-bearing walls. Developed concurrently with Picasso's cubist paintings and Einstein's theories of quantum physics, the new architecture manifested itself most emblematically with the open plan: physically and visually free-flowing spaces. Modern architects broke free from spatial constraints and traditional limits to design houses that were unbound, dynamic, and open." "The freedom afforded by the open plan, however, encompassed philosophical and social freedom as well as physical. The first half of this book explores the spatial and social evolution of the open plan. From Frank Lloyd Wright's early prairie houses to Mies van der Rohe's universal structural grid, architects eliminated self-contained rooms, combined living spaces and discarded traditional social and familial constraints to open up the house.^