Breaking Ground: Henry B. Hoover, New England Modern Architect - Softcover

Giese, Lucretia Hoover; Hoover, Henry B., Jr.

9780692297155: Breaking Ground: Henry B. Hoover, New England Modern Architect

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0692297154 ISBN 13: 9780692297155

Publisher: Friends of Modern Arch/Lincoln, 2015

This beautifully illustrated book chronicles the life and work of New England-based modern architect Henry B. Hoover. Hoover's practice demonstrates how he utilized, transformed, and individualized prevailing Beaux-Arts architectural training of the 1920s to achieve a modern residential architecture informed by--but different from--the normative (Bauhaus driven) idea of modern architecture. Hoover's practice additionally provides a valuable example of the importance of the influence of landscape architecture on stylistic development. Because he worked with landscape architect Fletcher Steele for more than a decade, it is not surprising that in Hoover's residential architecture siting is paramount. His clients sought a particular synthesis of the exceptional and the livable in houses that spoke to and of the New England landscape and were tailored to their site. The story of Hoover's long career is therefore one of an American-trained architect who in the late 1930s initiated his "brand" of modern architecture in New England. His work, maturing in the 1950s and continuing well into the third quarter of the twentieth century, is a testament to an underappreciated genre of regional architecture.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

About the Author:

LUCRETIA HOOVER GIESE holds a PhD in fine arts from Harvard University and is professor emeritus, art history and visual culture, Rhode Island School of Design. HENRY B. HOOVER, JR., now retired, was a senior information manager with the federal government.

Review:

"It is both rare and exhilarating to discover a modern architect of major talent and accomplishment who is yet little known today."--Elizabeth Grossman, Rhode Island School of Design

"It is fitting that Hoover's career receives careful attention now, when twentieth century modernism is being appreciated anew. Aside from valuably amending the history of that movement in New England, this recognition will, one hopes, contribute to the preservation of Hoover's distinctive, often modestly sized, houses. For the first time, we can appreciate the significant contribution that Hoover made in company with such architects as Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Edwin Goodell, Eleanor Raymond, Walter Bogner, Carl Koch, and Hugh Stubbins."--Gary Wolf, vice president, DOCOMOMO-US/New England

"The publication of this volume represents an opportunity to begin to clarify the many approaches to Modern design found in New England in the postwar period as well as a means to consider Hoover's particular contribution to the reshaping of that landscape."--Gary Wolf, vice president, DOCOMOMO-US/New England "ArchitectureBoston"

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.