Eisenman (Peter) Architectural Drawings for House VI, 1972

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Summary

Title:

Peter Eisenman architectural drawings for House VI

Dates:

1972

Creators:

Eisenman, Peter, 1932-

Abstract:

Sixty-three architectural drawings in pencil, pen and marker on paper document the design development of House VI, one of Peter Eisenman's most important early polemical designs. Commissioned by Suzanne and Dick Frank, it was designed and built in 1972-1975, in Cornwall, Connecticut. All the drawings in this collection date from 1972.

Extent:

63.0 drawing(s)

Language:

Collection material is in English

Preferred citation:

Peter Eisenman architectural drawings for House VI, 1972, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Accession no. 920049

http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa920049

Background

Scope and content:

Sixty-three architectural drawings in pencil and ink on paper document the complete design development for House VI, also known as the Frank House. All the drawings are from 1972 and have ID numbers written on them by Eisenman's office. Most critics and historians consider House VI one of Eisenman's most important early designs. The most theoretical and polemical of his designs to date, Eisenman described House VI as a turning point in his career. The collection includes an elaborate series of preliminary sketches that reveal the origin of elements retained in the final design. During the design process, Eisenman felt that he "achieved a synthesis between the isolation of the architectural sign and the generation of the autonomous object."

Arrangement note

Arranged in one series by the drawings' ID numbers.

Biographical / historical:

American architect, educator and theoretician, Peter Eisenman founded the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in New York City in 1967. Critics of that time dubbed him one of the New York Five (along with Michael Graves, Charles Gwathmey, John Hejduk, and Richard Meier), a loose, theoretical and aesthetic grouping of New York architects that presaged Post-Modernism. The Corbusier-inspired design of House VI, Eisenman's sixth house design, signals the formalist aesthetic of that school.

Commissioned by Suzanne and Dick Frank in 1972 for a site in Cornwall, Connecticut and built in 1975, it was the most polemical of his designs to date. Published widely, the house thus garnered both recognition and controversy for Eisenman.

Many critics considered House VI, also known as the Frank House, Eisenman's most important work. It certainly generated considerable dialogue within the architecture community among architects, critics and historians. John Hejduk described the residence as the "second canonical De Stijl house," a reference to Gerrit Rietveld's Neo-Plastic Schroeder House, although Eisenman took issue with this conclusion, describing House VI instead as an "inversion" of De Stijl design. Critics have noted Eisenman's attempt to marry linguistic theory to design; his interest in Noam Chomsky's theory of syntax and transformational grammar is particularly evident in the series of "transformational" axonometric drawings he made of House VI.

Several of the design drawings in this collection appear in Suzanne Frank's book, Peter Eisenman's House VI: the client's response, published in 1994.

Acquisition information:

Acquired from Peter Eisenman in 1992.

Processing information:

Processed in 1993, more finely processed and arranged in 2001.

Physical location:

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Rules or conventions:

Archives, Personal Papers, and Manuscripts

Indexed terms

Subjects:: Architecture, Domestic--United States
Architecture, Postmodern--Designs and plans
Architecture, Postmodern--United States--Connecticut
Architecture--Connecticut--Cornwell--20th century
Architectural drawings (visual works)
Design development drawings
Sketches

About this collection guide

Collection Guide Author:: Finding aid prepared by J. Gibbs.
Date Encoded:: This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2016-04-18T10:06-0700

Access and use

Restrictions:: Open for use by qualified researchers.
Terms of access:: Contact Library Rights and Reproductions.