Pardon my ignorance, but please educate me – is there a non-aesthetic purpose for this, or is it just cool? We don’t have this where I come from. Does it stop water from flowing quickly off the roof, or prevent something from running around up there, or discourage sunbathing, or what does it do, exactly? I want a white roof with little white rocks on it for myself.
I love this house in La Quinta. I asked my California friend Darren why the town is called La Quinta, which means “fifth” in Spanish, and he wrote: “It’s called that because in colonial times, there were haciendas along major commercial routes that were reached every fifth day of travel. As a result, “La Quinta” is actually a fairly common place name in California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas.” Those days are over, obviously, and this is not a hacienda, but it seems to fit into this landscape more perfectly than many of the reproduction Spanish colonial jobs that flank it.
The house is a three minute walk from here, at the foot of the Santa Rosa Mountains:
Not a rhetorical question. This is a hodgepodge sample, for sure, and spans decades, but all of it seems to partake of some form or other of adventurousness. It’s possible I’m projecting, and that my view of Australia is entirely filtered through my childhood fixation on that girl in National Geographic who crossed the outback on camels. But I doubt it. Above are from the National Archives of Australia appearing in the Heide Museum of Modern Art’s exhibit Modern Times: the untold story of modernism in Australia. Top: ‘A modernist vision of Australia: Grant and Mary Featherston’s wing sound chairs were a feature of the Australian Pavilion, designed by architect James Maccormick with exhibits selected by Robin Boyd, at Expo 67 in Montreal, 1967′ and ‘View of the elevated restaurant, Centenary Pool, Brisbane’ by James Birrell. Most images below are from desire to inspire, the half-Australian blog. House directly below is the Wheatsheaf House. House in woods below by Drew Heath; room with screen, photo by Lucas Allen; geometric bedroom by Greg Natale; provenance of last 3 photos is lost, please advise; last photo is room by Marion Hall Best, considered the mother of modern Australian interior design.
I’m developing a taste for these. There are lots of dinky suburban tract versions of these perforated walls, but when the scale and placement are well thought out, they can be the building’s most arresting feature. This collection is a mix of decorative landscaping walls or actual exterior treatments on buildings. Either way, the fact that they afford both privacy and light is nice. See also the entry on patterned concrete blocks. Above, “the white room” by Dag4 (‘m not sure if that one is concrete, technically, but it’s the same idea). Below, Racquet Club Tract, Palmer & Krisel. Architect: William Krisel. Palm Springs. American Cement building, and office building, all by Chimay Bleue.
Below, another shot of the Parker Hotel, Palm Springs, by schafphoto:
Photos below by how_long_it_takes, one0one0one, Fernando Stankuns, and Michael-D(new works). Click on photos for more info.
Concrete block and perforated screen fetishists should visit this Flickr pool. The wall above and below is at the abandoned Besser Vibrapac office, a building that served as a display of the company’s own concrete blocks. Besser Vibrapac by The Mover, on Flickr. Click on photos to read more. And see this.
Above, “Empty midcentury modern building in Ft. Meade, FL. It has 2 of my favorite things. Circles and squares.” By JennRation.
Above, Frank Lloyd Wright patterned blocks, by Usonian. Below, Vancouver’s Planetarium (by me), and Blomberg Windows, Sacramento, CA by atomicpear.
Above, Penticton Fire Hall, photo by Drew Makepeace. Below, Mexico City facade, “Concrete Lace,” by VonMurr.
William Cody, Architect, 1952. From the standpoint of the rainy temperate rainforest, desert landscaping is so seductive, so distant, so taunting. Red cactus soil, and an agave growing through the roof, and a boulder. Photos by Chimay Bleue (my friend Darren) by permission, on Flickr.
