Fire Island modernist : Horace Gifford and the architecture of seduction / Christopher Bascom Rawlins ; Foreword by Alastair Gordon ; Afterword by Charles Renfro.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Rawlins, Christopher Bascom.

Contributor:

Gordon, Alastair

Renfro, Charles

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gifford, Horace, 1932-1992--Criticism and interpretation.

Gifford, Horace.

Seaside architecture--New York (State)--Fire Island (Island)--History--20th century.

Seaside architecture.

Architecture, Domestic--New York (State)--Fire Island (Island)--History--20th century.

Architecture, Domestic.

Architecture, Modern.

Physical Description:

222 pages : illustrations ; 32 cm

Edition:

Expanded edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Metropolis Books / Gordon de Vries Studio, [2025]

Summary:

"As the 1960s became The Sixties, architect Horace Gifford executed a remarkable series of beach houses that transformed the terrain and culture of New York's Fire Island. Growing up on the beaches of Florida, Gifford forged a deep connection with coastal landscapes. Pairing this sensitivity with jazzy improvisations on modernist themes, he perfected a sustainable modernism in cedar and glass that was as attuned to natural landscapes as to our animal natures. Gifford's serene 1960s pavilions provided refuge from a hostile world, while his exuberant post-Stonewall, pre-AIDS masterpieces orchestrated bacchanals of liberation. Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift once spurned Hollywood limos for the rustic charm of Fire Island's boardwalks. Truman Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's here. Diane von Furstenburg showed off her latest wrap dresses to an audience that included Halston, Giorgio Sant' Angelo, Calvin Klein and Geoffrey Beene. Today, such a roster evokes the aloof, gated compounds of the Hamptons or Malibu. But these celebrities lived in modestly scaled homes alongside middle-class vacationers, all with equal access to Fire Island's natural beauty. Blending cultural and architectural history, Fire Island Modernist ponders a fascinating era through an overlooked architect whose life, work and colorful milieu trace the operatic arc of a lost generation, and still resonate with artistic and historical import. First published in 2013 and long out of print, this iconic book returns in an expanded edition, including five new featured houses, drawings of previously unseen homes, new photography, updated scholarship and a new afterword by Charles Renfro."--Publisher description.

Contents:

Best looking boy

Oasis of free love

Fire Island modernist

Reaching for light

Boys in the sand

Entasis

Form follows foreplay

Elegy

Productive Escapism, Charles Renfro.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781881616993

1881616991

OCLC:

1519374156