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Modern Awakening
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I have lived in utah, and there is a reason modern design has not taken off, that flat roof will be leaking before you know it, and those windows wil be letting in cold air in emmigration canyon all winter, and the heat in all summer. i think its cool he is living out his dream in a beautiful spot, but this is 2009, and we need to look forward, and intigrate new technologies and building methods and stop worshiping the past and namedroping dead architects.Go green, respect the past and move on.I thought this magazine was about design, not mormons.
anthony 06/02/2009
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I think it's important when disigning to discern the difference between the enjoyment of using mid-century modern design for its aesthetics and funcionality and the pull of nostalgia. Referencing past design styles is a good thing. Nostalgia in architecture never is.
pat 06/02/2009
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Sorry...but there is nothing creative about this house. It is a copy of the standard Phillip Johnson's Glass House....and it is furnished straight out of DWR Catalogue !!! What's up with DWELL these days ? Can't they find novel architecture these days ? What happen to Gehry, Arquitectonica, Zapata and the likes ?
MIke 06/02/2009
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No question about it, Utah definitely has a unique culture, overwhelmingly influenced by the pervasive Mormon presence. But it would be an oversimplification to paint the whole state or even greater Salt Lake basin with a broad "Hicksville" brush. A trip to the Church's history museum and visitor's center adjacent to the SLC Temple (both of which definitely do offer tours) would have shown how turn of the century Mormon leaders were caught up in the arts and crafts renaissance and made conscientious efforts to train, support and patronize members of the creative professions. Intriguingly, many of the Mormon Church's mid-century architects were Taliesin West educated and responsible for some great 50's kitsch design in Mormon meeting houses of the era. Also check out the pre-Columbian influenced Mormon temples in Alberta, Canada, Mesa, Arizona, and Hawaii.
tonx 06/02/2009
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i agree with tonx. take a look at any of the temples the mormons have built in the last 20 years. the washington dc, portland,or, los angeles temples are no less than ultra-modern inspired deign. unlike any modern buildings anywhere. and the attention to details with the culture of the locale. and i have been through the new cultural center, absolutely flawless design. i am not an architect, but i know inspired design when i see it. the salt lake temple when it was built was unlike anything in america at the time. the arts and crafts, whether performing arts, architecture or fine arts has always been a mormon legacy. so maybe not branding utah, or even mormon culture as hicks is not totally accurate.
mat 06/04/2009
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Beautiful home. Not extremely unique, but it's simple and nice and that's how I like them. I grew up in SLC and often take drives up Emigration to enjoy the scenery and the houses. Although most of the recently built homes in that canyon are too traditional for their own good, there have been quite a few very nice modern designs popping up. It's exciting to see one of them on here. Also, the majority of people in this state seem to over-react to any kind of outside criticism, so don't be surprised if you see more of these "Don't call Utah hicksville" comments. I've lived here for almost all of the 25 years of my life and can tell you that outside of Salt Lake City, this place is hicksville. I love this state and and would hate to leave it, but a lot of the people here need to get out of their bubble and realize they live in a strange culture.
mark 06/05/2009
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Like the house. Photography is mediocre at best. What is wrong with a pickup truck? Can't pull a roofing trailer with public transit. You want to build things or not?
Lars 06/08/2009
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50% on mormons being weird, 50% on the actual design and project. i learned from this piece that mormons started a religious 'utopia' back in the day, are strange hicks that like country music and are uncommonly private and unwelcoming to outsiders. All of which is completely inaccurate, offensive and sadly the norm put forth by most uninformed people.
christian 06/11/2009
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I think it's sad when people open up there homes so other people might enjoy taking a look at there dreams and comments come out about religion and pick up trucks. Come on folks.. enjoy..
matt Rooyakkers 06/22/2009
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interesting comments. glad you guys enjoyed it. my own 2 cents.... i thought the article was weak and the photos were great. anyone wanting to talk modernism and utah please hit me up. thanks - brent
brent 06/23/2009
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Come on, it is better than 99% of all of the houses built in the USA. Tough crowd.
Russell 06/26/2009
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i have read through all these posts, and i have to say, i expected a bit more from slc natives-or apparent natives. i am by no means a native to slc, i moved here from denver 13 years ago for snow purposes (prior to that was s.f., london and dublin, irl). i was immediately enamored with the many canyon coves that supply m.c.m. builds (even the avenues and federal heights have a few stand-out designs-13th and g st., for example). my wife and i bought into olympus cove because of the 1950/60's architectural designs. and whoever said there are no flat roofs in slc/utah is drinking way too much utah ''diet beer'-for the love of christ, you're kidding, right?!?! i will agree in that most flat roof designs were not built to carry the heavy snow loads that we can get (leaks, sag, fatigue, etc.). our house, butted into the side of mt. olympus (along with our neighbor's), are all flat roofs with ceiling to floor windows that wrap around the homes to allow for the spectacular views. and to all who bring the whole mormon thing into this conversation-give it a break. i am so over this b.s. yes, there are mormons in utah, some are cool, some are freaks-just like catholics, jews, baptists (etc.) or any other group following a mass '$piritual' dictatorship(s). brent, i believe you are behind the beta site http://utahmodern.com/, if so what is it's status? i seem to remember reading something somewhere where (again i believe it was) you that was going to have gatherings in some of slc's m.c. homes-am i wrong in this?
John 06/27/2009
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john you got it right we have some great modern heritage in utah. and it does work if you do it right. olympus cove is one of my favorite areas! i'm a little jealous you are closer to the slopes than i am.... still doing utahmodern and my other projects www.poliformslc.com but creede at grassroots modern has really perfected the local modern blog. you should check it out. www.utahmodern.org he also has some good things going with a group on facebook. they just did an open house and have others planned. i wanted to go but was out of town. come by and visit me down at poliform anytime to talk more utah modernism. thanks russell!
brent 07/01/2009
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thanks brent! i love poliform (my parents live down the road from one of their stores in rome)-my wife and i only wish we could re-do our kitchen in it, however we are more geared towards that of a bosch budget. thanks for the links, joined the facebook site today and am going to join the cause to save utah's jems, as well.
John 08/26/2009
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Regardless of how "current events" the architectural visions behind this project are, you can't debate that it's very well executed. In the spatial proportions but also in the materials. It seems to be a very nice space to live in.
Michael from Sweden 10/08/2009
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In Salt Lake City, a place not renowned for progressive architecture, Brent Jespersen built a luminous canyon retreat—using his architect father and a famed Utah modernist as his guides.
Photo by: Zubin Shroff
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