Here are the successors to Neutra and Schindler, Lautner and Gehry: architects Who break out of the box to create houses that express their vision for clients and, sometimes, themselves. From serene white volumes to shifting geometries and bold expressions of structure; from houses that engage the landscape or beach to those that turn confined lots to advantage, these are models of creative design. They are sensitive to the environment, the craving for shelter and eape, and there’s no wasted space, no striving to impress. They speak to the present, not to some fantasy of a past that never was. Soaring volumes flooded With light and open to nature offer an appealing alternative to claustrophobic historieism and stamped-out ornament. Brave New Houses should appeal to evone who has thought of designing or owning a house that is one-of-a-kind, or has dreamed about making a fresh start in life.

Here thirty of the most exciting new houses and five audacious projects from a region that has always been a crucible for experimentation in residential Sign: They express the needs and desires of fearless individuals who decided to please themselves, flout conventional wisdom, and collaborate with talented architects. They respond to their varied sites - from the canyons of Santa Barbara south to the mountains of San Diego County; to slivers of the oceanfront, precipitous slopes, leafy suburban estates, and bustling commercial streetsl Modest or grand, expansive or tightly-compressed, angular or sensuously curved, they offer a cross-section of the best of contemporary design,and are linked only by their openness to a benign climate.Here are the successors to Neutra and Schindler, Lautner and Gehry: architects Who break out of the box to create houses that express their vision for clients and, sometimes, themselves. From serene white volumes to shifting geometries and bold expressions of structure; from houses that engage the landscape or beach to those that turn confined lots to advantage, these are models of creative design. They are sensitive to the environment, the craving for shelter and eape, and there’s no wasted space, no striving to impress. They speak to the present, not to some fantasy of a past that never was. Soaring volumes flooded With light and open to nature offer an appealing alternative to claustrophobic historieism and stamped-out ornament. Brave New Houses should appeal to evone who has thought of designing or owning a house that is one-of-a-kind, or has dreamed about making a fresh start in life.

List of Houses

Introduction: Out of the Box

SHIFTING GEOMETRIES

SERENE VOLUMES

DYNAMIC STRUCTURES

FRONTING THE OCEAN

ENGAGING THE LANDSCAPE

CONFINED LOTS

RADICAL VISIONS

Featured Architects

Acknowledgements

Photo Credits