A New Modernism: The Architecture of Richard Meier

Ok guys, it's been a little while (sorry, no sleep for me the past week), but I'm back with a special treat.  The work of this man:

Richard Meier.  Architect and Badass

Meier is a big deal in the world of architecture.  He was part of the legendary New York Five, a group of five architects from (guess where?) New York who together published a book titled Five Architects in 1972, and impassioned and brilliant defense of modernism as Le Corbusier intended- that the house is a machine for living, lack of ornamentation, etc.

Of course, Meier took it to the extreme, which is why he's getting on this blog.

After the other four members left the strict modernism they preached in 1972 (Michael Graves for post modernism, Peter Eisenman for deconstructivism, and the other two for relative obscurity), Meier decided to go extreme on the modernist ideals in his book.  At first, he would only build his houses out of wood.  Later, he switched to metal panels, which are cleaner looking and easier to keep up.  One thing has remained constant, however-  All of his building are completely and totally white (in his early years.  Lately he's loosened up to include unpainted wood or travertine), and, in my opinion, fantastic.  Of course I can talk all day.  The best way to discuss great architecture is through pictures.  First, the Rachofsky house in Dallas, originally built as a private bachelor pad in Dallas (with a personal art collection inside it), and is now the property of the Dallas Museum of Art.  You can visit sometime if you want.  And by that, I mean you SHOULD visit sometime if you have any love for me at all.

Meier also won a worldwide contest to design the Getty Art Institute in Los Angeles, but I'm not a huge fan of that, so I won't post it on here.  You can Google it.

What I will show you, though, is the Jubilee Church in Rome.  This church is quite possibly my favorite in the world.  So yeah, marvel.

A model showing what happens to the church at night