ONE VERY POPULAR TREND IN
DESIGN RIGHT NOW CELEBRATES
ARCHITECTURE OF THE PAST.
YOU ARE PROBABLY FAMILIAR
WITH THE MIDCENTURY LOOK.
AND NOW THERE IS AN ARCHITECT
DEVOTED. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR
COMING IN.
WHAT WAS YOUR INSPIRATION
BEHIND THIS BOOK? I HAVE
WRITTEN A LOT OF BOOKS ABOUT
ARCHITECTURE BUT NOT THE MODERN
PERIOD. AND OF COURSE, I GREW
UP IN THE 1950s.
SO I REMEMBER A LOT OF THESE
BUILDINGS AS THEY WERE BEING
BILLED INCLUDING THE ONE RIGHT
ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE
RADIO.
THE BROTHERHOOD BUILDING.
COME AND GONE ALREADY. SO
WHAT DID YOU FIND WHEN YOU WERE
GOING INTO THIS RESEARCH AND
YOU WERE PUTTING THIS BOOK
TOGETHER.
ANYTHING THAT SURPRISED YOU?
ONE OF THE THINGS WAS THE
QUALITY OF THE CHURCHES.
THERE WERE SOME REALLY GREAT
CHURCHES BUILT DURING THAT
PERIOD.
AND ALSO, THE VARIETY OF THE
HOUSES.
WE DO A LOT WITH CAUSES.
AND PEOPLE ARE OBVIOUSLY
INTERESTED IN THAT TODAY.
IT IS POPPING UP IN HOMES
ALL OVER THE DESIGN.
THAT I WAS SO SHOCKED -- YOU
SHUT A LOT OF THE BUILDINGS
DOWNTOWN THAT WERE BUILT IN
THIS AREA.
ONES I DID NOT REALIZE.
HOW FUN IS THAT?
IT WAS FUN.
I SPENT A LOT OF TIME ON MY
BICYCLE.
ASKING PEOPLE -- AND PEOPLE
ASKING, WHY ARE YOU GOING
BIKING IN BLOOMINGTON.
BUT IT WAS FINE. IT WAS A
BIG, THICK BOOK. HOW LONG HAVE
YOU BEEN WORKING ON IT?
FIVE OR SIX YEARS.
BUT I WROTE ANOTHER BOOK AND
BETWEEN.
SO I HAVE BEEN BUSY.
A LOT OF TIME DOING THE
RESEARCH.
WHAT YOU THINK IT IS ABOUT
THIS CENTURY AND THE MIDCENTURY
MODEL THAT IS SO POPULAR RIGHT
NOW? I THINK PEOPLE LIKE THE
CLEAN, MODERN LOOK OF IT.
WE HAVE GONE THROUGH
POSTMODERNISM.
FOSSA PERIOD REMODELED STYLES.
BUT TO A NEW GENERATION, THIS
IS PRETTY NEAT.
WHAT ARE THE TWO
CHARACTERISTICS.
IN CASES OF HOUSES WITH AN
OPEN FLOOR PLAN AND LOTS OF
WINDOWS, KIND OF LONG,
HORIZONTAL PROFILE.
ALL OF THOSE THINGS ARE PART OF
THE MIDCENTURY LOOK.
WHAT HAS BEEN THE REACTION
SO FAR?
A LOT OF PEOPLE LOOK OVER IT.
ARCHITECTS LOOK AT IT.
TO PEOPLE WHO KNOW ABOUT THIS.
YOU TALK ABOUT THE DIFFERENT
GENERATIONS.
IS A GENERATION THAT REMEMBERS
THIS VERY WELL.
IS FUN TO HEAR THE NEW PEOPLE
WHO ARE LOOKING AT IT, THINK
ABOUT IT AND HOW THEY REACT TO
IT.
AS I SAID, I THINK THAT THE
YOUNGER PEOPLE LIKE THE FACT
THAT IT IS A MODERN AND CLEAN
LOOK.
I THINK PEOPLE ARE BUYING
HOUSES.
THERE ARE EXPANDING AND DOING
THINGS.
IT IS A VERY EASY STYLE TO WORK
WITH.
THEY'RE VERY EFFICIENT THE WAY
THEY ARE LAID OUT.
A LOT OF THESE ARE THOSE
TINY RAMBLERS FROM THE 80s IN
THE 50s.
IT DEPENDS UPON THE HOUSE.
IF IT IS JUST AN AVERAGE
RAMBLER RANCH HOUSE, THERE
CERTAINLY NEEDS TO BE EXPANSION
IN THE SENSE.
SO IT IS NOT SURPRISING THAT
PEOPLE ARE DOING THAT AND THEY
ARE GOING TO KEEP ON DOING IT.
BECAUSE YOU START A MySPACE
ACCOUNT AND YOU CAN WORK YOUR
WAY OUT.
DO YOU HAVE A PROJECT PLAN
FOR WHAT IS NEXT?
ACTUALLY, I AM WORKING ON
SHERLOCK HOLMES.
A FICTION.
I HAVE BEEN GOING BACK AND
FORTH FOR YEARS TO FICTION AND
NONFICTION.
AND I HAVE A NEW SHERLOCK
HOLMES. DO YOU THINK THAT
THIS MIDCENTURY MODERN IS
ANOTHER FAD THAT WILL GO AWAY?
WELL, GO AWAY AND COME BACK
AGAIN BUT -- I THINK IT IS HERE