Lee Stanton Blog

MIDCENTURY MERZBAU

MIDCENTURY MERZBAU

Photo: Modern Furniture and Decoration (Ed. Robert Harling, 1971)

The iconic New York architect Mitchell Giurgola created a hip and airy loft-like oasis in renovating publisher Sol Melnick's 1880 Philadelphia carriage house. The sculpture overtaking the left-hand wall--Melnick's own creation--feels a bit like Kurt Schwitters' transcendent Merzbauthe living sculpture tower constructed in reaction to the fascist tensions sweeping inter-war Europe. With its dynamic mix of industrial, natural, and luxurious textures, the living room Giurgola has conceived is warm and organic, yet sleek and composed.

 

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Late 19th-century industrial model of a spiral staircase

 

Abstract Expressionist painting 

  

Wooden gate mold

 

Mid-century red and orange glass studio bowl

  

Wooden mold as sculpture from Oaxaca, Mexico