This event will feature a tour of three Vincent Kling-designed mid-century houses, including the 1954 Line/Rogoff House, the 1952 Scull/Kron House and, the 1959 Smith/Saul house. The program will feature a talk by Richard Farley, FAIA, Vincent Kling's studio associate.
Vincent Kling, the modern architect most associated with large-scale urban reconfiguration and its attendant heroic, often severe architecture, is seldom thought of in connection with humane modernism and the post war era's search for a new domestic paradigm. Kling's initial professional recognition, however, came for his houses; their unique combination of strict modernist precepts with qualities that reflected American popular culture set them apart. This simultaneous appeal to both the high- and low- brow is exemplified by the inclusion of one of his houses both in MoMA's "Built in the USA_ 1932-1944" and in post war magazine ads touting the sense of optimism and adventure associated with driving the "futuramic" rocket-action Oldsmobile.
Vincent Kling: Houses is part of DesignPhiladelphia 2016 "Home," and Docomomo
US Tour Day 2016 "Modernism in your Backyard."