The look, the feel...of midcentury modern homes: They have a near universally recognizable style, in no small part thanks to pop culture phenoms like television show Mad Men and the outsize importance that Ikea, leading purveyor of clean-lined DIY furniture with an MCM spirit, has had in American homes since 1985.
Now, the University of Southern California Libraries' Architectural Teaching Slide Collection has released some 1,300 rare snaps of midcentury modernism in its natural habitat: the American West. Capturing work by Frank Lloyd Wright, John Lautner, Richard Neutra, and Albert Frey, the photos represent "two of [USC's] smaller unique collections," according to the school.
Each of the photographs in the trove was taken by German architect Fritz Block (who color-tinted photographs on the side) and American architect Pierre Koenig (of Stahl House fame). Unlike the pristine, carefully composed images that drive public ardor for midcentury homes, Fritz and Koenig's shots provide a more relaxed, lived-in glimpse at the seminal residences of the midcentury modern movement.
Head on over to Curbed LA for a slideshow and to USC's Architectural Teaching Slide Collection for all 100 baker's dozen photographs.
∙ 1,300 Intimate Images of Midcentury Modernist Structures Go Online [Hyperallergic]
∙ Architectural Teaching Slide Collection [USC Libraries]
∙ Why The World Is Obsessed With Midcentury Modern Design [Curbed]
∙ Unusual New Views of Modernist Masterworks Are Like Retro Instagram [Curbed LA]
∙ How Ikea Became America's Furniture-Selling Powerhouse [Curbed]