May 21, 2025 | 1960s, 2020s, reaction paper, Week 8
“The Lens of Race: Whiteness and Architectural Photography at Case Study House #22” illuminates the racial, economic, and heteronormative disparities that existed independently of architectural photography in the postwar era, but are highlighted and exemplified through it. Although unassuming in Julius Shulman’s iconic photograph of Case Study House #22, the author, Dianne Harris, identifies ways in which not only the image itself, but the architecture reflects Los Angeles’s racist and exclusionary history, through redlining, real estate steering, the gentlemen’s agreement, and discriminatory practices. The overwhelming whiteness that existed in the postwar United States housing industry, extending to the surrounding urban spaces and built environment, exemplifies the division of this period of time. Additionally, Julius Shulman’s use of white women created an image that was extremely successful, representing domesticity and comfort in the home. Shown above the city of Los Angeles, Harris points out the disproportionality that is not visible, but rampant during this time– where middle- to high-class white families are “above” and out of the way of the problems that are (physically and metaphorically) beneath them. Harris continues to write about the ‘elevation of whiteness’ and the unattainable and desirable lifestyle that was controlled by LA’s whiteness, as conveyed through the architectural photography of Case Study House #22.
Figure 1. Framed Family
House Beautiful, March 1960 page 79
“When you buy, look for this ‘hidden value…'”
House Beautiful Example: In this House Beautiful advertisement, West Coast Lumber is promoting their product by “framing” a family within the skeleton of a home. Similar to Julius Shulman’s photograph, this image does not appear outwardly exclusionary, but represents the whiteness of suburbia in the 1960s. It shows a small family of three gardening and doing yard work outside of their one-story house, promoting their wood framing as “just beneath the surface of America’s finest homes.” Harris’s argument of architectural photography’s subtle racism can be seen beyond this advertisement. She asked us, as the readers, to think about how the images would be perceived if the people modeling in the photo were not white. Like West Coast Lumber’s ad, I doubt their product would have done any better in the given climate if the models were black, for example. The racism within suburbia most likely would have prevented people of color from living in these areas, further exemplifying the eruption of whiteness in housing during this time.
Figure 2. NYC kids at a table
Architectural Digest
Modern Example: This image is from an Architectural Digest article titled “Who Wouldn’t Want to Grow Up in This Eclectic New York Apartment?” shows two young boys playing and working on homework on a round dining table. As the cover photo, it adds a sense of personalism and domesticity, like Julius Shulman’s “Two Girls” image. Especially in New York City, a place quite opposite from suburbia, it shows the ability to have children and still have an apartment feel like home. Now, I would hope no one would think poorly of the article if these kids weren’t white, as people would have during the 1960s. To go further, this apartment may be in a typically “white” neighborhood in New York, after this city’s history of racial segregation was blatant and appalling, adding to the ‘elevation of whiteness,’ but that may be speculation.
Comparison: These photographs all show white characters, but throughout two different periods of time. The first used white women and families to purely display class, comfort, and domesticity. It was a planned scheme rooted in discriminatory practices and racist ideology, used to show off whiteness in the media. The most recent example from Architectural Digest happened to show two white boys at a table, but not because that represents class and comfort. Architectural photography has come a long way, but serves as a reminder of the inequality during historic times that are often overlooked.
Apr 25, 2025 | 1920s, 2020s, reaction paper, Uncategorized, Week 3
Summary
In the article Elsie de Wolfe and her female clients, 1905-15, Penny Sparke asserts that Elsie de Wolfe helped to create the female-dominated profession of interior decoration as we know it today by providing wealthy, upper-class women with distinctly feminine and refined spaces. She utilized her professional connections with elite women to grow her network and develop her reputation as a tasteful decorator, eventually expanding her career and influence and enabling women to be paid for their traditional jobs as decorators of the home. While she may not have fought against feminine design stereotypes, she still inspired a professional environment where femininity was appreciated. A key example of this was her work for the Colony Club from 1905 to 1907, where she designed and curated a new interior for the all-women social club. She was then able to use this momentum to undertake more professional projects for women and gain notoriety in high society for her elegant taste, turning her former hobby into a successful career.
Historical Case
“Rooms Exhibited by the Women Decorators’ Club.” House Beautiful, Aug. 1929, pp. 146–147.
The interiors shown in House Beautiful by the Women’s Decorators’ Club utilize a geographically and historically varied blend of styles with a lighter palette, a key signature of Elsie de Wolfe’s projects. The spread was composed for the August 1929 issue —just shortly after the height of de Wolfe’s career— making it likely influenced by de Wolfe’s style. The role of women as the chief decorators of this project was also likely impacted by de Wolfe’s professional and public presence.
Figure 1 – An interior designed by the Women Decorators’ Club with a variety of textiles and styles. House Beautiful Aug. 1929, pg. 147.
Current Case
Sheila Bridges is a modern example of a female interior designer creating unique, sophisticated, and expressive spaces. Her interiors feature a variety of styles and references, usually with vibrant pops of color and bold patterns. Bridges often incorporates pieces from numerous eras of design and references to her African American identity —seen in her own personal home, The Hay House. During her career she has worked with numerous influential public figures, including former president Bill Clinton and former vice president Kamala Harris.
Figure 2 – Sheila Bridge’s “Hay House” in Hudson, NY; Eclectic furnishings with vibrant pops of color. Image courtesy of: The New York Times.
Comparison
Both examples come from prominent designers that intelligently incorporate several historical references and their own identities. In the case of the Women Decorators’ Club, the female designers followed the example of de Wolfe, incorporating their femininity into their work through their use of a brighter palette and floral patterns. In the case of Sheila Bridges, she frequently refers to historicist styles as well as her Black identity, shown by her use of Black art. In some aspects, this expression of personal identity in interior design also goes back to de Wolfe, albeit in a different, more complex and nuanced way distinct to her.
Apr 21, 2025 | 1920s, 1930s, 2020s, reaction paper, Week 4
Summary
In the first decades of the 20th century, women were entering the workforce in greater numbers, but with major restrictions on their career possibilities and potential for advancement compared to their male counterparts. This was especially true in architecture.
Lin Huiyin, a Chinese woman, studied architecture in the United States from 1924-1928. As a woman, she was not allowed to pursue a professional degree, having to get a fine arts degree instead. She faced significant discrimination in the US for her race and her gender. Lin returned to China after completing her education, become the first modern female architect in China. She, along with her husband, were on the forefront of modern architecture in China during the 20th century.
During this time, women’s engagement with architecture in the USA was more writing about it than practicing, with a few notable exceptions. Much of this writing would have been in popular publications such as House Beautiful, which were predominantly read by women as well.
Critical Response
In the same way that domestic labor has been seen as less valuable than other types of work, women had to really stand out from their peers in order to be taken seriously (by men) in their fields. This is true now, but was especially true in the first half of the 20th century.
The intersection between gender, class, and race is critical in Lin Huiyin’s case. The article by Kathleen James-Chakraborty does not really touch on the fact that the education Lin received was largely only possible due to her having a wealthy father. This is not to diminish her achievements, or to downplay the very real hardship she faced due to her gender and her race while she was in the US, but it is undeniable that her class opened doors to her that would have otherwise been closed.
In the article, House Beautiful is cited as being targeted at middle and upper class women, who would have had the means to decorate their homes to their tastes and the leisure to spend time on this endeavor. Design, with a capital D, has long been the realm of the wealthy. Working class women were barred from most educational opportunities, being relegated to low-paying jobs which would not support the luxuries of Design, nor access to the rarified social spheres for which Design was a concern.
It is not necessarily a failing of the article or of House Beautiful to largely disregard class, but it is a spectre that haunts the discussion of women’s place in architecture, and still does today.
Application: Gendered Advertising in House Beautiful, 1931 vs Now
It’s notable that the authorship and readership of House Beautiful was stated in the James-Chakraborty article to both be primarily women. The idea of women as consumers and household decision-makers meant that the publication contained ads which specifically targeted women. Interestingly, some of these advertisements were for products aimed at men, despite the ad itself targeting women. For example, in figure 1 (below), the image caption begins with “On the way to win a husband’s approval … ?”
Figure 1. House Beautiful, September 1931: “Men Want Solid Comfort”
Figure 1. An advertisement for Armstrong’s Linoleum Floors from the September 1931 edition of House Beautiful, titled “Men Want Solid Comfort”
There were also, of course, ads more typically targeted towards women, seen in figures 2 and 3 (below).
Figure 2. House Beautiful, October 1931: “Mere Man Can Build a House, but Only a Woman can Make a Home”
Figure 2. An advertisement for Insulite insulation from the October 1931 edition of House Beautiful, titled “Mere Man Can Build a House, but Only a Woman can Make a Home”
Figure 3. House Beautiful, November 1931: “They’re Tumbling Into Bed Now…When Will You Get Back, Dear?”
Figure 3. An advertisement for telephones from the November 1931 edition of House Beautiful, titled “They’re Tumbling Into Bed Now…When Will You Get Back, Dear?”
The phenomenon of gendered advertising, while controversial in the 2020s, is still prevalent. The format has changed, just as the format of House Beautiful has changed, seen in figures 4 and 5 (below).
Figure 4. House Beautiful, December 2024: “20 Gifts for Her That She Actually Wants, According to a Woman”
Figure 4. A Shopping guide from House Beautiful’s website, titled “20 Gifts for Her That She Actually Wants, According to a Woman,” written by Jessica Cherner and published Dec 12, 2024.
URL: https://www.housebeautiful.com/shopping/g63136630/holiday-gifts-for-women-2024/
Figure 5. House Beautiful, April 2025: “45 Housewarming Gifts for Men They’ll Actually Use Right Away”
Figure 5. A Shopping guide from House Beautiful’s website, titled “45 Housewarming Gifts for Men They’ll Actually Use Right Away,” written by Marina Liao and published Apr 10, 2025.
URL: https://www.housebeautiful.com/shopping/g32130127/cool-housewarming-gifts-for-men/
These gift guides are both written by women, and take similar approaches in that the products and the target audience are gendered differently. It stinks of the “men are from mars, women are from venus” idea that stems from the idea of “separate spheres,” and continues to be prevalent in mainstream heteronormative spaces. Still, figure 5 parallels the ideas in figure 1 in an interestingly direct way, given the near century between the two. Not pictured, but worth mentioning is the fact that most of the shopping guides on the present-day House Beautiful website are not gendered at all, instead being tailored to hobbies, interests, or personal style. This is something of a change from the historical publications, in which there was an implied gender bias in the ads, even when they weren’t outright stated.
Apr 17, 2025 | Week 3
In “Elsie de Wolfe and Her Female Clients, 1905-15: Gender, Class and the Professional Interior Decorator” By Brenda Martin and Penny Sparke, the argument of how de Wolfe’s career as a professional interior decorator was deeply connected to the gender and classes of early 20th-century society was brought up. de Wolfe’s work showcased much more than just aesthetic changes, it also showed how elite women were offered a means of expressing modernity and autonomy through their domestic environments. Simultaneously, de Wolfe used opportunities available to her to create a professional career for women working in a male-dominated field.
One key factor in de Wolfe’s success was her strong relationships with socially significant, elite female clients such as Potter Palmer, Ogden Marmour, Ethel Crocker, and many more. The interiors specifically requested by these women were lighter, brighter, and feminine spaces. For example the Colony Club in 1907, New York City, was the first all-women’s club and the project she is most well known for. It has a “trellised restaurant, painted furniture in the private dining-room, the chintz in the bedrooms, and the use of pastel colours–soft grey, off-white, rose and cool green–throughout the project” (Sparke 47). Another important point was how de Wolfe carved out a new professional space for women in interior design when the field had been previously dominated by male architects and decorators. de Wolfe was very strategic when it came to using her social connections in order to secure high-profile commissions which led to her strong reputation. One interesting quote from the reading was that “Her contacts with women, her desire to express their needs and desires through an empathetic understanding of them, and her embrace of what was perceived as a stereotypically feminine visual language combined to make her a key player in the evolution of a feminine response to modernity,” (Sparke 46). Through her career, de Wolfe contributed to the professionalization of interior decoration, which opened doors for women and redefined the kinds of work that were considered acceptable for women.
This is a space designed by Brigette Romanek who is an award-winning interior designer who owns her own studio that provides a full range of services tailored to each client. She has worked with some really famous clients including Beyonce, Kelly Rowland, Gwyneth Paltrow, Rachel Zoe, and Demi Moore.
Figure 2. The Gardens of Delight
House Beautiful, August 1981, no 123 pt. 2, p. 81
“Instead of a spread, this bed is fitted with a white woven blanket cover and, a mixture of pink-and-white-patterned linens from Manuel Canovas”
This is a photo of a space that was designed by Katherine Stevens who was a female interior designer. It shows how the space has been feminized.
Apr 17, 2025 | 1920s, 2020s, reaction paper, Week 3
Summary
Women’s break out into the modern working world, began with the occupation of the interior decorator. Penny Parke, in In Women’s Places: Architecture and Design 1860-1960, highlights the working life of Elsie de Wolfe as an argument that an interior decorator is linked from the domestic and professional world for women. As cultural ideals shifted around what it meant to be a woman and a homeowner, the expression of the domestic interior began to represent roles of gender and class of women. Historically, the male view of the interior was based on the rules of architecture, until women’s break into the professional interior world. Since then, it has become an extension of women’s tastes in fashion and of a woman’s identity as a whole. Parke claims the interior of the home had become a theatrical stage in which the women would act, combining the comfort of the home and the independence of women in the modern working world.
Critical Response
I agree with Penny Parke, that the home is used as an extension of the self, and in the modern world is seen as an object to display the owner’s tastes in the world of design. Now, more than ever, the home is seen as a blank canvas that develops the personality of the individual who inhabits it. Historically, the modern occupation of the interior decorator has been predominantly associated with feminine attributes, which holds a relationship with fashion, through the use of textiles and prints. Though this association has dissipated significantly since its introduction, there is still a common preconception that the domestic world is linked with the woman, and within the domain controlled by the woman, the man lives. Even to this day, there is a common association of fashion and femininity, even for men. This causes me to question, though the link between the domestic world and women has historical relevance, will the expression of the self though the home ever rise above the roles of gender and/or economic status, as (American) society has become more accepting of the blurring of the line between the masculine and feminine roles in both the home and the working world?
Application – HouseBeautiful Example
This HouseBeautiful advertisement for Johnson’s Polishing Wax (Figure 1) expresses the importance of a properly displayed and well-kept home, as an extension of ones self and economic standing, “What charm wax-polished floors add to your home—what a comfort and convenience and economy they are.”
Figure 1. HouseBeautiful 1928-03: Vol 63 Iss 3, pg. 325
Application – Contemporary Example
This InteriorDesign article, (Figure 2) represents the modern interpretation of an ideal functional home and domestic lifestyle looks like, as well as how it represents the those who reside within it. “…woven together diverse design influences, grounding textures, materials and hues to create a captivating journey—a ‘patchwork’ of experiences—across the home.”
Unwind In This Artful Sydney Residence With Soul
Figure 2. InteriorDesign Magazine, March, 21, 2025, Unwind In This Artful Sydney Residence With Soul
