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Talk: Beatriz Colomina, "What Kind of Architect Reads Playboy? 1953-1979 / May 5, 2016
United States Architecture News - Apr 27, 2016 - 13:01 10462 views
What Kind of Architect Reads Playboy? 1953–1979
Beatriz Colomina
May 05, 2016 @6pm, at the Graham Foundation
Please join the event for a talk on May 5 by Beatriz Colomina, Graham grantee and curator of the exhibition, Playboy Architecture, 1953–1979, opening at the Elmhurst Art Museum on May 7, which will be on view until August 28, 2016.
Sex, architecture and design were inextricably intertwined in the pages of Playboy magazine from the very beginning. Architecture was not simply featured in the magazine but was its very mechanism. The sexual fantasies and the architectural fantasies were inseparable. Architecture turned out to be more seductive than the playmates. It became the ultimate playmate.
With its massive global circulation and sexualization of architecture, Playboy arguably had more influence on the dissemination of modern design than professional magazines, interiors magazines, and even institutions like the Museum of Modern Art.
"The Playboy's Town House," Playboy, May 1962. Architect: R. Donald Jayce. Rendering by Humen Tan.
Playboy architecture is all about the interior. The Playboy is an indoors man. The magazine was relentlessly obsessed with the interior and this interior turns out to be infinite. From the furniture to the clothes, the lighting, the music, the food, the drinks, the conversation, the jokes, the ideas, the art, the architecture, the smells, and even the way to move, to act… everything is provided. The magazine created a total work of art. When you open the pages of the magazine you are invited to dive in into this world without gaps, without cracks, without decay… an infinite perfected interior, a total work of art.
Electric kitchen
Playboy Architecture, 1953-1979
Elmhurst Art Museum presents the U.S. debut of Playboy Architecture,1953-1979, featuring an extensive collection of photographs, films, architectural models and more from Playboy magazine’s inception in 1953 through the 1970s. Curated by Professor Beatriz Colomina and Pep Aviles in collaboration with the Ph.D. program of the School of Architecture and the Media and Modernity program at Princeton University, the exhibition showcases how architecture and design played a role in creating the Playboy fantasy as well as how Playboy magazine came to influence the world of architecture and design.
Staged in the Mies van der Rohe-designed McCormick House at Elmhurst Art Museum, the exhibition will feature detailed models of archetypal design projects such as the Playboy Townhouse and “Big Bunny,” the largest and most luxurious private aircraft in existence, designed for Hugh Hefner by Elmhurst resident Daniel Czubak. The exhibition is divided into sections devoted to themes explored in the magazine’s articles and images such as Playboy pads (including bedrooms and closets), cities, vehicles, music and the art of seduction. An archive of Playboy magazine issues from the period is also included.
Living room.
Unique to this U.S. presentation, never-before- exhibited memorabilia from the personal collection of 1976 Playboy Bunny of the Year, Chicagoan Candace Jordan will be part of the exhibition, including her Bunny of the Year full costume, the pageant program and her trophy.
Elmhurst Art Museum’s presentation of Playboy Architecture 1953-1979 was designed by Amunátegui Valdés Architects (Santiago, Chile). The exhibition was previously displayed in the Netherlands at Bureau Europa (Maastricht) in 2012. The U.S. debut of Playboy Architecture, 1953-1979 is made possible by Gigi and James Owens.
Candice Jordan, playboy bunny of the year, 1976
A robust roster of public programs will be presented over the summer, including talks by the exhibition’s curator Beatriz Colomina (Princeton), author of Domesticity at War and Manifesto Architecture: The Ghost of Mies; Professor Elizabeth Fraterrigo (Loyola), author of Playboy and the Making of the Good Life in America; and Candace Jordan, Chicago Tribune columnist and 1976 Playboy Bunny of the Year, among others.
This lecture is presented in partnership with the Elmhurst Art Museum.
Other images courtesy of Elmhurst Art Museum.