Tomorrow's Modern Home

From the Publisher

Tomorrow’s Modern Home

The last time a publishing company commissioned the building of the “new American home” was when Art & Architecture magazine sponsored the Case Study Houses program in 1945. As the post-World War II building boom was under way, the Case Study Houses program revealed a glimpse of the future in residential construction. An intense postwar demand for housing was evident, but what to build and in what style was unclear. Art & Architecture enlisted numerous architects to design and construct these homes of the future. Each of them embraced the International Style of modern design.

In response to Art & Architecture’s Case Study Houses, Elizabeth Gordon, the iconic editor of House Beautiful, quickly launched the Pace Setter program of modern home construction, embracing the organic style of modern architecture of which Frank Lloyd Wright is the Godfather.

These competing programs backed by hyper-competitive publishing companies set the standard in modern residential architecture between 1945 and 1967 and represent what we admire today as midcentury modern design.

More than 50 years have passed since these programs revolutionized the way Americans viewed architecture. No publisher since has taken on such an ambitious home building program — until now. Bedford Falls Communications, publisher of Surface & Panel magazine, recently completed the mHouse. Named for www.materialicious.com, Bedford Falls’ website for design inspiration, the mHouse was conceived as a way to showcase today’s modern materials in creative and unique ways in tomorrow’s modern home. In the early stages, the mHouse was referred to as a residential research lab as architect John Vetter and interior designer Amy Carman pushed the conventional boundaries of where materials were used and why.

John Vetter is a master of the organic style of contemporary architecture and the designer of the unique mHouse silhouette. Amy Carman created a midcentury interior, complemented by today’s best contemporary furnishings, art and accessories. The result is stunning and distinctly livable. I think Elizabeth Gordon would be proud of what we accomplished

Now that the home is complete and the grand opening has been celebrated, it’s time to document and more widely share the mHouse and the more than 35 unique materials and products that truly define the project. Surface & Panel and materialicious.com will be used in tandem to reach both the industry we serve and consumer audiences. We will reach out to other media outlets in the consumer space, as well, to extend the message. Each unique material will be featured in application, set in context with the architecture and interior design.

In this issue, you’ll find a photo review beginning on page 8 of the Surface & Panel Symposium held at the iconic Harley-Davidson Museum on Sept. 29 and the grand opening of the mHouse on Sept. 30.

Columbia Forest Products DesignEdge, which was used in a creative interior application, is featured on page 20.

And check out the story and photo packages on the unique materials SIMOWOOD (page 24) and Stonewood (page 28), which both were used on the home’s exterior.

We’re just getting started. In future issues of Surface & Panel, you’ll see a stream of features and first-class photography on the finest materials the global panel processing industry has to offer.

With Kind Regards,

John Aufderhaar,  President,  Bedford Falls Communications

jaufderhaar@surfaceandpanel.com | 920-206-1766

The mHouse was conceived as a way to showcase today’s modern materials in creative and unique ways in tomorrow’s modern home.