Harwell Hamilton Harris

Lisa Germany's biography of Harwell Hamilton Harris (1903-1990) details the work of an architect who successfully merged the ideals of modern and California regionalist architecture. Harris was a sculptor who changed careers when he saw Wright's Hollyhock House and realized that an architect could make sculpture on a monumental scale that both functioned as a home and moved in and out of nature. Germany traces the development of Harris's life and career, assessing his place in American modernism, in the development of regionalist architecture, and in the interpretation of a modern California lifestyle that would gain admirers throughout the world. Her discussion opens a window into the complexities of modernism in America during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.