Women and the Making of the Modern House

Social and architectural historian Alice T. Friedman asks the question, "Why is it that an unexpectedly large number of the most significant and original houses built in Europe and America in the 20th century--houses that stand out not only as examples of modern design but also for their innovative approaches to domestic space--were commissioned by female clients?" She answers with a penetrating look at houses created by well-known client-architect pairs, such as Sarah Stein and Le Corbusier, Edith Farnsworth and Mies van der Rohe, and more than one independent woman who irritated Frank Lloyd Wright by staying in charge of a project. Friedman writes with brilliance and depth about these pairs' shared ideals, their frequent disputes, and the monuments of modernism that resulted from their complex relationships. --Margaret Moorman