Gropius Visit

In a continuing effort to celebrate New England modernism, Utile made a pilgrimage to the Gropius House - designed by Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer in 1938 - in Lincoln, MA. Although many of the group had been there previously, the warm evening light offered opportunity for new appreciation. A German-themed party, replete with beer, brats and pretzels rounded out the evening. Prost!

Christina Crawford Lectures at Rudolph House

Christina Crawford gave a lecture on the residential work of late modernist architect Paul Rudolph at the New England Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians (NESAH) event this past weekend. The talk was part of a tour of Rudolph’s 1956 Yanofsky House, in Chestnut Hill, one of the only remaining Rudolph Houses in New England. In her talk, she tested Rudolph’s written interest in “regionalist” architecture against this one work, comparing the house to other seminal modern houses in the Boston area which also expressed interest in contextual specificity. The house itself was a treat to see: only 2,500 sf at the main level, its highly obsessive edge detailing, varied sequence of spaces, and expansive interior to exterior vistas made for a rich experience. The owners’ long and somewhat tortured process to restore the house was covered in the New York Times.

Christina is an active member of NESAH’s Board of Directors, and in that capacity gave a talk on her research on Ukrainian Constructivism this past fall.

Utile exhibits work at the pinkcomma gallery

Utile is one of ten firms collaborating on an installation and exhibition timed to coincide with the National AIA Convention in Boston. Entitled Parti Wall/Hanging Green, the installation will be hung for a week on a converted loft building on Wareham Street in Boston’s South End. The five-story piece will be visible from the pinkcomma gallery, where an exhibition of the collaborative design process and the works of the individual firms will be on display. The ten firms – all of which were formed in the past six years – joined together to form the Young Architects Boston Group in January. They have been meeting since January to conceive and plan the installation. The happy outcome of the process is a strengthened community of like-minded designers. Click here to see a video of the installation.

pinkcomma gallery

81b Wareham Street in the South End, Boston

Exhibition Dates: Friday, May 16 - Friday, June 6th

SoWa Artwalk Weekend Hours: May 17th/18th, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m.

Gallery Hours: Monday—Friday, 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. or by appointment.

Photos by Mark Pasnik.