$4,500

United States
circa 1955

Large format presentation board (silverprint photograph mounted on 1/2 inch thick cardboard) of a working model for "Spray Form House," a 1955 proposal for a biomorphic structure composed of concrete sprayed over a steel and steel mesh framework, by Harvard 5 architect John M. Johansen. This technique, though previously used on pools (Gunite) was still radical and innovative to architecture, with only Corbusier's Ronchamp and Kiesler's Endless House as avatars (Endless House though published later was proposed earlier). The unrealized project was prompted by a commission from the American Concrete Association. It anticipated a completed Johansen shell project and was broadly influential especially on the British collective Archigram. As member Michael Webb noted "It took just one-year gestation period for student projects to begin manifesting tubes and stomachlike shapes. This movement was known as Bowellism. For the boys in Archigram... he was our genuine American hero: each successive project a radical departure not only from conventional practice, but even from his own previous oeuvre. What a risk taker! What a gambler!" A label on the lower left reads "Design for Spray Form House/Architect: John M. Johansen". On the back is a second label and the handwritten notation "#9 New Forms in Concrete." Unframed.

Condition
Some touch-ups along the edges and to the photo. Small holes in the four corners for a previous wall-mount. Some warping at the sides left to right. Unframed. Wear consistent with age and use.

Measurements
Height: 40 in.
Width/length: 40 in.
Depth: 0.5 in.

Specifications
Number of items: 1
Materials/techniques: Photograph on board