Raphael Soriano

"Raphael Soriano (1904-1988) was one of the early Case Study architects working in California in the mid-twentieth century, and a talented advocate of the new building materials and construction techniques developed just before and after World War II. Born in Rhodes, Soriano arrived in Los Angeles in 1924 at the age of 20. After graduating from the University of Southern California, he worked in the offices of Rudolph Schindler, Richard Neutra, and for Los Angeles County before starting his own practice in Los Angeles in 1935. His characteristic floating roofs, tranparent exterior walls, and open plan responded to the postwar demand for family-friendly, middle-class housing and an indoor-outdoor lifestyle well suited to the Southern California climate. In 1953, Soriano relocated to Tiburon, near San Francisco, where he designed housing for the maverick developer Joseph Eichler, as well as innovative aluminum structures." "Independent-minded and often irascible, Soriano's architectural contribution has been largely overlooked to date. Though he designed 150 buildings and built more than 50 during his career, only a dozen projects remain standing. This book is the first published monograph on Soriano, with a thoroughly researched account of the architect's life and oeuvre, and an essay on the historical and cultural factors influencing the development of postwar housing in Southern California. It includes an examination of 30 key Soriano buildings and a listing of Complete Works that documents, for the first time, every known project in Soriano's archive, with bibliographic references. In addition to previously unpublished original plans and drawings, this volume features approximately 125 photographs by renowned architectural photographer Julius Shulman, who was a close friend of Soriano and documented his work over a period of 40 years."--BOOK JACKET.