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Finding aid for the Peter Eisenman architectural drawings for House VI, 1972
Finding aid prepared by J. Gibbs.
920049
Descriptive Summary
Title: Peter Eisenman architectural drawings for House VI
Date (inclusive): 1972
Number: 920049
Creator/Collector: Eisenman, Peter, 1932Physical Description: 63.0 drawing(s)
Repository:
The Getty Research Institute
Special Collections
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles, California, 90049-1688
(310) 440-7390
Abstract: Sixty-three architectural drawings in pencil, pen and marker on paper document the design development of
House VI, one of Peter Eisenman's most important early polemical designs. Commissioned by Suzanne and Dick Frank, it
was designed and built in 1972-1975, in Cornwall, Connecticut. All the drawings in this collection date from 1972.
Request Materials: Request access to the physical materials described in this inventory through the catalog record for
this collection. Click here for the access policy.
Language: Collection material is in English
Biographical/Historical Note
American architect, educator and theoretician, Peter Eisenman founded the Institute for Architecture and Urban Studies in
New York City in 1967. Critics of that time dubbed him one of the New York Five (along with Michael Graves, Charles
Gwathmey, John Hejduk, and Richard Meier), a loose, theoretical and aesthetic grouping of New York architects that
presaged Post-Modernism. The Corbusier-inspired design of House VI, Eisenman's sixth house design, signals the formalist
aesthetic of that school.
Commissioned by Suzanne and Dick Frank in 1972 for a site in Cornwall, Connecticut and built in 1975, it was the most
polemical of his designs to date. Published widely, the house thus garnered both recognition and controversy for Eisenman.
Many critics considered House VI, also known as the Frank House, Eisenman's most important work. It certainly generated
considerable dialogue within the architecture community among architects, critics and historians. John Hejduk described
the residence as the "second canonical De Stijl house," a reference to Gerrit Rietveld's Neo-Plastic Schroeder House,
although Eisenman took issue with this conclusion, describing House VI instead as an "inversion" of De Stijl design. Critics
have noted Eisenman's attempt to marry linguistic theory to design; his interest in Noam Chomsky's theory of syntax and
transformational grammar is particularly evident in the series of "transformational" axonometric drawings he made of
House VI.
Several of the design drawings in this collection appear in Suzanne Frank's book, Peter Eisenman's House VI: the client's
response, published in 1994.
Access
Open for use by qualified researchers.
Publication Rights
Contact Library Rights and Reproductions.
Preferred Citation
Peter Eisenman architectural drawings for House VI, 1972, Research Library, The Getty Research Institute, Accession no.
920049
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa920049
Acquisition Information
Acquired from Peter Eisenman in 1992.
Processing History
Processed in 1993, more finely processed and arranged in 2001.
Scope and Content of Collection
Sixty-three architectural drawings in pencil and ink on paper document the complete design development for House VI, also
known as the Frank House. All the drawings are from 1972 and have ID numbers written on them by Eisenman's office.
920049
Most critics and historians consider House VI one of Eisenman's most important early designs. The most theoretical and
polemical of his designs to date, Eisenman described House VI as a turning point in his career. The collection includes an
elaborate series of preliminary sketches that reveal the origin of elements retained in the final design. During the design
process, Eisenman felt that he "achieved a synthesis between the isolation of the architectural sign and the generation of
the autonomous object."
Arrangement note
Arranged in one series by the drawings' ID numbers.
Subjects - Names
Eisenman, Peter, 1932Subjects - Corporate Bodies
House Six (Cornwall, Conn.)
House VI (Cornwall, Conn.)
Subjects - Topics
Architecture, Domestic--United States
Architecture, Postmodern--Designs and plans
Architecture, Postmodern--United States--Connecticut
Architecture--Connecticut--Cornwell--20th century
Subjects - Places
Cornwall (Conn.)--Buildings, structures, etc
Genres and Forms of Material
Architectural drawings (visual works)
Design development drawings
Sketches
Contributors
Eisenman Architects
Frank, Dick
Frank, Suzanne S. (Suzanne Shulof)
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1
A.1-A.20
A.1: Grids with columns, notes, and axonometric sketch, n.d.
Scope and Content Note
Pen and ink on white bond, 8 11
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1
A.3: Axonometric grid with black and red intersecting lines, n.d.
Scope and Content Note
red and black ink on white bond, 8 11
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Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 2
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1
A.11: Four thumbnail sketches: plan, section, plan detail, and axonometric, with
notes, 6 May 1972
Scope and Content Note
black ink on white bond, 8 11
Notations: 6 May 72, Frank House VI
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1
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Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1
A.16a: Sketch plan diagram with circulation and axonometric detail with
dimensions, n.d.
Scope and Content Note
pencil on while bond, 8 11
Notation: Rockefeller etc
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 1
A.19: Detail plan with dimensions and notes in red pen, n.d.
Scope and Content Note
black and red pen, white bond 3-hole punch, 8 11
Notations: Detail column 21 and 22
Box 1, Folder 1
Box 1, Folder 2
Box 1, Folder 2
A.21-A.35
A.21: Grid with doodles, n.d.
Scope and Content Note
pencil and blue ink on paper vellum
Box 1, Folder 2
Box 1, Folder 2
A.23: Grids with color plan and sketch plan, 21 Aug 1972
Scope and Content Note
black, blue, red ink on white trace
Notations: 21 Aug 72, House VI, HOC
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Box 1, Folder 2
Box 1, Folder 2
Box 1, Folder 2
Box 1, Folder 2
Box 1, Folder 2
Box 1, Folder 2
Box 1, Folder 2
Box 1, Folder 2
A.31: Axonometric of cube with blue and red lines [#3], n.d.
Scope and Content Note
blue, red #2 pencil on white bond, 8 11
Box 1, Folder 2
A.32: Two axonometrics of cubes with lines and one partial axonometric of cube,
n.d.
Scope and Content Note
pencil, red pencil, black, blue, red ink on white bond, 8 14
Notations: VI, 2/17
Box 1, Folder 2
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Box 1, Folder 2
Box 1, Folder 2
A.35: Three axonometric cubes with colored cuts and one plan, n.d.
Scope and Content Note
pencil, black, blue, red, and green ink on white bond, 8 14
Notations: 3C - 3D, enuff inside
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
B.1-B.27
B.1: Axonometric: corner, 28 Dec 1972
Scope and Content Note
black marker on white trace, 12 20
Notations: 14, SU, 28 Dec 72
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
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Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
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Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
Box 1, Folder 3
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