cf3 members only have this special opportunity to tour the late architect David Niland and his wife Mary’s personal residence before it is handed off to the new owners. The 1979 home is one of the most famous modern homes in Cincinnati, gracing the back cover of the book Great Houses of the Queen City by Walter Langsam and Phyllis Weston. It is a work of International Modern splendor by one of modern architecture’s fiercest critics & proponents. Niland spent 40 years as a University of Cincinnati DAAP architecture professor, and was director of the 6th year architecture program where he influenced generations of young architects. He is one of very few local architects to have his work published internationally. His own house is a case study in light, simplicity, space & form with no detail overlooked. His pioneering work in accessibility also led him to design the home for easy wheelchair access, never compromising his design ideals. This is a rare chance to see this special home before it undergoes a very necessary restoration by the new owners.
Excerpt from “a tribute to David Niland” 2010, by Jayne Merkel, architectural historian and critic:
“David Niland (1920 - 2010) was born in Cincinnati, graduated from Withrow High School where he was a football star, and played under coach Woodie Hayes at Dennison University before Hayes went on to Ohio State and Niland went to Yale to earn bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture. He was at Yale at a time when the most influential architects of time -- Louis Kahn, Paul Rudolph, James Stirling, Buckminster Fuller, Eero Saarinen, Konrad Waxman and historian Vincent Scully -- were teaching there. Many of his classmates -- Norman Foster, Richard Rogers, Charles Gwathmey, James Stewart Polshek -- went on to become the most famous architects of the next generation, but Niland came back to use his training in his home town."
Wednesday, October 16, 5:00 – 6:30PM.
NOTE: Please arrive during the designated time period. DO NOT arrive before 5 p.m. Rain cancels, so please watch your email if the weather is iffy.
