College of Built Environments at the University of Washington.
Resurrecting Lionel
Thursday April 2008
A Pries designed home, as much an inspiration for the book Lionel H. Pries, Architect, Artist, Educator: From Arts and Crafts to Modern Architecture as the man himself, according to CAUP Professor and author, Jeffrey Ochnser.
"When you come up, you don't really get a sense of what you're going to get," says Jeffrey Ochsner, of the the home designed by Lionel Pries. "Then you come in." The metaphor goes beyond the question mark drive, puncuating the house, and the surpises contained within. It is an appropriate metaphor for the secrets uncovered and revealed in Ochnser's book, and indicative of the relationship Pries seems to have had with his own designs.
Just as the home opens up once entered into a wide-open space of wood, angled to the windows in just the right way so that the natural world is highlighted, so too did the secrets unfold of the very private life of Pries as Ochnser began his research into the architect's secretive past. "The vision is typical of many of Pries designs: a private space that incorporates the environment even as it shuts out the neighbors. His homes have an almost hesitant sociability, penetrable only after an invitation." According to Jeffrey Ochnser, "It's all about how you get there."
The mystery of Pries is revealed in Ochnser's new book. While an accomplished architect and artist in his own right, he was perhaps most well-known as an educator, with several of his students rising up to eclipse their former instructor. "He had a tremendous ability to inspire students," says Ochnser, but "within his academic confines, Pries remained deeply closeted." In the highly homophobic 1950's, it was discovered that Pries was gay, and scandal forced him into resignation from the University of Washington, and seems to have erased him from the historical record as well.
In his home, the house designed by Pries himself, Jefffrey Ochsner holds the biography that he has written, and hopes that perhaps "maybe this recovers some of it."
For the complete story, please visit The Advocate.com.
Additional notes:
24th Annual PubWest Book Design Awards gives awards to Lionel H. Pries in two separate categories:
- Category 1: Trade book, Illustrated (more than 25%) Silver
- Category 16: Jacket/Cover Design Gold
For the complete list of winners, please visit PubWest online.