Living with Martha Stewart has taken on a whole new meaning ever since her company began building model homes (with KB Home) in North Carolina and California that are "inspired" by her houses in New York and Maine (only, you know, smaller). But that's nothing new in the history of suburban sprawl. There's a documentary and website about the Leisurama housing development concept (was there ever a better name?) that was introduced in 1963, designed by the great Raymond Loewy. A prototype was built on the ninth floor of Macy's in NYC and at least one shopper is said to have gone in to buy a brassiere and come out with a house. The documentary, unfortunately, isn't out on DVD, but you can see a clip here.
written on Monday Jan 8, 2007
suburbia,
prefab,
pad.
