The Sarasota School of Architecture
The years: 1941 to 1966. The place: Sarasota, Florida. The story: a sudden burst of fresh, innovative houses by a group of Americans who caught the imagination of the international architectural community. Inflected by local climate, construction practices, regional culture, and Florida life-style, the work of the Sarasota school of architecture -- founded by Ralph Twitchell and counting Paul Rudolph, Mark Hampton, Victor Lundy, and Gene Leedy among its practitioners -- marks a high point in the development of regional modernism in American architecture.

In Europe after World War I, a startling new approach to architectural design emerged. The International style (or Bauhaus as it was known under the European school that taught it) turned its back on historic precedent and exploited the new materials and technologies of the day. Traditional decorative elements or references to past architectural styles were swept away, producing a minimalist architecture of flat-roofed buildings with smooth, unornamented walls and delicate, carefully proportioned facades.

While the Sarasota School found its inspiration in part from the philosophies of the Bauhaus, it incorporated forms of regional Southern architecture, using patios, verandas, modular construction and raised floors to open up its buildings for greater ventilation in pre-air-conditioning days. The style added a play of light and shadow, and the color and texture of indigenous low maintenance materials, softening the cold machine aesthetic of the Bauhaus. This approach to design strengthened the connection between architecture and environment, allowing Sarasota School buildings to respect and blend well into their sites. The result was a regional modernism which blurred the distinction between the indoors and outdoors and accommodated the lifestyle and climate of southern Florida.