travel DESTINATIONS
he Millers loved to make music and cherished paintings by Monet, T
Kandinsky and Rothko—for which the house was an ideal showcase—
but practicality ruled. "We have five children, we're messy eaters, why
don't you design food spots into the dining room rug?" Mr. Miller told
Saarinen. He did, and the fifth replica of that heavily trafficked rug is
now in place. The architect also eliminated what he called a "forest
of legs" by installing his tulip dining table and chairs.
The house is raised well above the flood plane (unlike Mies' Farnsworth
house beside the Fox River in Illinois, which has been inundated on at
least two occasions) and landscape architect Kiley created a series
of outdoor rooms and a shady allèe of honey locust trees, though
the Jacques Lipchitz and Henry Moore sculptures formerly installed
at either end have been sold. The Miller estate demonstrates how the
best modern design is rooted in tradition: the house has echoes of a
classical temple, while the garden recalls the long axes and green
architecture of the baroque.
Reservations for house tours can be made through the Columbus
Visitors Bureau. They also offer architectural tours of the town, or one
can pick up a map and drive around in your own time. There are
six National Historic Landmarks, starting with the First Christian Church
built in 1942, on which the young Eero Saarinen collaborated with his
father, Eliel. That landmark inspired Mr. Miller to establish the Cummins
Foundation, which pays the professional fees on any public building
designed by an architect selected from an approved list. About
60 buildings, from a fire station to the new Commons, have been
completed by the likes of Richard Meier, Robert Venturi, Kevin Roche,
and I.M.Pei—all Pritzker Prize winners. Stanley Saitowitz contributed
a series of sculptural pavilions to Mill Race Park. Churches and
private developers have followed suit, and the American Institute
of Architects rates Columbus the sixth-best city in the nation for
architectural innovation and design. The new architecture is as low
key and unpretentious as the city itself, and it's woven into the urban
fabric in a way that fascinates visitors and gives a quiet pride to
apr + may
residents n For information: Indianapolis Museum of Art imamuseum.org;
2011
tour reservations columbus.in.us. Images courtesy IMA.
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