Structural Clay Projects Exhibition House, Chicago, Illinois, Perspective and Plan

The materials and spatial planning of Japanese domestic architecture were an important influence for architect Paul Schweikher. His own house, for example, was based on observations about the interconnection of indoor and outdoor spaces and simple wood construction that he made during his visit to Japan in 1937. In later years, Schweikher developed a more minimal appropriation of Japanese techniques, inspired by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe’s geometries. In this rendering for a brick trade demonstration house exhibited at the 1950 Chicago Fair, the architect framed the house with a pine tree, reminiscent of views found in Japanese ink-wash paintings. This influence can also be seen in the building’s shoji-inspired front door, and his abstracted tree woodblock print in the top right, a monogram for his studio, South Willow.