"THE HARVARD 5" documentary film

A STORY OF LOVE, DESIGN, AND ARCHITECTURE

I grew up in a glass house designed by Eliot Noyes and Alan Goldberg and didn't truly understand the uniqueness of that experience until I tried to explain that riding around on a bicycle inside the dining and living room was a very do-able past time. This concept would likely be perceived as normal by others raised in similar mid-century modern houses throughout this quiet, bedroom town of New Canaan, CT.

In the mid 20th century, 4 Harvard Design School trained architects --Philip Johnson, Eliot Noyes, Landis Gores, and John Johansen-- and their inspirational teacher, Marcel Breuer of the Bauhaus, began to design unique homes in New Canaan. Their groundbreaking, post WWII designs were loved for their functionality and innovation by some and detested for their "imposition" on the Colonial, New England landscape by others. Nevertheless, what began as personal projects for these men became calling cards for international clients across several decades.

But during the mid-80's when "bigger" was considered "better", a great number of unprecedented mid-century modern homes in New Canaan were being torn down to make way for much larger "McMansions".  My grandmother, an art historian, photographer, and fierce guardian of all things Modern, fought the wrecking balls with her camera in many final attempts to save the memory of these mid-century modern structures. Now, decades later, today's mid-century enthusiasts are recognizing these homes and offices, schools and gathering places as art, as history, and as culturally-significant, social-political statements.

This documentary film, "The Harvard 5" is an ongoing work of passion, family history, and an homage to those artists and intellectuals, risk takers, friends and competitors who made New Canaan Modern. It's the unique story of the Harvard 5 that I am is eager to share with the rest of the world.