Case Study Houses

The Case Study Houses were experiments in American residential architecture sponsored by Arts & Architecture magazine, which commissioned major architects of the day to design and build inexpensive and efficient model homes for the United States residential housing boom caused by the end of World War II and the return of millions of soldiers.

The "Case Study" House program, spearheaded by Arts & Architecture editor John Entenza, was announced in the January 1945 issue of the magazine.

[2] The program was envisioned as a creative response to the impending building boom expected to follow the housing shortages of the Great Depression and World War II.

[2] Entenza encouraged participating architects to use donated materials from industry and manufacturers to create low-cost, modern housing prototypes that might foster a dialogue between architectural professionals and laymen.

The first eight architects commissioned and profiled in the January 1945 announcement of the program were JR Davidson, Sumner Spaulding, Richard Neutra, Eero Saarinen, William Wilson Wurster, Charles Eames, and Ralph Rapson.

[2] JR Davidson's design was the first feature of the series, with the exteriors and interiors appearing in the February and March 1945 edition of Arts & Architecture, respectively.