mod house media watch

chrysler's path to recovery stops at the modern house

2011-11-26T00:43:00.000-05:00

We all know where Chrysler has been in recent years. Bankrupt, bailed out, taking a stab at it again, turning over a new leaf, chasing quality, reinventing themselves. This time they are going to do it right, freshen those designs, build that mystique, park their cars in front of the modern house.

Same old cars perhaps, but they have trimmed them up, new headlamps, new logos, new look. And to put that new image across to car buyers, this time they are going to do what works so well for those other car companies. They are going to show us that the kind of person that owns a modern house is the kind of person that owns their car. They are successful, smart, and cool, and Chrysler's products are one of the things that cool people gather around them. Everyone knows that, except maybe those mcmansion builders...

the modern house is no stretch for Nissan

2011-04-15T11:19:00.000-04:00

In Nissan's new commercial for their Maxima sedan, the happy couple expecting a baby live in, what else - the modern house. Because, what other kind of house would this hip, yet successful young couple live in? A colonial? Nope. A giant McMansion? Uh uh.

Nothing but the modern house will do when Nissan wants you to understand that their product is owned by cool people. And a sure fire way to make yourself cool is to own their product too. So when Nissan sets out to make sure the owners of their car in the commercial look cool, well they have to be sure to put them in the perfect modern house. Not too big, not too fancy, but 100% modern. The message comes through loud and clear to us. How about the housing industry? Hello? Anybody home?

chevy goes modern for the volt intro

2011-03-12T00:06:00.001-05:00

Over on the Chevrolet web site the new Chevy Volt has been rolled out, the hope of an ailing industrial giant, the Prius killer, the Hail Mary Pass, the last chance to get it right - call it however you see it. When GM closed its eyes and swung for that home run they did what any self preserving Fortune 500 company would do. They put their product in front of a modern house to make it look good.

Because we all know that the cool folks, the smart folks, the folks we want to be like, the folks that GM wants us to copy and buy a Volt, all live in a cool modern house.

But not the housing industry apparently. You remember the housing industry, don't you? I may disparage GM, but GM did not drag the rest of the world economy into the dirt with their own self indulgent out-dated relationship with their own dinosaur, the SUV. However the housing industry did manage to crash the world economy by encouraging us to flip ever bigger McMansions. Where is the Housing Industries Volt? Hmmmm? Where is its smart, green, efficient, and modern product to turn around its fortunes?

corning looks to the future, sees modern house

2011-02-17T20:33:00.001-05:00

In this promotional video by Corning about the role glass will play in our future, the modern home plays a prominent role. But sure you might say, its a video about the future - of course it has a modern home. No, the house in the video is clearly a mid-century modern style home, likely somewhere in California and chosen to be the domestic setting for the video.

So even when making a speculative video about the future, Corning looks to our present to define the modern house. It makes sense though. We could hardly imagine all of these futuristic high tech tools and accessories integrated into a traditional home. It would be a complete contradiction. No, in their eyes the modern house is the inevitable future. But not here in the real world. Builders and developers haven't figured this out yet. Even when its all around them and in their face in popular media. They still remain blindly focused on traditional homes. Perhaps time moves backwards for them and the future never arrives. So long builders, its been nice knowing you...

hyundai gets a taste of the modern house

2011-02-09T23:20:00.002-05:00

In this Edmunds Inside Line article the brand new and shiney Hyundai Genesis sedan is posed in front of the modern house to good effect. Its not clear if the photos were shot by Edmunds, or stock material provided by Hyundai. But either way the intention is clear. The car is the newest and greatest. If you want to emphasize that you show it in front of a house that everybody looking also understands is the latest and greatest - the modern house.

See it at Edmund's site.

Thanks to Jim for spotting this one. Reader contributions greatly appreciated.

acura strikes back at lexus - proves acura doesn't get it

2010-12-21T12:24:00.001-05:00

Acura is running a commercial about overindulgence at the holidays which appears to aimed at the Lexus campaign featuring modern houses and cars as gifts. Only they don't have any objection to cars as gifts of course, they just want to try to make modern architecture look silly.

Nice try, but it backfires. The fool in the Acura commercial may be a fan of fancy gingerbread, but he's holed up for the holidays in a traditional house proving once again that in advertising only the cool people live in the modern houses.

lexus holiday campaign casts the modern house

2010-11-26T23:48:00.000-05:00

Every year Lexus makes a holiday pitch to give its vehicles as Christmas gifts. As improbable as that seems for most of us, never the less they have something to say about who might be able to so casually gift an expensive automobile.

And surprise - our generous gift giver is a family with a modern house. And why not. Lexus wants us to envy these folks, they want us to want to be like them - buying a new Lexus by Christmas time. And who do they think will make us feel that way? The guy with the modern house, of course. They know the modern house will make their product look more desirable. Yet the US housing industry doesn't get this, do they? What's with that?

lexus uk also has the modern house as its ideal

2010-11-26T23:30:00.000-05:00

In this Lexus UK as from 2007 once again the driver takes their car home to a severely modern house.

The UK is similar enough to the US to make our case. When Lexus wants to make their vehicle enviable, they show it parked in front of a modern home.

tron legacy movie leverages modern house

2010-11-19T10:34:00.000-05:00

It appears from trailers released in Europe that the upcoming Tron Legacy movie will use a modern house for the home of its protagonists, the Flynns. I'm not sure if the home was ever shown in the original Tron movie, I think not, which means that this is a current appropriation. No doubt the movie makers turn to the modern house to imbue their heroes with the sense of cool the audience will admire. Of course we all understand the cool guy lives in the modern house. America's home builders, do they get it? Hmmmm.. not so much.

in the city of townville

2010-11-17T23:40:00.001-05:00

The PowerPuff Girls are so rocking a Modern House!

surrogates movie has no substitute for the modern house

2010-11-12T18:15:00.001-05:00

I just got around to watching last summers science fiction movie Surrogates. Its set in a near future where everything looks familiar, buildings, cars, yet the technology is clearly miles ahead of today. People stay home and go out in to the world via a robotic "surrogate" that they control from a virtual reality chair in their home. So while we get old and fat our robots remain vital and young. Whether or not that sounds good or bad to you, one thing that seems sure is that everybody in this near future lives in a cool modern home. Spoilers below if you have not watched the movie.

This is the apartment of a minor character in the movie. Quite unexpected when they enter from the hallway to reveal this soaring two story modern dwelling.

And here is the apartment of one of the main characters. I loved the look and feel of this place. Concrete waffle slab ceilings, and brick walls in the living room.

And later on a brief scene showed an exterior view of the home of one of the other main characters. A night scene but clearly a modern house.
In many scenes of this movie they went to great lengths to show us that cities and buildings were still the same familiar places. Yet the protagonists all had modern dwellings, and strangely enough the antagonist as it turns out lived in a traditional dwelling. Interesting. Clearly deliberate. The modern settings were used here to distinguish the roles of these characters just like bad cowboys had black hats and good cowboys had white hats. So you have to wonder why the good guys got the modern dwellings? Obviously the film makers know which kind of house will make the protagonist appear cool, progressive, informed, admirable. And they count on us understanding that as well. Since we all have this figured out so well, then when is the housing industry going to get the message. HELLO!!

mcdonalds sips the modern coolade

2010-09-17T12:55:00.003-04:00

Yep, you read that right. McDonalds. As in hamburgers in a cardboard box McDonalds. They are embarking on a program to literally modernize their image with a new corporate design aesthetic that is unabashedly modern.

So when McDonalds decides to reinvent themselves they don't turn to Colonial architecture, its not pseudo Tuscan, or euro Tudor. Its Modern. Modern Modern Modern. Because McDonalds knows that this will elevate the perception of their product and in return the entire brand. Yet home builders across the USA are prepping next years collection of Toomanypeaks, and Phoneyshmoney styles served up McMansion style. Come on home builders - time to get a clue!

Learn more about the McDonalds redesign in this article at FastCompany.

in The Lake House movie, even the old house is the modern house

2010-08-05T23:31:00.003-04:00

This movie was called to our attention by reader Larry. He pointed out that the house featured in this movie, while not meant to be a new house was certainly modern. Not having seen the movie I was quite surprised by the house.

The house is at once old, and thoroughly modern. It appears to be an iron age structure - evoking some of the earliest iron framed structures from the industrial revolution such as the Crystal Palace in London. Yet, for a house it is a glass walled box, with an open floor plan, the perfect Meisian home as glass box - the international style from the late 40s.

Such a house would never had been made in the era it was presuming to be from, so we have to wonder why the film makers would put together such a hybrid structure to be the setting for this story? The fact that the house was old played a part in the narrative of the story. The one character an architect somehow acquired the home, or rented it from an older architect. But any old house would do for that. Why this strange hybrid. The house was meant to be the place of this temporal anomaly whereby the characters communicate across several years. In much the same way the house is an artifact at once in the industrial revolution era, and the idealized international style.

If it was just an old home, it would not have been a significant part of the story. But here the modern home speaks to the concept of the story, even if it is only a ghost of a modern home possessing a structure from an earlier era. Once again popular media leverages the modern home to signify the specialness of a place. They count on us understanding that distinction, as we all seem to do. We all know the modern house is unique, special, desirable. Yet the home building industry continues to ignore it. Isn't it time they woke up?

land rover comes home to the modern house

2010-02-26T17:51:00.001-05:00

In a TV commercial for the Land Rover Discovery we see a wide range of settings, all with traditional architecture, that is until the driver comes home. And they come home to none other than the Modern House.

Of all the places the driver encounters none but the home are modern - including an Art Museum. Even an Art Museum is a perfect candidate for modern architecture. But why not? Well, its simple. The driver does not own the Art Museum. The driver owns the house.

If you want the house to cast good vibes on your product, to make your product look desirable, to look like a possession of somebody who knows "the good stuff" to own, then of course you want to show your car owner pulling up to a modern house. You want viewers to desire your product, then you show them as the choice of people with good taste, people you want to be like. The thing that everybody seems to know is that we want to be like the guy with the modern house. Almost everybody knows that. Everybody but the housing industry in the US it seems.

Much thanks to Preston at Jeston Green for this one!

lexus says the modern house is natural

2010-02-26T17:12:00.001-05:00

In this new tv spot for the Lexus RX suv the modern house makes an appearance.

The incredbile thing is the theme of this new ad is "Act Naturally". Through a number of examples Lexus shows us how the operation of the technology in the RX is familiar, the same as using the mouse for your computer, pushing the button for the elevator, and even turning on the lights in your house. Yet the "Natural" example for a house is this very nice looking Modern House.

Amazing. So why the Modern House? Why not a traditional house, as we are sure that most Lexus buyers have? Its simple really. Its because Lexus knows as well as we do that the Modern House makes their product look better. It makes its technology seem more advanced, it makes its style seem better designed, it makes their product more desirable. Yet home builders in America have not caught on that the Modern House will do the same for their product. How come they don't seem to understand what the rest of us seem to know for sure?

caprica new tv series lives in the modern house

2010-02-07T00:56:00.002-05:00

A new series on the Syfy channel, Caprica, is set on a fictional world that appears very similar to our own. Perhaps a near future version of real life, the setting shows a city with buildings of all ages, new and old. One of the characteristics of this fictional world is that the setting is largely multi-theistic culture such as ancient Rome or Greece. As a result there the scenery often shows classical sculpture of gods and monumental buildings. Despite that one of the series main characters lives in an overtly modern house that has none of these classical references.

In the program this character is a the head of a large technology company, a successful tech company, hence the large home, the beautiful waterfront site, all the trappings of success. Yet the home is modern, not classical in a culture based on classical beliefs.

This is not really a big surprise. The home is highly technologically enabled. It contains a high tech lab for the owner's work, the enormous glass wall facing the water doubles as an enormous digital display, and the house is tended by an automated butler. But these things could all be incorporated into a classical house. Here the modern house is used to reinforce the character's role in technological change. The modern house frames the way we see him, and embodies a forward looking stance.

No indication if its a real house or a set. If anyone recognizes this we would love to hear about it.

Caprica at Syfy

Addendum: A little more Google research located this account of by someone who had visited the sets - apparently the Pilot for this show used a real house, and now the series is filming in a recreation of that house as a set. A quote from that link:

While not Galactica’s CIC, the Graystone mansion is magnificent. Pictures of it can be seen on various science fiction news websites, from Syfy’s Digital Press Tour last year. It is a recreation of the original house that was used in the pilot, and is indistinguishable from it; a testament to the construction and set decoration team on Caprica. The thing has two levels to it (upstairs and downstairs) and you could literally live there, with the minor exception that the “basement”â€”where Daniel’s lab-office can be foundâ€”isn’t really down below the main level at all. Furthermore, I’m not sure where the bathroom is, but I know what’s in their walk-in closets! The view of the water and mountain range from the massive living room windows is tremendous… and a fake backdrop that is, itself, completely impressive in its detail.

So for reference, the first picture above is from the Pilot and although this seems to have CGI additions it may be an alteration of a photo of a house in Vancouver. The second image is from the Pilot which means its the real house, and the third is from the series which means its on the set. The curtains seem to be a new addition to the space that we don't see in the second image.

I also found some photos of the set on this site where you can see clearly that the scenery outside the windows is painted. So where is this house, and who designed it? Arthur Erickson? YES! I believe I've found the actual house, and it appears that yes it was used for the inside, and the landscape around the house looks similar but the exterior appears to be something created for the show.

more vampire fever on the approach of new moon

2009-11-16T17:44:00.002-05:00

New Moon, the next installment of the Twilight vampire movies is due out a matter of days. As the fever pitches more information about the home used in the movie as the residence of the Cullens is breaking on the internet. Apparently the home is now up for sale, and hi res photos of the house can be seen on the realtor's web site.

Well once again the modern house is leveraged to signify that the characters who live there in the movie are cool. Yet our home builders can't seem to get that message. Truth remains stranger than fiction.

see more at newmoonmovie.org

fox's dollhouse promotes with the modern house

2009-10-13T10:25:00.002-04:00

Dollhouse, the science fiction/drama/action program on the Fox network is uses a modern setting for its secret headquarters. I've not posted it up till now as it is not really a house per say. But the show has taken a turn towards promoting the show with the Modern House. Check out this promotional photo showing the cast posing in what appears to be Case Study House #22 designed by Pierre Koenig. Its hard to tell where the photo stops and the photoshop begins. This is obviously framed like the historic Julius Shulman photo, but I can't tell if the photoshop work has been done over the famous photo or a remarkable simulation.

What can we say - Joss Whedon, the show's creator and producer, certainly knows cool. When it comes time to make the program look like something cool to watch, they turn to the Modern House, or the Modern Dollhouse.

Dollhouse ad at spoilertv

t-mobile seduces us again with the modern house

2009-07-23T22:10:00.002-04:00

T-Mobile has been unleashing a new series of commercials since they have brought back their former spokeswoman Catherine Zeta-Jones. In the latest of this series of commercials we see Jones in the kitchen of a beautiful modern home.

So what gives. Seems that T-Mobile bailed out of the traditional settings shown in the earlier spots in this campaign. In the earlier spots the traditional home owners were portrayed as sort of foolish and awkward in the presence of the T-Mobile spokeswomen. In this ad the owners are away, but their son is home and keeps his cool long enough to put his best moves on Jones, to no avail. Well at least we know the residents of the cool modern house are much smoother operators than those flustery traditional home owners. Yup, we want to be like them, and sure Catherine, what other mobile service would somebody as cool as us use.

Extra points for anybody who can ID that house. Cool stair. Nice handrail. Miesian column made of steel angles. Concrete slab floor. Plenty of visual clues if you've seen it before. Let us know in the comments.

dr pepper house identified

2009-07-14T11:33:00.001-04:00

Spotted the house from the Dr Pepper spot today on modern design blog Contemporist.

It is located in the hills above downtown LA, and at least for the present it is for sale. There you have it full circle - modern house used to sell soda, soda used to sell modern house. Many more photos at the above link.

volkswagon jackpot at MidModRedo

2009-07-03T11:10:00.000-04:00

Blogger & Reader Lesley has compiled all the Volkswagon commercials featuring the modern neighborhood on her blog. Here they are:

The minvan - growl - commercial

The Top Safety commercial

The Diesel vs Hybrid commercial

Thanks Lesley!

audi cuts and pastes its way to the modern house

2009-06-20T00:17:00.003-04:00

This is from Audi's German web site, but hey - we're not that picky when a company wants to leverage the modern house. And in this case Audi is shameless about it. Cut and paste that modern house right into that landscape, yep they'll all be able to tell and that's ok because we all know its all about the cool jive coming off that shiny house. And in this case the house is the Loftcube prefab, an interesting German proposal for a small relocatable dwelling. Obviously when Audi wants a backdrop to make their cars look good, they know they need to add a modern house to the landscape to prop up their product. They know it, we know it. American home builders? Hello?

Thanks to Domitype for spotting.

dr. pepper spins a party at the modern house

2009-06-03T22:35:00.001-04:00

In this new TV spot for Dr. Pepper we see a giant house party going on in a modern house. In fact it would be almost inconceivable to imagine this commercial set in a traditional colonial for instance. The kind of partying, the culture shown would just feel incongruent with a traditional house.

So Dr. Pepper knows it - they understand that the modern house makes the scene cool. They know that their product gains image, gains desirability, by placing it in the modern house. Never said, but so widely understood. So where is the smart builder developer who is going to hitch their wagon to that image, that desire? America is already sold, and they don't even know it.

Thanks to Preston at Jetson Green for locating this great example.

meet the volkswagen's modern house

2009-05-11T21:13:00.003-04:00

Volkswagen has been running a new series of tv ads all set in the driveway of a peculiar modern house. Aside from the talking cars being unusual the house has garage doors all the way across the front. But if you look closely behind the garage doors you'll notice that the house appears to be an iconic modern Eichler house. This is confirmed later in the spot when the car rolling down the street passes a never ending line of Eichler modern ranch houses.

So what gives? What kind of message is Volkswagen trying to send? Why not show their cars in front of ordinary McMasiony like houses since that's what most of their customers have anyway? Right? But no, instead they show their cars in front of perhaps the most iconic of modern homes, the Eichlers. Why would that be? Well, we all know that Volkswagon wants their cars to come across as smart, modern, and desirable. And so they want to place them in a setting that reinforces that. If they put them in front of an ordinary house, then their car would look, well... ordinary. So instead they put their cars in front of a house that looks cool, and that makes their cars look cool. And they rightly assume that everybody out there in TV land is going to understand that. They get the message that the car in front of the cool house is also cool. So then since we all understand that the modern house is cool, WHY CAN"T YOU GO OUT TO ANY PLACE IN THE COUNTRY WHERE HOUSES ARE BEING SOLD AND BUY A MODERN HOUSE? Because the idiots that build and sell the houses are the few people in the country that don't get it. Dopes.

A shout out to Robert McLaughlin for spotting this one.

twilight new movie has new modern house

2009-04-20T11:14:00.004-04:00

The Twilight vampire saga is currently filming a sequel, New Moon. If you recall the vampires in the first movie have a thing for modern houses. Fan espionage on the internet reveals that a new and different modern house may be standing in for the vampire's modern home in this second Twilight movie.

Images and a short video are posted at newmoonmovie.org.

Thanks to my daughter Lydia, our household's official Twilight modern house expert.