December 13, 2006

Friend and sparring partner to many Modernist architects and artists, editor of Architectural Forum, and the architect of several notable homes in the Hamptons communities of eastern Long Island, Peter Blake’s contributions to his field ranged far and wide. He died in Branford, Connnecticut, on December 5.

Born in Berlin in 1920 as Peter Jost Blach, his family fled the Nazis to England. When World War II broke out he moved to the States to study architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, working briefly for Louis Kahn. In 1944 he changed his name to Blake and became an American citizen, marking a new era of rollicking friendships with artists like Jackson Pollock and Charles Eames.

In 1948 Blake curated architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art, moving on to edit the now-defunct magazine Architectural Forum. From 1950 to 1972 he galvanized readers with trenchant observations of architectural trends and insights into the home-building industry. He then founded and ran his own magazine, Architecture Plus, until 1975. A vivid, prolific writer, Blake’s books include critical studies of Marcel Breuer, Frank Lloyd Wright, Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe, and Philip Johnson. His 1977 manifesto, Form Follows Fiasco: Why Modern Architecture Hasn’t Worked vented frustration with some of Modernism’s manifestations, while the 1993 No Place Like Utopia: Modern Architecture and the Company We Kept infused critical musings with personal anecdote.

Blake also taught architecture at several schools, serving from 1979 to 1986 as chairman of architecture and planning at Catholic University in Washington.

Blake the architect might be best known for his 1949 “Ideal Museum.” Designed but never built, Blake imagined a structure behind Jackson Pollock’s house in East Hampton where his paintings sat between mirrored walls to create infinite views into the works. Other Blake-designed Hamptons homes include the Russell House (with Julian Neski, 1956) and the Armstrong House on the Montauk Cliffs (1961).

Jude Stewart

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