Robert Judson Clark

Designing with Nature provides a vivid account of a pivotal chapter in the architectural history of Northern California. Set in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the documentary examines the work of several major architects who were influenced by Arts and Crafts ideals, as well as by the reformist ethos of the Progressive Era. These designers sought to create an architecture suited to the landscape, climate, and emerging culture of the region. Rejecting Victorian excess and the artificial separation of art and craft, they strove to create an organic architecture based on unified design and harmony with nature.

PURSUING BEAUTY: The Architecture of Bernard Maybeck tells the story of a 19th century romantic who used 20th century materials to create buildings that speak across time. The body of work that Maybeck created is remarkably diverse - by turns antique and modern, rustic and refined, theatrical and sublime. His projects reveal an original vision, a reverence for nature, a commitment to community, and a deep and abiding love of beauty. Over twenty of Maybeck's important works are featured in Pursuing Beauty, including his best known project, the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Also seen are Hearst Hall at the University of California; Wyntoon in Siskiyou County: the George Boke, Andrew Lawson, J.H. Senger, and Albert Schneider houses, all in Berkeley; the Samuel Goslinsky and Leon Roos houses in San Francisco; First Church of Christ Scientist in Berkeley; the Guy Hyde Chick House in Oakland; and several buildings at Principia College in Elsah, Illinois.