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The Case Study houses that made Los Angeles a modernist mecca

Mapping the homes that helped to define an era

Los Angeles is full of fantastic residential architecture styles, from Spanish Colonial Revival to Streamline Moderne. But the modernist Case Study Houses , sponsored by Arts & Architecture and designed between the 1940s and 1960s, are both native to Southern California and particularly emblematic of the region.

The Case Study series showcased homes commissioned by the magazine and designed by some of the most influential designers and architects of the era, including Charles and Ray Eames, Richard Neutra, and Pierre Koenig. The residences were intended to be relatively affordable, replicable houses for post-World War II family living, with an emphasis on “new materials and new techniques in house construction,” as the magazine’s program intro put it.

Technological innovation and practical, economical design features were emphasized—though the homes’ scintillating locations, on roomy lots in neighborhoods like Pacific Palisades and the Hollywood Hills , gave them a luxurious allure.

With the help of photographer Julius Shulman , who shot most of the homes, the most impressive of the homes came to represent not only new styles of home design, but the postwar lifestyle of the booming Southern California region.

A total of 36 houses and apartment buildings were commissioned; a couple dozen were built, and about 20 still stand in the greater Los Angeles area (there’s also one in Northern California, a set near San Diego, and a small apartment complex in Phoenix). Some have been remodeled, but others have been well preserved. Eleven were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2013.

Here’s a guide to all the houses left to see—but keep in mind that, true to LA form, most are still private residences. The Eames and Stahl houses, two of the most famous Case Study Houses, are regularly open to visitors.

As for the unconventional house numbering, post-1962 A&A publisher David Travers writes that the explanation is “inexplicable, locked in the past.”

Case Study House No. 1

J.R. Davidson (with Greta Davidson) designed this house in 1948 (it was actually his second go at Case Study House No. 1). It was intended for “a hypothetical family" with two working parents and was designed to require "minimum maintenance.”

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Case Study House No. 2

Case Study House No. 2 was designed in 1947 by Sumner Spaulding and John Rex. Arts & Architecture wrote that the home’s layout “achieves a sense of spaciousness and flexibility,” with an open living area and glass doors that lead out to adjoining terraces.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Samuel Dematraz (@samueldematraz) on Oct 28, 2018 at 1:07am PDT

Case Study House No. 7

Case Study House No. 7 was designed in 1948 by Thornton M. Abell. It has a “three-zone living area,” with space for study, activity, and relaxation/conversation; the areas can be separated by sliding panels or combined.

Eames House (Case Study House No. 8)

Legendary designer couple Charles and Ray Eames designed the Eames House in 1949 and even Arts & Architecture seemed kind of blown away by it. The home is built into a hillside behind a row of Eucalyptus trees on a bluff above Pacific Palisades. It's recognizable by its bright blue, red, and yellow panels. The Eameses lived in the house until their deaths. It’s now open to visitors five days per week, though reservations are required.

Entenza House (Case Study House No. 9)

The Entenza House was built in 1949 and designed by Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen for Arts & Architecture editor John Entenza. According to the magazine, “In general, the purpose was to enclose as much space as possible within a reasonably simple construction.”

Case Study House No. 10

Case Study House No. 10 was designed in 1947 by Kemper Nomland. The house is built on several levels to mold into its sloping site. Recently restored, the home sold to Kristen Wiig in 2017.

Case Study House No. 15

Designed by J.R. Davidson in 1947, Case Study House No. 15 has south walls made of huge glass panels. Its flagstone patio and indoor floor are at the same level for that seamless indoor-outdoor feel. According to the magazine, the floorplan “is basically that of another Davidson house, Case Study House No. 11,” which has been demolished.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Samuel Dematraz (@samueldematraz) on Nov 15, 2018 at 6:13am PST

Case Study House for 1953

Craig Ellwood’s Case Study House for 1953 is usually numbered as 16 in the Case Study series . It has a modular steel structure and “the basic plan is a four-foot modular rectangle.” But the interior walls stick out past the exterior walls to bring the indoors out and the outdoors in. The Bel Air house hit the market in November with a $3 million price tag.

Case Study House No. 17 (A)

Case Study House No. 17 (A) was designed by Rodney Walker in 1947. A tight budget kept the house at just 1,560 square feet, “but more space was gained through the use of many glass areas.” The house also has a large front terrace with a fireplace that connects the indoor living room fireplace. The house has been remodeled .

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Case Study House #17, 1947 (@casestudy17) on Jun 11, 2016 at 2:20pm PDT

Case Study House No. 17 (B)

Case Study House No. 17 (B) was designed in 1956 by Craig Ellwood, but “governed by a specific program set forth by the client.” Ellwood took into account the clients' collection of contemporary paintings and made the living room “purposely undersized” to work best for small gatherings. The house was extensively remodeled in the sixties by Hollywood Regency architect John Elgin Woolf and his partner, interior designer Robert Koch Woolf.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by BAUKUNST™ El Arte de Construir (@i_volante) on Aug 13, 2017 at 4:42pm PDT

West House (Case Study House No. 18 [A])

Case Study House No. 18 (A) was designed by Rodney Walker in 1948. The house is oriented toward the ocean, but set back from the cliff edge it sits on to avoid noise issues. As A&A says, "High above the ocean, the privacy of the open south and east exposures of Case Study House No. 18 can be threatened only by an occasional sea-gull." The house features a "bricked garden room" separated from the living room by a two-sided fireplace.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by CaseStudyHouse18A (@casestudyhouse18a) on Oct 6, 2018 at 8:44pm PDT

Fields House (Case Study House No. 18 [B])

Case Study House No. 18 (B) was designed by Craig Ellwood in 1958. Ellwood didn’t attempt to hide that the house was prefabricated (the magazine explains that he believed “that the increasing cost of labor and the decline of the craftsman will within not too many years force a complete mechanization of residential construction methods”). The components of the house, however, are “strongly defined with color: ceiling and panels are off-white and the steel framework is blue.” According to A&A' s website, the house has been remodeled.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by MCM Daily (@dc_hillier) on Oct 29, 2018 at 8:32pm PDT

Case Study House No. 20 [A])

This two-bedroom house was meant “to serve young parents who find they can afford just that much,” according to architect Richard Neutra’s description. He also wrote that he used several different kinds of natural wood in the house.

Bass House (Case Study House No. 20 [B])

The Bass House was designed in 1958 by Buff, Straub, and Hensman for famed graphic designer Saul Bass. It's “unique in that it was based upon the experimental use of several prefabricated Douglas fir plywood products as part of the structural concept,” including hollow-core plywood vaults that covered the central part of the house.

Case Study House No. 21

Pierre Koenig designed Case Study House No. 21 in 1958. It was originally completely surrounded by water, with a walkway and driveway spanning the moat at the front door and carport, respectively. The house was severely messed with over the years, but restored in the ’90s with help from Koenig.

Stahl House (Case Study House No. 22)

Pierre Koenig's Stahl House , designed in 1960, is probably the most famous house in Los Angeles, thanks to an iconic photo by Julius Shulman . The house isn't much to look at from the street, but its backside is mostly glass surrounding a cliff's-edge pool. Tours are available Mondays, Wednesdays, and Friday—but book well ahead of time, as they sell out quickly.

Case Study House for 1950

The unnumbered Case Study House for 1950 was designed by Raphael Soriano. It's rectangular, with living room and bedrooms facing out to the view. However, in the kitchen and eating areas, the house “turns upon itself and living develops around a large kitchen-dining plan opening upon a terrace which leads directly into the living room interrupted only by the mass of two fireplaces.” According to A&A 's website, the house has been remodeled.

Frank House (Case Study House No. 25)

The two-story Frank House was designed by Killingsworth, Brady, and Smith and Associates in 1962 and it sits on a canal in Long Beach. A reflecting pool with stepping stones leads to its huge front door and inside to an 18-foot high courtyard. The house sold in 2015 with some unfortunate remodeling .

Case Study House No. 28

Case Study House No. 28 was designed in 1966 by Conrad Buff and Donald Hensman. According to the magazine, “the architects were asked to design a house that incorporated face brick as the primary structural material to demonstrate its particular advantages.” They came up with a plan for two symmetrical wings joined by glass galleries.

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Case Study Houses

The Case Study Houses served as a blueprint and inspiration for Mid-Century homes in Southern California.

In 2013, ten Case Study House program residences were added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Relevant Places

Bass House (Case Study House #20B)

Case Study House #1

Case Study House #10

Case Study House #16

Case Study House #28

Entenza House (Case Study House #9)

Stahl House (Case Study House #22)

Triad (Case Study House #23A)

Triad (Case Study House #23C)

West House (Case Study House #18)

Launched in 1945 by John Entenza’s  Arts + Architecture  magazine, the Case Study House program commissioned architects to study, plan, design, and ultimately construct houses in anticipation of renewed building in the postwar years.

While the Case Study House program did not achieve its initial goals for mass production and affordability, it was responsible for some of Los Angeles’ most iconic and internationally recognized modern residences, such as the  Eames House (Case Study House #8)  by Charles and Ray Eames and the Pierre Koenig-designed  Stahl House (Case Study House #22) , famously photographed by Julius Shulman.

After a decade-long effort, L.A. Conservancy’s Modern Committee succeeded in listing ten Case Study residences on the National Register of Historic Places.

About This Issue

With an emphasis on experimentation, and a goal of promoting good, modern, affordable design for single-family homes, the program helped to disseminate the midcentury modern aesthetic through its thirty-five published plans. Of these, twenty-five houses and one apartment building were built in California and Arizona.

The program offered an unparalleled opportunity for commissions and publicity for established architects including Richard Neutra, J. R. Davidson, Sumner Spaulding, and William Wurster. It helped raise the profile of then-lesser-known designers including Craig Ellwood, A. Quincy Jones, Edward Killingsworth, Ralph Rapson, Eero Saarinen, and Raphael Soriano.

Our Position

On November 21, 2013, the  Los Angeles Conservancy Modern Committee was awarded a Governor’s Historic Preservation Award to recognize its work in nominating eleven Case Study Houses to the National Register of Historic Places.

Through the efforts of the Los Angeles Conservancy Modern Committee, eleven Case Study House residences in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Ventura counties are now recognized as nationally historic. Ten are officially listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and an eleventh was deemed eligible for listing.

Few of the Case Study Houses currently have preservation protections, and some have been demolished or significantly altered. This proactive step recognizes the eleven nominated homes and raises greater awareness about the Case Study House program while providing a historic context for future designation of the remaining eligible properties.

On May 1, 2013, the State Historical Resources Commission voted to recommend listing of ten Case Study Houses in the National Register of Historic Places.  These ten residences with certifying recommendations were submitted to the National Park Service for final review and listing by the Keeper of the National Trust.  They were formally listed on July 24, 2013.

An eleventh nominated residence, Case Study House #23A, was not formally listed because of owner objection, but it received a determination of eligibility for listing in the National Register. All eleven residences will be considered historic resources and will enjoy the same protections under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

Several Case Study Houses were not included in the nomination — if they’ve been altered or demolished, or for other reasons — but with this platform in place, it will be easier for other CSH homes to be nominated in the future.

Likewise, a few CSH houses, such as the  Eames House  (CSH #8), weren’t included because they’re already individually listed.

Eames House

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The Eames House, also known as Case Study House No. 8, is a landmark of mid-20th century modern architecture located in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles. It was designed and constructed in 1949 by husband-and-wife Charles and Ray Eames to serve as their home and studio. They lived in their home until their deaths: Charles in 1978 and Ray, ten years to the day, in 1988.

Charles described the house as unselfconscious . There is a sense of that “way-it-should-be-ness”. Charles and Ray designed a house specifically to meet their needs, but they were those universal needs that we all share as humans. They believed in the honest use of materials and straightforward connections. The details WERE the product!

And then by nestling the house into the hillside, rather than imposing it on the site, they realized their original intent: for the house in nature to serve as a re-orientor. The scent, the sound of birds, the shadow of the trees against the structure whether inside or out, the openness of the site—all the elements join seamlessly.

Charles said, “Just as a good host tries to anticipate the needs of his guest, so a good architect or a designer or a city planner tries to anticipate the needs of those who will live in or use the thing being designed.”

Come visit and explore how the house exemplifies many of the themes of the Eameses’ work: from furniture to exhibitions, the guest/host relationship, the iterative process that leads to meeting the need, the importance of the direct experience, the relation with nature, the life in work and work in life, the importance of details, and more. Together the structure, collections, and landscape tell the story of the couple’s approach to life and work.

The Eames House consists of two glass and steel rectangular boxes: one is a residence; one, a working studio, exploring process, materiality and color.

The Eameses looked at life as being an act of design. The residence is filled with the “stuff” of their living: the stuff that tells the story of their lives, interests and loves.

The Eames House structure and its contents are often the focus of attention, but the landscape is critical to their understanding. As Charles said, “Eventually everything connects”.

Help us share the Eameses’ joy and rigor with future visitors, so they may have a direct experience of Charles and Ray’s approach to life and work.

The Mid-Century Fairytale of LA’s Case Study Houses

Featured image credit: mbtrama

It’s not often that we get to witness experiments in architecture while they’re in motion. Yet, that’s exactly the experience case study houses offer. Arts & Architecture magazine challenged notable architects to create affordable homes to address the U.S.’s residential housing boom. With World War II finally coming to an end, millions of soldiers were returning home to start families or pick up where they’d left off. The need for new housing was crucial. Arts & Architecture funded the experiment which ran just over two decades from 1945 until 1966. While one of the homes was built in Northern California and another in Phoenix, Arizona, most were erected in the Southern California region. Today, we take a closer look at this innovative moment in California’s housing history. 

The Mid-Century Fairytale of Case Study Houses

It’s safe to say that the project piqued the public’s curiosity, drawing over 350,000 visitors to the initial six houses revealed in 1948. But Arts & Architecture did what it could to bring the case study houses to the Americans who couldn’t make the pilgrimage themselves. 

The magazine regularly featured the completed homes in its pages, often supported by the keen eye of photographer Julius Shulman. Working in moody black-and-white, Shulman brought a classiness to his legendary shots of the forward-thinking domiciles. Furthermore, having specialized in architectural photography, Shulman fit naturally into the ambitious project. 

Of course, his photographs benefited from the otherworldly glamor of Southern California. Homes perched proudly atop Hollywood hilltops with the stars seeming to bow at their feet. Other times, the open promises of the Pacific Ocean lapped at the perimeter while palms kissed cloudless skies. 

In a world that had recently clawed itself out of the burned out crater of a devastating war, Arts & Architecture offered a “happily ever after” that was just sensible enough to believe. Soon, the case study houses became synonymous with the aesthetic of post-war Southern California. 

Seeking Protections for SoCal’s Case Study Houses

The completed case study houses haven’t always had an easy time over the resulting decades. Some owners remodeled homes beyond recognition. Others razed them altogether.  

But in 2013, the Los Angeles Conservancy Modern Committee petitioned to include 11 of the homes in the national registry. These homes range throughout Southern California, from Ventura to San Diego, though most stand in the Greater Los Angeles area. 

Ultimately, the National Register of Historic Places accepted ten of these homes. The 11th would have made the list as well, but the private owner requested the home not appear on the official register. However, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) has protected all 11 of these case study houses since July 24, 2013.

While the Los Angeles Conservancy Modern Committee nominated whatever case study houses they could, some didn’t make the list. They excluded extensively remodeled properties. Yet, the successful inclusion of the 11 petitioned properties paved the way to potentially include remodeled properties in the future. Additionally, the committee neglected to nominate other well-known case study homes, such as the Eames house, simply because they already appeared on the register. 

Of the 11 homes submitted for registry, eight stand in Los Angeles County. Two more are located in San Diego County and another in Ventura County. Perhaps we’ll review those at a later date in our Los Angeles Home Spotlight column. But for today, we’re going to focus on the Los Angeles County offerings to the registry. 

Case Study House #1

10152 Toluca Lake Ave, Los Angeles

Architect: j.r. and greta davidson, year completed: 1948.

Don’t let the number system fool you. Case study house #1 was not the program’s first home to be constructed. Thus, we introduce the notoriously irrational numbering system of the case study program. Even the editor of Arts & Architecture admitted there’s little to no rhyme or reason to the numbers. 

J.R. Davidson, a force in the early days of California architecture, designed this home with the assistance of his wife, Greta. Efficiency was at the heart of the architecture as the Davidsons envisioned the busy lives of two working parents. Case study house #1 would allow working families more free time by keeping daily maintenance to a minimum. 

This case study abode also introduced a series of features that became hallmarks of the program including:

• Open floor plan
• Floor-to-ceiling windows
• Keeping corridors to a minimum
• Multi-purpose rooms
• Garden access from all primary rooms
• Standardized materials (ie. concrete, plywood, and industrial glass)

Case Study House #9

205 Chautauqua Blvd, Los Angeles

Architect: charles eames and eero saarinen, year completed: 1949.

Case study home #9 is popularly recognized as the Entenza House since it was built for Arts & Architecture ’s editor and publisher John Entenza. Designers Charles Eames and Eero Saarinen challenged themselves to offer a wealth of space with simple, minimalist construction. The home, built from a steel frame and covered in wood-paneling, overlooks the Pacific Ocean from a scenic hill in Pacific Palisades. 

Case Study House #10

711 S. San Rafael Ave, Pasadena

Architect: kemper nomland and kemper nomland, jr., year completed: 1947.

This tri-level structure would have existed regardless of the case study program. That’s because it wasn’t built in response to the program. Rather, it just happened to fit many of the ideals of the program including:

• Utilization of contemporary materials
• Employing modern building techniques
• Affordable to working class Americans
• Simple construction
• Economic use of materials
• Blending of indoor and outdoor features

So, how did this unrelated structure come to be case study house #10? Just two years into the case study program, Arts & Architecture were having trouble keeping a consistent pace. Without the completion of a new house on the horizon, they needed to find a way to keep the inertia. 

So, despite the fact that Kemper Nomland and son had already built the home without regard to the program, its symbiosis found it ripe for inclusion. The Nomlands used the home’s multi-level design to fit it to a Pasadena hillside. In 2017, it sold to comedian, actress, and Saturday Night Live alum Kristen Wiig. 

Case Study House #16

1811 Bel Air Rd, Los Angeles

Architect: craig ellwood, year completed: 1953.

The designer of case study home #16 (although that number changes depending on who you ask) was one of the most prolific in the program. So, it may come as a surprise that Craig Ellwood actually had no formal design instruction. Rather, he learned what he knew through his contracting work. It was enough to place his homes not once, not twice, but three times in the case study program. 

Sadly, two of Ellwood’s designs have been remodeled beyond recognition. Thus, case study home #16 is the only remainder we have of his unique vision in relation to the program. Ellwood was noted for his propensity to use industrial materials and techniques for residential purposes. 

But, as this home illustrates, he also had a gift for blending interiors and exteriors. This Bel Air home blurs the lines between the inside and outside by stretching inner walls beyond the outer walls. 

Case Study House #18

199 Chautauqua Blvd, Los Angeles

Architect: rodney walker.

Pacific Palisades was a popular place for the case study program. Though it appears later on the list than home #8, home #18 (sometimes referred to as 18A) was the first to be completed in the area. Overlooking the tumultuous Pacific Ocean, the structure is built atop a cliff far away from the battering waves. It’s also positioned back from the cliff’s edge to reduce the roar of the sea. 

But perhaps the most notable feature of Rodney Walker’s contribution to the program is the fireplace. The floor-to-ceiling double-sided brick fireplace is shared by a living room on one side and an interior garden room on the other. Three neighboring homes, including the aforementioned #8, would join #18 in the case study program over the next few years. 

Case Study House #20

2275 N. Santa Rosa Ave, Altadena

Architect: conrad buff iii, calvin c. straub, and donald c. hensman, year completed: 1958.

While the majority of case study houses being built in the late 1950s employed steel, case study house #20 was crafted from a variety of natural woods. The design team from architectural firm Buff, Straub, and Hensman leveled a decaying estate in Altadena to bring their economical vision to life. The idea was to create a home for young parents who couldn’t afford more than the essentials. However, the home went to industrial designer Saul Bass and his biochemist wife Dr. Ruth Bass. 

Case Study House #21

9038 Wonderland Park Ave, Los Angeles

Architect: pierre koenig, year completed: 1959.

Pierre Konig was a regular contributor to the case study program with his steel framed take on residential living. It was a trend that never quite caught on, but not for his lack of trying. One of the most notable case study houses, the Stahl House (#22 for those counting at home), was a result of Koenig’s lust for steel. 

Case study house #21 was dreamt up as a model for efficient modern living with the possibility of mass production. But it was originally distinguished by a surrounding moat. The home was accessible via walkways at the front entry and carport. Though this property was extensively remodeled over the decades, Koenig returned to it in the 1990s to attempt to aid in its return to its original vision. 

Case Study House #22

1635 Woods Dr, Los Angeles

Year completed: 1960.

Easily the most iconic of the case study homes on this list, case study house #22 is reserved for Koenig’s aforementioned Stahl House. It seems to float above the Greater Los Angeles area, kissing the interminable blue sky with the corners of its flat roof. To create this effect, Koenig employed the largest piece of glass available to commercial enterprises at the time. Furthermore, Koenig worked with the cliff’s edge site instead of against it to create a piece of LA history you can visit to this day. 

The Aftermath of the Case Study Program

While the case study program aimed to build 36 examples of modern living, builders never completed (or even started) several planned homes. For example, case study house #19 would have been erected in the San Francisco Bay area. On the other hand, home #27 wouldn’t have even been in California. It was marked to be constructed in Smoke Rise, New Jersey. 

The majority of LA’s remaining case study houses are private residences, yet two remain open to public tours. The Eames and Stahl Houses can be visited by scheduling a tour through their respective websites. 

Will we ever see another age of innovation like the case study houses commissioned by Arts & Architecture magazine? It’s hard to say, but we hope it doesn’t take us another war to get there. 

Seth Styles

• Seth Styles https://www.johnhartrealestate.com/blog/author/sethjhhre-com/ The Mojave Phone Booth: The Remote Desert Payphone That Rang for No One and Everyone
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CASE STUDY HOUSES : UNBUILT

CSH 24 was designed by A. Quincy Jones and Frederick E. Emmons in 1961.  It features a sunken living space surrounded by outdoor rooms.  The house is partially embedded within the landscape, surrounded by a retaining wall.  

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Case Studies 06/18/2024

Before offering the new Sanipit GR CB to their customers, Notturno management decided to put the product to the ultimate test in their own shop.

FOXBORO, MA – Notturno Home Services specializes in plumbing, HVAC, and electrical work. Founded by owners Mike and Julia Notturno 17 years ago, the company has grown to employ around 40 people. Its expertise includes service, repairs, replacements, and installations, with a particular focus on basement bathroom installations.

One of the challenges the Notturno Home team frequently encounters is with sewage ejectors, especially older models that have metal tops that are prone to corrosion and lack proper sealing for existing pits. According to co-owner Mike Notturno, they often have to cut out old pits and find new covers due to the difficulty in sourcing suitable replacements for older models.

To address the common issues encountered with traditional sewage ejectors, the Notturno team turned to an innovative new product, thanks to a reputable supplier’s recommendation: the Sanipit 24 GR and Sanipit 24 GR CB, manufactured in France by SFA Saniflo. Upon discovering the Sanipit, the team decided to put it to the ultimate test in their own building.

“We wanted to test Saniflo’s new sewage ejector technology in our building before installing them in customers’ homes,” explains Notturno. “This way, we can evaluate their performance and check for issues before their usage. So far, we’ve had really good luck with its functionality.”

With fixtures including a slop sink, vanity, and toilet draining into the sewage ejector, Notturno Homes installed the Sanipit 24 GR CB for this new installation.

Like its counterpart for retrofit applications, the Sanipit 24 GR, the Sanipit 24 GR CB provides the most reliable and hassle-free grinder pump kit on the market. Both items are fully packaged and pre-assembled with a built-in 1 HP grinder motor, air-pressure mechanism, and an external control and alarm system. But the Sanipit 24 GR CB, which is intended for new installations, also includes a heavy-duty HDPE basin measuring 24 inches in diameter and depth to encase the internals.

Key to the Sanipit solution is its use of short cycling thermo-magnetic motors, a feature already present in existing SFA Saniflo pumps. The Sanipit is equipped with a triple-redundant pressure switch system, each with its own dip tube, designed to make failure nearly impossible. This setup ensures continuous, clog-free wastewater flow, significantly reducing the need for repairs. Designed to meet both specifiers’ and installers’ needs, the Sanipit 24 GR CB package offers unmatched reliability and maintenance-free longevity thanks to this advanced waste-detection system.

Another key differentiator of the Sanipit is the ability to create a dry cavity within the pit. Believe it or not, other pumping systems are designed to sit directly in sewage, making service work an extremely unpleasant chore. SFA Saniflo’s design keeps the components and the motor separate, ensuring a hassle-free and mess-free experience for plumbing installers and service technicians.

“I think if you can prevent anything from sitting in water, it’s a great idea,” says Notturno. “It helps with corrosion and other issues. The product’s serviceability is also an improvement over other alternatives, largely because you’re not always dealing with a pit full of sewage, which can get pretty nasty. The guys won’t complain too much about it if they have to go service one of these.

“After installing the unit in our own building,” he continues, “we quickly learned that the Sanipit solves the challenge of replacing and sealing old sewage ejectors properly, providing new internals for the entire pit, as well as the opportunity for newer technology features such as the alarm and detection system.”

According to Notturno, his in-house team of skilled technicians completed the Sanipit installation without a hitch and quickly came to appreciate the product’s user-friendly features compared with other ejectors in the market.

“Our technicians said the installation went well,” he says, adding: “It was pretty similar to every other sewage ejector install — basic and straightforward, and we didn’t hear any complaints. Our team has installed a lot of Zoeller and Liberty pumps. This was their first Sanipit, but they enjoyed it.”

After a month in operation, the team’s feedback indicated smooth performance without any hiccups, reflecting positively on the product’s reliability and efficiency.

“So far, so good,” Notturno reports. “It’s working well, and we haven’t had any complaints or issues. No news is good news, right?”

Looking ahead, Notturno expressed confidence in recommending the Sanipit to customers, especially in scenarios involving the repair or replacement of existing ejectors. Notturno cites the ease of installation, advanced alarm systems, and, once again, the notable feature of keeping the pump out of the wastewater as significant advantages that could sway end-users towards choosing the Sanipit to meet their plumbing needs.

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Systems leadership case study: workplanning using systems thinking.

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Thomas Lim is the Vice-Dean of Centre for Systems Leadership at SIM Academy. He is an AI+Web3 practitioner & author of Think.Coach.Thrive!

Workplanning usually involves a confluence of top-down and bottom-up approaches in many organizations. Some broad annual guidance is given by the CEO, with Finance providing a budget forecast based on historical data and the strategic imperatives for the new fiscal year. The line divisions then prepare and present a list of initiatives that purportedly contribute to these imperatives and justify their budget-ask.

This generally works in stable environments where the workplanning objectives are incremental as part of a longer five-year duration, but it may be inadequate in managing transformation efforts with the need for new systemic structures due to the merging or dissolving of functional areas within the organization.

Systems thinking provides a holistic approach to understanding and managing complex systems from the current reality to a desired outcome, making it an ideal tool for recasting workplans to enhance efficiency and effectiveness.

In the case of Client X, they aimed to leverage systems leadership practices to transform internally and propagate these practices first across its internal divisions, with the goal of taking it to the ecosystem at large. This article outlines a high-level approach to recasting the workplan using systems thinking tools, which has helped Client X align its initiatives, identify gaps and overlaps and achieve strategic objectives.

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Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, what is systems thinking.

Systems thinking is an approach to problem-solving that views "problems" as parts of a unified whole. It involves understanding how different parts of a system interact and influence each other within the system. Unlike traditional linear thinking, systems thinking considers the broader context and the interconnections within the system and provides a systems map wherein these interactions are perceived as system-to-system, subsystem-to-subsystem or component-to-component.

In the case of Client X, adopting systems thinking means moving away from siloed operations and toward a more integrated and cohesive approach whereby a division’s work is mapped against another for synergistic outcomes. This can help the organization address complex challenges, improve decision-making and foster innovation by removing duplication and identifying implementation gaps.

Recasting The Workplan

The workplan recasting effort begins with "taking apart" the current work streams, not along the divisions’ lines of work but from an overall organizational lens. The leaders participating in this exercise have already been trained in the fundamentals of systems thinking tools. The three-day effort is about applying the systems concepts to model Client X’s journey from its current reality to its desired outcome through its articulated theory of success. The three-day session revolves around these workpieces both at the organizational level and at each strategic level:

1. Align And Select Tools/Models: Select the appropriate systems models and frameworks to guide the recasting process.

2. Apply Systems Thinking Practices: Rework existing work streams of the workplan as layers of interaction across nested hierarchies for each strategy.

3. Identify Interconnectedness: Understand how various initiatives are interconnected and the causal loops that would guide the process.

4. Identify Gaps And Overlaps: Detect any gaps and overlaps in the initiatives to optimize efforts and budgetary choices.

The specific steps that the team undertook during the three-day process included the following.

Step 1: Articulate Vision And Current Reality

Begin by clearly defining the vision and the current reality of the organization. This involves understanding the structural gap between where Client X is and where it wants to be. This step helps in identifying the key challenges and opportunities.

Step 2: Recast Workplan As A Nested Hierarchy Of Choices

Recast the workplan as a nested hierarchy of choices to ensure that decisions at every level are aligned and relevant. This helps in clarifying the strategic intent and who is responsible for what and aids in surfacing gaps and duplications, enabling better resource allocation and prioritization.

Step 3: Cluster Use Cases, And Prioritize Challenge Statements

Cluster the use cases, and prioritize the top three challenge statements that need to be addressed. This focuses the efforts on the most critical issues and ensures that resources are used effectively.

Step 4: Work On Chosen Challenge Statements

The selected challenge statements are put through using the levels of perspective "walk-up" framework to surface and test mental models for diagnosis. This helps in understanding the underlying assumptions and beliefs that drive current behaviors and outcomes.

Step 5: Create A Theory Of Success

Develop a theory of success that identifies the key levers at higher leverage for achieving the desired outcomes from key success factors. This provides a clear road map for action and helps in aligning efforts across the organization.

Step 6: Co-Create A Walk-Down Of The Levels Of Perspective

Collaborate with stakeholders to create a walk-down of the levels of perspective. This step aligns the challenge statement and diagnosis with a related growth strategy, ensuring that all efforts are coherent and strategic.

By integrating systems thinking into the recasting of its workplan, Client X was able to achieve a more cohesive, efficient and effective approach to its initiatives. The workplan was still central in execution, but it is now reinforced and streamlined for internal alignment in a way that was not possible before overlaying the systems thinking perspectives.

This approach can be extrapolated to enable other organizations to address complex challenges, optimize resource allocation and drive strategic outcomes. A coaching reinforcement can additionally be put in place to ensure that these practices are deeply embedded within the organization, leading to sustained transformation and growth.

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How Did Materials Shape the Case Study Houses?

• Written by Lilly Cao
• Published on May 20, 2021

The Case Study Houses (1945-1966), sponsored by the Arts & Architecture Magazine and immortalized by Julius Shulman ’s iconic black-and-white photographs, may be some of the most famous examples of modern American architecture in history. Designed to address the postwar housing crisis with quick construction and inexpensive materials, while simultaneously embracing the tenets of modernist design and advanced contemporary technology, the Case Study Houses were molded by their central focus on materials and structural design. While each of the homes were designed by different architects for a range of clients, these shared aims unified the many case study homes around several core aesthetic and structural strategies: open plans, simple volumes, panoramic windows, steel frames, and more. Although some of the Case Study Houses’ materials and strategies would become outdated in the following decades, these unique products and features would come to define a historic era of architectural design in the United States.

Among the most important unifying aesthetic strategies of the Case Study projects was a modernist focus on exposed structure and functional design. The Eames House (Case Study House 8), designed by prominent industrial design couple Charles and Ray Eames, was intended to express man’s life in the modern world using “straightforward, unselfconscious” design. Thus, the designers made no attempt to conceal or disguise the structural functions of the steel: it acted as interlocking decking and open-webbed joists on the roof, sashing for windows and doorways, exterior wall siding, and H-beams securing the home’s rectangular frame. The most that these components were altered was with an unobtrusive coating of paint: the façade’s steel beams were originally painted a “warm grey” that over time became glossy black, while the Ferrobord steel roof decking system was painted white on its underside with open-web joists left exposed and alternately painted white, black, and yellow. These paint treatments, rather than obscuring the structural performance of these steel pieces, only served to highlight and integrate them within the building’s larger design scheme of colorful paints and panels.

Two of the other most famous Case Study Houses , the Bailey House (Case Study House 21) and the Stahl House (Case Study House 22), were designed by Pierre Koenig and similarly embraced what were then advanced steel construction strategies. Koenig had had previous hands-on experience with steel construction: while still enrolled as an architecture student at the University of Southern California, he designed and built his first steel-framed house for himself and his family. For the Bailey House, he used four prefabricated steel bents to compose the home’s steel framing system and another three half-span bents for the covered carport. Designed according to an L-shaped plan with a solid rectangular core that housed utilities, the volume was a simple rectangular box with visual emphasis placed on the steel structural skeleton. In the core, the sandwiched steel decking walls concealed insulation wiring and pipes, while the perimeter language of the home alternated between sliding glass doors and opaque steel walls. Koenig’s Stahl House , which was built several years later, similarly embraced a simple L-shaped rectangular volume with alternating steel beams and panoramic glass windows.

Aesthetically functioning hand-in-hand with the stripped steel frame, glass windows are therefore another essential component of many of the Case Study Houses . Three sides of the Stahl House were made with plate glass, the largest available size at the time, allowing for panoramic views from the site’s elevated Los Angeles hillside. Similarly, the Eames House variously utilized clear polished plate glass, factrolite textured glass, wire-embedded safety glass, and translucent corrugated glass, which helped cast planes, shadows, and beams of light through the steel frame and colored façade panels. Using the factrolite glass for privacy and the wire-embedded glass for utilitarian uses and safety, the Eames couple made glass an essential part of the house’s aesthetic and functional design.

This material illuminated another one of the Case Study House’s most essential aesthetic strategies: facilitating a connection with nature by merging and reflecting interior and exterior. Each of the homes utilized an open plan and glass façade explicitly open to their natural surroundings, with some—including the Eames House, Bailey House, Stahl House, and Case Study House 28—incorporating an artificial courtyard, pool, or pond as well. In the Eames House, which included a rectangular residential building and separate studio building connected linearly by an intermediate courtyard, the doors, curtains, and windows could be opened to unify the site into a single long open-air span. In the Bailey House, which incorporated a small shallow pond along the perimeter, the pond mirrored the reflectiveness of the panoramic windows and made the structure appear as if it was floating. Moreover, while the interior core of the house—including bathrooms and utility areas—was largely concealed by opaque steel walls, the roof was pierced to allow access to exterior elements in even these private spaces. Finally, melting the barriers between interior and exterior through the extensive use of glass, Case Study House 28 incorporated a total of 4500 square feet of glass windows shaded by large overhangs.

This connection to nature was facilitated by other material strategies as well. In Koenig’s Bailey House, the pond water was actually circulated up through the gutters and roof scuppers, rendering it an early experiment with environmental control systems. In the Eames House, a long tallowwood wall (tallowwood being the hard, durable wood of eucalyptus trees) was installed parallel to the line of eucalyptus trees gracing the front of the façade. These experiments in incorporation and reflection tempered the efficiency and functionalism of high modernist design with a correlative attention to nature.

Another important part of the Case Study House experiment was their use of new postwar materials and technologies. The Eames House, for example, used the Celotex Corporation’s Cemesto , a pioneering, pre-engineered construction panel that was touted at the time for its low maintenance and ease of installation. With a structural strength that entirely eliminated the need for intermediate structural support, the Cemesto panel could function simultaneously as an interior and exterior wall surface with no extra insulation, protective coating, or interior wall surfacing. The Eames House also utilized Wall-tex, a form of waterproof protection and wear resistance for interior walls invented in 1931, and plyon, a type of laminated lightweight material for cabinetry facing that was originally used in aircraft during World War II. These products demonstrated the design mission of the Case Study Houses as efficient residences for modern Americans.

Yet despite these many unifying characteristics, each of the Case Study Houses featured important material idiosyncrasies as well. The design motivation for Case Study House 28, for example, was to use the traditional material of facebrick in a structural, modern way. Thus, almost the entirety of the house was constructed with facebrick and glass, meaning it also required almost no maintenance or finishes. The use of brick was highly unusual among the Case Study Houses, most of which, as stated above, predominately used steel, glass, and occasionally wood or concrete. Likewise, the Eames House is perhaps most famous for its colorful paneling, mixing Grey Cemesto panels, off-white, black, blue, and orange/red plaster panels, and gold leaf or photographic panels in special locations around the site. Finally, the Entenza House , which Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen codesigned, similarly utilized a simplistic and flexible steel frame structure yet chose to conceal this structure with interior wood paneled cladding.

Over time, the flaws in the original material choices were also slowly revealed: many of the case study houses used only single panel glass, which would prove to make passive temperature control difficult and thus poor from a sustainability perspective. Most tellingly, the Stahl House—which may be the most famous of the Case Study Houses--, while remembered fondly by its inhabitants, would also have to suffer important changes to make it more livable: replacing the windows with shatterproof glass, adding a walkway around the cantilevered living room for window washers, and covering the floors with carpet to make them safer for children.

Altogether, the materials of the Case Study Houses played an essential role in their aesthetics, structures, and function. Despite the incredible innovations and advancements that would change architecture dramatically in the years following, these materials would nevertheless define one of the most iconic eras of American modernist architecture. Embracing stripped-back structural aesthetics, a connection to nature, advanced technology and materials, and experimental design, these houses—and their materials—represented the vanguard of modern construction and design.

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SPEM1 Gene Mutation in a Case with Sperm Morphological Defects Leading to Male Infertility

• Male Reproduction: Case Study
• Published: 17 June 2024

Cite this article

• Shruti Sethi 1 , 2 ,
• Poonam Mehta 1 , 2 ,
• Waseem Andrabi 3 ,
• Kalyan Mitra 1 , 2 &
• Singh Rajender   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4592-6566 1 , 2  

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The present study aimed at identifying the genetic mutation responsible for teratozoospermic infertility in a case with coiled sperm tails. A 33-year-old infertile male was diagnosed with teratozoospermic infertility, with sperm head in coiled (HIC) tail as the most common deformity. We employed whole exome sequencing to identify the genetic cause in this case. Exome sequencing data was filtered using the following criteria: MAF (< 0.003), ALFA project (< 0.001), 1000 Genomes (< 0.003), Granthem (> 50), Polyphen-2 (> 0.70), SIFT (< 0.03), and PhyloP (> = 0) scores. Shortlisted variants were looked in the in-house 29 exomes data available with us, and the variants that affected conserved amino acid residues or led to insertion/deletion or to protein-truncation with a Combined Annotation Dependent Depletion (CADD) score ≥ 10 were shortlisted. The variants thus populated were prioritized according to their roles in spermiogenesis. The study identified a heterozygous mutation c.826C > T (Arg276Trp) in the SPEM1 gene as a potential pathogenic variant that led to teratozoospermic infertility in the case under investigation. The mutation had a minor allele frequency of 0.00008176 in the gnomAd database and was absent in the Indian Genome Variations database. This is the first human study reporting a mutation in the SPEM1 gene as a cause of coiled sperm tails.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for funding this study under MLP2026. Shruti Sethi and Poonam Mehta would like to thank the University Grants Commission for graduate fellowship (191620102885/CSIR-UGC NET DEC.2019) and (460/CSIR-UGC NET DEC.2017), respectively. We acknowledge the technical assistance provided by Mr. Jeevan Prakash Pandey in SEM experiments. This manuscript bears CDRI communication number 10757.

The authors are thankful to the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research for funding under MLP2026.

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Shruti Sethi, Poonam Mehta, Kalyan Mitra & Singh Rajender

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SR supervised and monitored the study. SS carried out sequencing work. PM provided intellectual inputs for case investigation. WA provided the sample. KM supervised electron microscopy. SS, PM and SR wrote the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Singh Rajender .

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The study was approved by the institutional ethics committee of CSIR-CDRI (CDRI/IEC/2015/A1) and the study was performed in accordance with the ethical standards as mentioned in 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments.

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Sethi, S., Mehta, P., Andrabi, W. et al. SPEM1 Gene Mutation in a Case with Sperm Morphological Defects Leading to Male Infertility. Reprod. Sci. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-024-01612-w

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Received : 21 December 2023

Accepted : 29 May 2024

Published : 17 June 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s43032-024-01612-w

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Sen. Tim Scott and Dr. Ben Carson host Juneteenth commemoration

WASHINGTON (Gray DC) -[ANCHOR] Juneteenth is a holiday marking the end of slavery in America.

To commemorate the day and its significance, Senator Tim Scott and Dr. Ben Carson teamed up at the Library of Congress.

It’s a holiday they say is joyous but complicated.

In 1863, Abraham Lincoln signed the emancipation proclamation, declaring that all persons held as slaves shall be free.

But in southern states, it wouldn’t be until two years later that freedom became law.

Juneteenth marks the day all slaves became free.

Nandi Walcott is with the Institute of Caribbean Studies, “It’s very important for us to keep our culture and history alive.”

She adds, it’s a day of reflection, and an opportunity to celebrate and recognize how far we’ve come, “Juneteenth is a great way to give us an opportunity to look back at the mistakes we made of us as a country.”

Senator Tim Scott views the day as a reminder of the work left to do.

“We, the collective, have work to be done to make sure that the next generation has more mountains to climb and fewer valleys to live in.”

Juneteenth was officially declared a federal holiday by President Joe Biden on June 17, 2021.

Copyright 2024 Gray DC. All rights reserved.

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