Acrylic, metal, paint, stone, textile, wood
Not on view
A continuous metal lattice defines the main volume of Nelson's Suspended House, above which sits the roof, supported by a large steel frame. A simple concrete and glass-block volume intersects the mesh enclosure, creating a mezzanine and roof terrace. The house's open structural cage was a daring architectural experiment using the modernist concept of the free plan. Enclosures for private spaces are suspended from the steel frame and connected by ramps. All remaining open space is given over to the display of art, which, as with Theo van Doesburg's Café Aubette (1927), also exhibited here, is integral to the architectural concept. Nelson, who was closely connected to the modern art movement in the 1930s, invited Alexander Calder, Joan Miró, and Fernand Léger to decorate this model with scaled versions of their artwork. Wassily Kandinsky said of Nelson's creative oeuvre, "His work is a synthesis of everything we attempted to do."
75 Years of Architecture at MoMA, 2007.
Explore more
From MoMA Design Store
Installation views
We have identified this work in the following photos from our exhibition history.
Licensing
Artwork or archival images
If you would like to reproduce an image of a work of art in MoMA's collection, or an image of a MoMA publication or archival material (including installation views, checklists, and press releases), please contact Art Resource (publication in North America) or Scala Archives (publication in all other geographic locations).
Audio and film clips
MoMA licenses archival audio and select out of copyright film clips from our film collection. At this time, MoMA produced video cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. All requests to license archival audio or out of copyright film clips should be addressed to Scala Archives at [email protected]. Motion picture film stills cannot be licensed by MoMA/Scala. For access to motion picture film stills for research purposes, please contact the Film Study Center at [email protected]. For more information about film loans and our Circulating Film and Video Library, please visit Circulating Film and Video Library.
Text from a publication or the archives
If you would like to reproduce text from a MoMA publication, please email [email protected]. If you would like to publish text from MoMA's archival materials, please fill out this permission form and send to [email protected].
Feedback
This record is a work in progress. If you have additional information or spotted an error, please fill out this feedback form.