Residential Architecture
Bubble House – 1954
The core of Noyes' thinking was Architecture--the only discipline in which he was formally trained (at Harvard GSD under Walter Gropius). Throughout his career, his buildings show incremental Idea development alongside invention of new themes. He then applied the same reasoning and insights to other disciplines.
In architecture, Noyes’ residences most clearly show his expansion and growing sophistication. Smaller and less expensive than corporate buildings- house are ideal platforms on which to experiment.
Eliot Noyes said about his Architectural training and further development:
“There was a new idea….. (it seemed new) – new word – FUNCTIONALISM – so many eclectic buildings worked so badly – to clean the air start fresh with the use and see if it doesn’t produce architecture.” “’Form follows function’, said Sullivan. ‘House is machine for living’, Corbu. So, for me and others in school, respect for function became an almost unbreakable rule.”
“A house had to fit around functions because we were determined to eliminate false fronts, irrelevant detail and pomposities and to provide a new reasonableness.” “We had catchwords to support the idea and also we now understand better and don’t take it so rigidly.” Functions were okay, but we were to learn that functionalism is not modern architecture – or any architecture, a point that still escapes many people.”
“There is a much quoted phrase of an English humanist, Sir Henry Wootton — (I believe he borrowed from Vitruvius) ‘Well building hath three conditions — commodity, firmness and delight.’ For commodity, you may read usefulness or functionalism. For firmness you could say structure. For delight you could say beauty.”
“It seems that during our schooling we clutched at commodity — functions — for guidance in design. More recently we have been giving special attention to the role of structure — firmness — and the expressive revealing of structure in architecture — leading to experiments in steel, thin shell concrete, cantilevers and so on. We are now still older and wiser, and I find that this relative maturity brings a greater assurance and ability to use functional planning and structural ingenuity to produce the human qualities of delight — or beauty. This newest attitude has led me at least into doing things in relation to function that would have been immediately ruled out by myself in 1934 or 35.”
Simonsen House – 1959
Graham House – 1970
Ault House – 1951
Corporate Architecture
Designing large buildings was integral to the overall design programs developed by Noyes for his corporate clients. While some buildings were designed by the Noyes office, others were designed by different firms recommended by Noyes. The aim in all cases was to maintain consistency, quality, and a style appropriate to each corporation.
Thomas Watson, CEO IBM, said:
“In the course of years, he (Noyes) upgraded architecture in the IBM Company to a leadership position. What is equally important is that he did this in his usual soft sweet way. However, when challenged that mind of steel came forth in a way that he became immovable and sometimes, I thought, even impossible. I won't go any farther because Eliot Noyes was one of the three or four very bright spots in my IBM background. I owe him more than I can say at this meeting, but I did want you to know at least I recognize how much he did for our company, as well as one or two other great American companies, like Mobil and Cummins Engine, although I am happy to say we got him under contract first.”
Noyes’s Design for the IBM Educational Center in Poughkeepsie, NY, 1963. While Noyes designed many corporate buildings himself, he commissioned other top tier architects in many countries with buildings for the corporations for which he was developing design programs.
A postcard—worn from mailing-- of the United Nations Pavilion at the 1964 World Fair in Montreal. The sea of flags representing the world’s counties provides a setting that makes the nature of the UN hard to miss.
The Noyes design of the IBM building at the Expo 1958 Brussels World’s Fair
Industrial Design
Industrial design, like corporate architecture, was a key part of the comprehensive design programs developed by Noyes for individual corporations. Each design had to embody the corporation's character, completely functional and of the highest quality. The design of any object is a reflection of the corporation's character
Noyes said about IBM’s Industrial Design:
“The program as a whole is, I think, set up for two main reasons, one, is to give a personality — to state the attitude that represents IBM; secondly, the insurance of recognition of this personality in its statements, to give a clear identity to IBM in every case that we can. This of course strengthens IBM by the cumulative effect of it. And, it has advertising and public relations value that you can hardly calculate. It has been suggested that the way to do this is to establish a theme that will represent the company and that you use in every possible way. A theme is a useful thing, and we will want to make use of a theme in limited areas, but as an overall concept for the program, it is too limiting. Let’s take an example of a theme. Howard Johnsons Restaurants all look exactly the same. They hardly need a design program. They have a theme. They have only got one product they want to sell you and that’s the building, you know that the hot dogs are good inside. This is too limiting for IBM. Your needs are far more complex and any single theme like that applied to a company like this would be monotonous, restricting and really not very good. The 5&10, Shell Gas, all these are the examples of rigid theme is for immediate identification of a single theme and that does that job very well. But, it is rigid, frozen. There is not an urge toward creativity, and so I don’t think it is for us as an overall concept. On the other hand, if we adopt an attitude, which is sort of a set of standards this gives us a sort of vocabulary and I think an identity.
I wrote down a few words that occurred to me in relation to this thought or attitude as opposed to theme: adventurous, progressive, interesting, human, advanced, flexible, able to grow and change, creative, up to date, modern, contemporary.
Now all of these are good qualities. You'd like to be identified with them and that is, I believe, what we must look for. In our attitude, if we establish this attitude with proper standards it will give us a similarity of general character rather than a repetition of particular characteristics. We want to give the impression of unity. We don’t want to enforce uniformity.”
Before and After Images of Images of IBM. Note the range of disciplines that the design program addressed: Architecture, Industrial Design, Graphic, Interiors, Art and Advertising.
IBM Typewriters and tape recorders. The recorder on the lower right-- in those years, a cutting edge, compact hand-held unit-- used a tape that could be transferred to larger office machines, as shown of the lower left, for listening and transcription.
A diversity of Noyes designed products. The upper right and lower left, a full-scale mock-up of a public transport vehicle for Westinghouse. On the upper right, a model of an electric vehicle— c1968, 40 years before Tesla. On the lower left, the graphics of a corporate jet, one of several designed for different corporations-- the interiors were also designed by Noyes.
A prototype model of a Mobil gas station. Noyes moved all the activity of the station to where action is—at the pumps-- providing shelter, adequate lighting and ease of use, leaving the building as a backdrop with a minor roll. The circle, reminiscent of a tire and a steering wheel, became an integral theme to all Mobil products, including graphics and the gas pumps themselves.
A page from the Mobil Oil Design Manual showing Chermayeff and Geismar’s signage and graphic specifications, also incorporating the circle.
Mobile gas stations--before and after photographs. The before shows the cacophony of information with resulting confusion; the after, the simplicity of the redesigned station and Chermayeff and Geismar’s Mobil logo graphic.