Join architect Fred Noyes at New Canaan Library for a free lecture about his childhood home, the Noyes House (1954) in New Canaan. Designed by Eliot Noyes and included on the National Register of Historic Places, the house’s unique composition — two enclosures for public and private functions connected by an open air courtyard — remains highly provocative. Fred will analyze the intent and design of the house in comparison to the Glass House (1949), designed by Philip Johnson.

Eliot Noyes was one of an informal network of Modern architects later known as the “Harvard Five” (Marcel Breuer, Landis Gores, John Johansen, and Philip Johnson) who moved to the bucolic town of New Canaan and established what would become a center of experimental Modern residential design. In addition to his work as an architect, Noyes was the first Director of Industrial Design at the Museum of Modern Art and an influential industrial designer who created IBM typewriters, Mobil gas pumps, and Cummins diesel engines, among other projects.

Please note: this event takes place at New Canaan Library. Registration has closed, the event is at full capacity. The lecture will begin at 6:30pm, preceded by a reception beginning at 6:00pm.

Related program: Fred Noyes will lead a tour of the Noyes House as part of a Glass House Study Tour on Monday, September 11. Click here for more information.

Frederick Noyes, FAIA, is immersed in his twined passions of architecture, biology, and education. For over thirty years, he has run his own architectural firm and designed everything from houses to hospitals. He was elected to the AIA College of Fellows (2001) and awarded an honorary Doctorate of Education from the Boston Architectural College in 2007. Mr. Noyes has remained close to academia, both as a student (a decade of graduate studies in biology) and a teacher (visual studies at Harvard; lecturer in biochemistry at Harvard Extension; and biology at Miles and Wheelock Colleges). Associated with the Boston Architectural College (BAC) since 1974, Mr. Noyes has taught at all levels at the BAC, chaired its Board of Directors from 1995-1999, and is currently an Overseer.

Glass House Presents at New Canaan Library is an occasional series of talks and events about architecture, design, and Modernism in New Canaan and beyond. The series is collaboratively organized by The Glass House and New Canaan Library.

This program is generously supported by the New Canaan Community Foundation.