egg collective digitally realizes an unbuilt house by eileen gray

championing women in architecture

Architectural designers Stephanie Beamer, Crystal Ellis, and Hillary Petrie, the founders of Egg Collective, are all too familiar with the gender imbalance in their field. Their ongoing Designing Women series aims to address this by bringing to light the work of pioneering female architects. The group’s latest project, ‘Designing Women IV: Eileen Gray’s House for Two Sculptors,’ tackles a particularly unique challenge — realizing a residential project that never left the drawing board.

While 20th-century designer and architect Eileen Gray left behind a remarkable body of work, only three of her projects were ever built — E-1027, Tempe à Pailla, and Villa Lou Pérou. One project which remained unrealized is the Maison avec atelier pour deux sculpteurs, or House for Two Sculptors, which was known only through a set of hand drawings — one plan and four elevations — and a single chipboard model. The plans, developed between 1933 and 1934, captured the imagination of Egg Collective. With the permission of Gray’s estate, they embarked on a multi-year journey to bring the house to life. The project will be exhibited during NYCxDesign 2024 — find out more below!

images © Egg Collective

the lost legacy of eileen gray

The Egg Collective studied Eileen Gray’s original plans along with her broader design philosophy. The team describes the House for Two Sculptors as ‘a communal synthesis of living and working spaces for unknown clients,’ noting that it featured a bi-level workshop which opened onto a modest yet spacious domestic area. These two areas were planned with unique functions and a shared aesthetic. It was this house, designed around an ‘egg-shaped’ atelier, which planted the seed for the contemporary group.

The team’s goal was not just to recreate Gray’s vision, but to acknowledge the influence she has had on contemporary designers, including themselves. Through digital rendering, they have created a series of visualizations that allow viewers to step inside the imagined house and experience Gray’s vision firsthand.

‘The reimagining of Gray’s House for Two Sculptors seeks to rescue another groundbreaking work from the obscurity of embryonic blueprints,’ writes the group. ‘In doing so, Egg Collective hopes to shed light on the unsung contributions of Gray as an extraordinary pioneer in the field, while bringing greater visibility to the still rare phenomenon of female authored design amid the masculine-centric Modernist landscape.’

Egg Collective highlights women in architecture through their ‘Designing Women’ series

egg collective exhibits during nycxdesign

Egg Collective will exhibit ‘Designing Women IV: Eileen Gray’s House for Two Sculptors’ at its Tribeca showroom at 151 Hudson Street, New York, during NYCxDesign 2024 from May 15th — June 15th, 2024. The gallery will be transformed into a space that embodies the spirit of the house, featuring vignettes inspired by Gray’s aesthetic alongside contemporary sculptural works by Taylor Kibby and Molly Haynes. The exhibition will also debut Egg Collective’s new ‘Eileen Mirror,’ a piece that pays homage to Gray’s signature geometric patterns. Proceeds from a limited-edition exhibition catalog will benefit Girls Garage, a non-profit organization that empowers young women and gender-expansive youth to pursue careers in design and construction.

See designboom’s ultimate guide to NYCxDesign 2024 here!

their latest project focuses on Eileen Gray’s unbuilt House for Two Sculptors
Egg Collective studied Gray’s drawings and philosophy to digitally realize the house
new renderings invite viewers to experience the imagined house