In 1959, the architect Rudy Hermes collaborated with the artist Charley Harper on a series of illustrations that situated Ford cars against fantastic backdrops, combining gorgeous natural scenery with outlandish architecture.
This collaboration was the natural extension of Harper’s and Hermes’ working relationship, as Hermes had recently designed the [outlandish for its time] Harper home and studio in Finneytown:
Rudy Hermes is now retired from his design/build practice, but he still lives in Cincinnati and is still an enthusiastic fan of Harper’s work.
Ford Times images via but does it float. Harper studio image via the Charley Harper Art Studio blog.
Department of Everyday Visualingual 
whoa!
You don’t see fantastic visionary stuff like this anymore. Science fiction is all apocalyptic these days with zombies & killer robots & the like. Idiocracy was probably one of the more optimistic movies I have seen of late. Car ads just have people meandering around the countryside lost. The lack of traffic in the ads probably alludes to some kind of apocalypse….
I’m glad you two like the illustrations!
I’m sure there are other Hermes buildings around Cincinnati, but I haven’t been able to find any information online. Does anyone know more about his work?
This is so great! Thanks for sharing.
“The lack of traffic in the ads probably alludes to some kind of apocalypse….”
like this
there were those Volvo ads this year that depicted some sort of fantasy workshop set deep in the forest which now seem sort of reminiscent of this
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Rudy Hermes designed our house in Cincinnati. He was a good friend of my fathers. They liked to stay up all night.
Wow, Kathleen, how lucky you are to live in a Hermes home!
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