In 1937, then apprentice with Frank Lloyd Wright, John Lautner (1911-15) came to Los Angeles to supervise construction of the Sturgess Residence. Two years later he established hiw own office in Hollywood, building a house for himself with Henry Russel Hitchcock called "the best house by an architect under 30 in the US", the first in a long line of unique buildings. Never part of the architectural establishment, John Lautner has always practised what he called >. Among the best-known examples are the Malin Residence (Chemosphere), the Reiner Residence (Silvertop), the Arango Residence in Acapulco, and the Elrod Resdience in Palm Springs. His work ranges from exciting but low-cost houses to finely crafted large residences, to restaurants and educational facilities.
John Lautner was the quintessential Los Angeles architect. His houses, many perched on hillsides with sweeping glass walls overlooking the valley below, are icons of the drama and exuberance of the best of Southern California architecture. Born in 1911, Lautner apprenticed to Frank Lloyd Wright before establishing his own office in Hollywood in 1939. Among his best-known projects are the Malin Residence (Chemosphere), the Reiner Residence (Silvertop), and the Elrod Residence in Palm Springs (seen in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever). Designed with Lautner before his death in 1994, this oversized monograph is the only book available on the imaginative and exciting work of this modern master. It includes almost fifty houses, each described in detailed drawings and lavish photographs, as well as an interview in which Lautner discusses the most important influences on his work and his eccentric views on architecture. "This book celebrates the career of a neglected giant, who enriched the Southland for over fifty years.... Enthusiasts have had to wait for this sumptuous publication to discover the full range of John Lautner's achievement... He was an original striving for the unique, drawing his inspiration from the site, unbending and outspoken". -- Michael Webb, L.A. Architect "This book presents some fifty of the realized projects as well as republishing an interview that Marlene Laskey conducted with the architect in 1986, and a collection of Lautner's observations.... The spectacular location of the villas -- on rocky slopes, on the ocean, or, better still, on rocky slopes overlooking the ocean -- is invariably exploited by Lautner to the full. He developed an infalliblefeeling for using the design of his houses to emphasize the dramatic aspect of their setting. Grand gestures, prodigious cantilevers (certainly since he discovered the structural possibilities of concrete in 1963), subtle light delivery, and strategic orientation are the most striking characteristics, together with the vast dimensions and robust finish". -- Arthur Wortmann, Archis
One of the visionary architects of the twentieth century, John Lautner designed dramatically innovative buildings with a rare sensitivity to site, vista, and structure. Accompanying a full-scale exhibition on Lautner at Los Angeles's Hammer Museum, this is the first publication to comprehensively explore his work, including his apprenticeship with Frank Lloyd Wright and the cultural and geographical context of Los Angeles, through an intensive examination of the archives of the John Lautner Foundation. Although Lautner's dramatic houses are well-known, this is the first time his work has been seriously examined by scholars. Historian Nicholas Olsberg contributes an analysis of Lautner's evolution, providing social and cultural context. Architect Frank Escher covers the relationship between his experiments in structure and poetics of space, and Jean-Louis Cohen discusses Lautner's place in new design tendencies.This richly illustrated monograph includes previously unpublished sketches, drawings, construction images, and Lautner's own photographs to unveil the evolution, originality, and logic of his designs, focusing on the atmospheres and vistas they establish and the connections to landscape and sensory fluidity that mark their innovative spatial arguments.
Radical. Visionary. Poetic. Inside Utopia shows the future of living that architects and designers have envisioned. Spectacular and reflective, unpretentious and efficient: the breathtaking Elrod House by John Lautner; the Lagerfeld Apartment near Cannes that seems like a set from a science fiction film; Palais Bulles in France with its organic and unique architecture. These interiors welcome habitation and spark curiosity while embodying the foundations of minimalism and bygone visions of the future. Inside Utopia delves into the rhyme and reason behind past designs that we still interact with today. The architects, the owners, and the craftsmen like Gio Ponti or Bruce Goff who work behind the scenes created amorphous interiors that invite the mind to wander. At the time they were futuristic, confident, utopian, idealistic-- we may not realize it, but they have shaped our current living concepts, and even now, they inspire us anew. Previously it has been difficult to attain access to these preserved interiors, but Inside Utopia unearths what was before unseen.
Space age architecture "Disappearing space seems to me to be the most durable and endurable and life-giving quality in architecture." - John Lautner American architect John Lautner (1911-1994) is responsible for some of the most original buildings of the space age and, indeed, the 20th century. The residences he designed in the Los Angeles area, including the Chemosphere House and the Silvertop, are synonymous with the hopes and dreams of an entire era. Characterized by sweeping rooflines, glass-paneled walls, and steel beams, his buildings displayed a combination of fantasy and minimalism, often integrating water and incorporating surrounding landscapes. Lautner always placed great importance on the relationship between humans, space, and nature. About the Series: Each book in TASCHEN's Basic Architecture Series features: an introduction to the life and work of the architect the major works in chronological order information about the clients, architectural preconditions as well as construction problems and resolutions a list of all the selected works and a map indicating the locations of the best and most famous buildings approximately 120 illustrations (photographs, sketches, drafts and plans)
Arthur Elrod was the most successful interior designer working in Palm Springs from 1954 to 1974. His forward-thinking midcentury design appeared in primary homes, second houses, spec houses, country clubs, and experimental houses—in the desert and across the US. He was charming, handsome, and worked tirelessly for his A-list clientele.
Winner of the AIGA'S International Competition for Notable Graphic Design. “It’s both an architecture and movie fan’s dream.” - Los Angeles Times "Strikingly designed." - Publishers Weekly “Explores the cinematic tradition of antiheroes with architecturally significant private spaces." - Architectural Digest “A fascinating gift for that highbrow nerd in your life.” - Syfy Wire Why do bad guys live in good houses? From Atlantis in The Spy Who Loved Me to Nathan Bateman's ultra-modern abode in Ex Machina, big-screen villains often live in architectural splendor. From a design standpoint, the villain’s lair, as popularized in many of our favorite movies, is a stunning, sophisticated, envy-inducing expression of the warped drives and desires of its occupant. Lair: Radical Homes and Hideouts of Movie Villains, celebrates and considers several iconic villains’ lairs from recent film history. From futuristic fantasies to deathtrap-laden hives, from dwellings in space to those under the sea, pop culture and architecture join forces in these outlandish, primarily modern homes and in Lair, which features buildings from fifteen films, including: Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb Star Wars The Incredibles Blade Runner 2049 You Only Live Twice The Ghost Writer Body Double North by Northwest Edited by acclaimed architect Chad Oppenheim with Andrea Gollin, Lair includes interviews with production designers and other industry professionals such as Ralph Eggleston, Richard Donner, Roger Christian, David Scheunemann, Gregg Henry, and Mark Digby. Contributors include director Michael Mann, cultural critic Christopher Frayling, museum director Joseph Rosa, and architect Amy Murphy. Architectural illustrations and renderings by Carlos Fueyo provide multiple in-depth views of these spaces.
The drawings, models, and images highlighted in the Overdrive exhibition and catalogue reveal the complex and often underappreciated facets of Los Angeles and illustrate how the metropolis became an internationally recognized destination with a unique design vocabulary, canonical landmarks, and a coveted lifestyle. This investigation builds upon the groundbreaking work of generations of historians, theorists, curators, critics, and activists who have researched and expounded upon the development of Los Angeles. In this volume, thought-provoking essays shed more light on the exhibition's narratives, including Los Angeles's physical landscape, the rise of modernism, the region's influential residential architecture, its buildings for commerce and transportation, and architects' pioneering uses of bold forms, advanced materials, and new technologies. The related exhibition will be held at the J. Paul Getty Museum from April 9 to July 21, 2013.
Paying homage to the seminal mid-century modern architecture of Palm Springs, this luxurious book showcases historic jet-set homes designed by legendary talents such as Richard Neutra, Albert Frey, and Paul Williams, as well as private residences by today’s leading tastemakers. Since Gary Cooper built one of the first modernist houses in Palm Springs in the 1930s, this desert oasis has entranced Hollywood. A mecca for the international jet set that lured Frank Sinatra, Walter Annenberg, and others, Palm Springs came into its own architecturally as a haven for visionary modernists such as Richard Neutra, who were practicing the International Style in Los Angeles. The architectural legacy remains unsurpassed for its originality and influence, and recently many of the city’s modernist residential treasures have been restored. In original new photography, Palm Springs captures the allure of this famed modernist destination. The book profiles outstanding examples such as the Annenberg Estate, the Ford House, and the Kaufmann House, shown in their splendor, as well as today’s restorations by top interior designers such as Martyn Lawrence Bullard and fashion designer Trina Turk. A resource section provides modernist furnishing stores and other points of interest.
The low-slung brick home that architect John Saunders Chase completed for his own family in 1959 was Houston’s first modernist house with a true interior courtyard, a form with which other progressive architects were only starting to experiment. It was equally radical that he built it at all. When Chase graduated from The University of Texas School of Architecture in 1952—the first African American to do so—no Houston architecture firm would hire him. Chase petitioned the state for special permission to take the licensing exam, becoming the first African American registered as an architect in Texas. By 1959, he ran his own thriving firm and had established a position of remarkable influence in Houston’s social, political, and economic life. The Chase Residence, in both its original version and after a fundamental alteration undertaken in 1968, is a testament to Chase’s accomplishments. Beautifully illustrated, John S. Chase—The Chase Residence examines how the architecture of this seminal but little-known house frames the life lived within it. It places the house in the larger context of Chase’s architectural career and his times. The book is also intended for readers broadly interested in the relationship between American architecture and society.
