John Lautner——

LAUTNER

Disappearing Space

1911 1994 BARBARA-ANN CAMPBELL-LANGE

LAUTNER

1911 1994

JOHN LAUTNER BARBARA-ANN CAMPBE LL-LANGE

LAUTNER

Disappearing Space

Contents Introduction

Beyer Residence Sheats Residence

Chapter 01

16 18 22 26 30 34

Lautner Residence Mauer Residence Gantvoort Residence Carling Residence Desert Hot Springs Motel Schaffer Residence

Chapter 02

36 38 40 42

Foster Residence Bergren Residence Henry’s Coffee Shop Pearlman Mountain Cabin

Chapter 03

44 50 54 58 64 68 72

Malin Residence,“Chemosphere” Wolff Residence Garcia Residence Reiner Residence,“Silvertop” Elrod Residence Stevens Residence Walstrom Residence

1940 1950 1960

82 84

Chapter 04

74 78

Arango Residence Segel Residence

Chapter 05

82 84

Beyer Residence Sheats Residence

82 84

Beyer Residence Sheats Residence

1970 1980

BARBARA-ANN CAMPBELL-LANGE

Intro LAUTNER

Introduction

For more than 50 years Lautner wrestled with the jarring commercialism and tran- sitory infatuations of Los Angeles. His Hollywood office overlooked the fickle styles of what he called “real-estate fakery” crowding the hills, few of whose 10 million inhabit- ants were interested in his work. “Architecture is for people and that is forgotten.Most of it is for rent,for sale,for lease but not for people.”2 He said he “gave up the woods for a life of architecture”, and one is aware within his houses of a search for the sensa- tions of the primeval forest he knew as a boy.

Lautner’s early projects embodied some influences of the work of Frank Lloyd Wright,with whom he had apprenticed at Taliesin. However, in time his work evolved a unique conception of architectural space, form and attitude to materials. This devel. opment is discernible through careful study of the plans and sections of his buildings; however,photographs-particularly of the interiors-convey only partial truths about the complex non-rectilinear spaces that they frame.

Inevitably, as with all good archi. tecture, it is only by visiting the buildings that Lautner’s particular vision can be proper- ly appreciated. And this is where his success-in the worldly sense-foundered: most of Lautner’s work comprises private houses that are rarely accessible.

LAUTNER

John Lautner was a tall man with a generous smile, who looked good in red. His desk was always full of the things he was thinking about that day: a patterned shell, an image of an arching Egyptian goddess, a piece of text about the essence of beauty.On the wall was a photograph of the Arango Residence, so large one could almost step onto its open raw-marble terrace, held in timeless tension between sea and sky.His buildings still appear new and fresh,free of stifling references, and they hold a profound sense of belonging: to the place, the people and the architect. Cherished by all who knew him, Lautner has left a legacy of barely known work that speaks of the infinite potential of architecture.

THE BEGINNINGS: Lautner was born in 1911, the older of two children. He was raised in Marquette, Michigan, graduating from high school and college there. The northern woods and the deep blue of Lake Superior remained in his soul throughout his life, and he was to return time and time again to bask in what he considered a heaven on earth.

His first building experience came when he helped his father and mother build a chalet-style retreat, designed by his mother, that looked out over the lake from a hillside high above it.

LAUTNER

After graduating with a degree in English from the Northern Michigan University (then Northern State Teachers College), Lautner became an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright for six years, joining the first group of Taliesin Fellows. In 1937 he supervised the construction of two of Wright’s projects, and two years later established his own practice in Los Angeles. His first solo project was a house for his own family, which architectural critic Henry-Russell Hitchcock called “the best house by an architect under 30 in the United States.” Later Hitchcock remarked that “Lautner’s work could stand comparison with that of his master.” A comparison, incidentally, that Lautner himself would have been reluctant to make, given his lifelong devotion to Mr. Wright.

Lautner’s work has been the subject of numerous exhibitions in the United States and abroad. His buildings have been featured in countless publications, in a documentary film on his life and work, in the James Bond and Diehard films, among others, and in commercials for television. In 1970, he was made a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects for Excellence in Design. He also received the Gold Medal from the Los Angeles AIA chapter in 1993 for his lifetime achievement.

At the time of his death on October 24, 1994, the 83-year-old Lautner was still working on several large projects.

Lautner practiced architecture for more than 55 years, designing unusual and unique residences in and near Los Angeles, including Silvertop, the Chemosphere, the Sheats/Goldstein residence, the Levy residence, and the Elrod residence (Palm Springs, CA), as well as many others around the world. He was also responsible for the innovative design of some restaurants (Henry’s, Googies, Tiny Naylor’s).

LAUTNER

John Lautner was one of last century’s important contemporary American architects. His work was concerned with the relationship of the human being to space and of space to nature. “Shelter,” he said, “is the most basic human need.”

LAUTNER

BARBARA-ANN CAMPBELL-LANGE

“Disappearing space seems to me to be the most durable and endurable and life-giving quality in architecture.”

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Introduction

LAUTNER

Disappearing Space

Lautner Residence Mauer Residence Gantvoort Residence

Chapter 1

Garling Residence

LAUTNER

Desert Hot Spring Hotel Schaffer Residence

1940 1949

Chapter 1

LAUTNER

Montrose, California

The Schaffer Residence

LAUTNER

Chapter 01

Montrose,California

LAUTNER

Montrose,California The Schaffer Residence lies amongst the oak trees of a wooded picnic site frequented by the family. The internal spaces are sketched with a deft yet informal minimalism inside a compound described by redwood fencing.Daylight and sunlight penetrate through the gaps between the fencing boards, dematerializing its boundary.

The hourglass shape of the main space-part extrovert living room,part introvert walled garden-is produced by the accommodation wings levering in like a pair of scis- sors and the poised position of the fireplace. Space is pushed out to the sides of the chimney by the angling roofs above the kitchen and dining room,to views of trees and sky.The 2ft wide concrete strips of the formal entrance path become, at the end of the house,a playful forest-edge boardwalk. A congress of roofs,sliding past each other yet also somehow agglomerating, accentuates the atmosphere of a clearing in the forest.

Disappearing Space

Chapter3

Foster Residence Bergren Residence Henry’s Coffee Shop Pearlman Mountain Cabin

LAUTNER

1960 1969

Chapter 1

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Los Angeles, California

Reiner Residence Silvertop

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Chapter 03

Los Angeles, California

LAUTNER

Los Angeles, California The Schaffer Residence lies amongst the oak trees of a wooded picnic site frequented by the family. The internal spaces are sketched with a deft yet informal minimalism inside a compound described by redwood fencing.Daylight and sunlight penetrate through the gaps between the fencing boards, dematerializing its boundary.

The hourglass shape of the main space-part extrovert living room,part introvert walled garden-is produced by the accommodation wings levering in like a pair of scis- sors and the poised position of the fireplace. Space is pushed out to the sides of the chimney by the angling roofs above the kitchen and dining room,to views of trees and sky.The 2ft wide concrete strips of the formal entrance path become, at the end of the house,a playful forest-edge boardwalk. A congress of roofs,sliding past each other yet also somehow agglomerating, accentuates the atmosphere of a clearing in the forest.

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The design of John Lautner’s Arango House, also called Marbrisa House, is inspired by the site’s natural features: the ocean and the sky. The house was commissioned in 1970 by Jeronimo Arango as a weekend home for his family, and in 1973 the architect built a 25,000-square-foot home that seemed to float above the water.

Chapter 03

Los Angeles, California

LAUTNER

LAUTNER The design was inspired by “the curving coastline and the feeling of infinite space,” recalls Helena Arahuete, who worked with Lautner for 23 years and was the project architect for the Marbrisa House, as it’s known today.

Over 40 years later, the concrete house is still lived in and continues to astound with its biomorphic, curvy designs, which feel like they were meant for an era that we haven’t arrived at quite yet. This is all the more extraordinary given that Lautner’s team built this entirely by hand — photographs of the house under construction show a complex network of wood scaffolding, with men working and not one crane in sight.

Chapter 03

Los Angeles, California

LAUTNER

LAUTNER

“When I first visited the site, I got the idea to build a large, open terrace so that all you had was the beauty of the Acapulco Bay and the sky and the mountains. You don’t feel you’re in a building at all. You’re out in space. With the beauty of nature.

– John Lautner

Chapter 03

Los Angeles, California

Arango House’s is arguably the pinnacle of Lautner’s career; the vast (25,000 sq ft) “Marbrisa” in Acapulco was built for Mexican supermarket magnate Jeronimo Arango in 1973 and was jointly designed by Lautner and Helena Arahuete during her first year with the firm.

The client had seen Elrod House in publications and wanted a similar house. He wanted the property to look out over the bay of Acapulco. The Arango residence included an expansive open-air terrace with bedrooms on the level below.

The design was inspired by “the curving coastline and the feeling of infinite space,” recalls Helena Arahuete, who worked with Lautner for 23 years and was the project architect for the Marbrisa House, as it’s known today.

Over 40 years later, the concrete house is still lived in and continues to astound with its biomorphic, curvy designs, which feel like they were meant for an era that we haven’t arrived at quite yet. This is all the more extraordinary given that Lautner’s team built this entirely by hand — photographs of the house under construction show a complex network of wood scaffolding, with men working and not one crane in sight.

LAUTNER

Perched on a hilltop site, with uninterrupted views across the whole of Acapulco Bay, a large open terrace surmounts the main living quarters with spectacular views of the beach and bay, encircled by a “sky moat” which snakes around its edge; the terrace is itself topped by a huge, sweeping semi-circular angled awning made of cast, reinforced concrete.

Lautner’s projects focused on the relationship between humans, space, and nature. He was always particularly sensitive to the surrounding environment and would often integrate water and natural landscapes into his designs. His houses are characterized by sweeping rooflines, glass-paneled walls, and steel beams, in a heady combination of fantasy and minimalism. Eschewing architectural orthodoxies, Lautner emphasized geometric shapes such as circles and triangles.

Ingenious uses of modern building materials such as concrete allowed him to blend his structures into unique locations in the Californian landscape,perching his sci-fi structures on hillsides, beaches, and deserts. Residences in the Los Angeles area,including the“Chemosphere” and the “Silvertop,”boast panoramic views and still exude an almost otherworldly magnetism.

In this new Basic Art guide, we take you into the heart of Lautner’s idiosyncratic practice, discover his manifold influences and ideas.

ISBN-10 3836544113 ISBN-13 978-3836544115 Language English