Sunday, July 17, 2011

Happy 100th to John Lautner

THIS weekend would been the 100th birthday of the man who may be my favorite architect -- he was voted runner up, just below Neutra, in this blog's Favorite California Modernist poll not long ago.

Lautner's Chemosphere house, above the trees
Not long after wild-man publisher Benedikt Taschen restored the Hollywood Hills-sited Chemosphere House, which had fallen into very serious disrepair, I wrote a lengthy piece on both the octagonal structure and on the ornery architect. Here it is.

I spoke to a number of people for the story, including architect Frank Escher, who helped remake the place, the realtor who had struggled to sell it, original resident Leonard Malin, and design historian Alan Hess, who coined the spot-on term "organic modernist" to describe Lautner.

Happy birthday to John Lautner, a man who disliked Los Angeles but did a great deal to make it a more interesting place.

UPDATE: Here is a wonderful piece by Alan Hess from Saturday's LAT Home section on Lautner and LA.
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3 comments:

  1. GShrumJuly 17, 2011 at 5:18 PM

    Great piece Scott. I especially like Taschen's recognition of the responsibility owners of great buildings have to look for a balance between the original intent and the day to day needs of current occupants. Of course this is more easily to accommodate if you own more than one house.

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  2. Scott TimbergJuly 17, 2011 at 5:22 PM

    Always gratifying to have such thoughtful reader, Mr. Shrum... I wrote another story -- about the recent destruction of a Beverly Hills Lautner home -- that may leave you less inspired about human nature...

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  3. GShrumJuly 17, 2011 at 5:27 PM

    I'll leave that one for another day. Maybe after the looking
    debt ceiling Armageddon...

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