Wright and Neutra - Sources
La Miniatura, Pasadena, CA.
Nestled at the base of a steep-sided arroyo near the Rose Bowl in northwest Pasadena, La Miniatura was the first of four "textile-block" houses that Wright designed and built in the hills surrounding Los Angeles. The concrete blocks were fabricated on site in wooden molds by workers using sand, gravel and minerals found on the woodsy property. Blocks were assembled in pairs, patterned for the outside and smooth for inside, with an air gap in between.
La Miniatura's blocks feature a symmetrical pattern of a cross with a small square in each quadrant. Some blocks were solid; others were perforated to allow light to filter in through the cross. In the three other textile-block houses Wright later designed, he used rebar to reinforce the blocks, but La Miniatura was assembled with only conventional mortar.
www.latimes.com
Hollyhock House, Los Angeles, CA.
Hollyhock House is Wright's first Los Angeles project. Built between 1919 and 1921, it represents his earliest efforts to develop a regionally appropriate style of architecture for Southern California. Wright himself referred to it as California Romanza, using a musical term meaning "freedom to make one's own form".
Taking advantage of Los Angeles' dry, temperate climate, Hollyhock House is a remarkable combination of house and gardens. In addition to the central garden court, each major interior space adjoins an equivalent exterior space, connected either by glass doors, a porch, pergola or colonnade. A series of rooftop terraces further extend the living space and provide magnificent views of the Los Angeles basin and the Hollywood Hills.
www.hollyhockhouse.net
Richard Neutra
Neutra was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1892. He studied under Adolf Loos, was influenced by Otto Wagner, and worked for a time in Germany in the studio of Erich Mendelsohn. He moved to the United States by 1923 and became a naturalized citizen in 1929. Neutra worked briefly for Frank Llyod Wright before accepting an invitation from his close friend and university companion Rudolf Schindler to work and live communally in Schindler's Kings Road House in California. Neutra subsequently opened his own practice in Los Angeles with his son, Dion. He was famous for the great attention he gave to defining the real needs of his clients, whether he was commissioned to build a simple house or a mansion. This was in contrast with other genial architects, who would often do everything to impose their artistic vision on a client, regardless of what was really needed to create a home. He would sometimes use detailed questionnaires to find out exactly what the owners would need, much to the surprise of many of his clients. His domestic architecture was a blend of art, landscape and practical comfort.
www.nationmaster.com
www.neutra.org
Kaufmann House, Palm Springs, CA.
The Kaufmann House, a 1946 glass, steel and stone landmark built on the edge of Palm Springs by the architect Richard Neutra, has twice been at the vanguard of new movements in architecture — helping to shape postwar Modernism and later, as a result of a painstaking restoration in the mid-1990s, spurring a revived interest in mid-20th-century homes.
www.nytimes.com
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