What Set Him Apart: The Books on Neutra’s Shelves

Modernist architect Richard Neutra (1892 – 1970) is renowned for his sleek, taut form-making. His ubiquitous trademarks include full-height glass walls, flat roofs, silver paint, white walls, bands of identical fenestration, crimped metal fascias, and broad overhangs. Above all, there is his famous “spider leg,” where a long beam stretches out beyond the building envelope, … Continue reading

The Desert Dialogues: Schindler, Neutra, Frey in the Coachella Valley

Greetings, everyone. It’s been a minute since I’ve been on my site and apologies for the lack of images. They are coming! But I wanted to get this online while I get that done. While the two Palm Springs houses designed by Richard Neutra (1892 – 1970) speak as actors on a  “moonscape,” as he … Continue reading

Two Sister Buildings: America Demolishes the Cyclorama, Pakistan Saves the Embassy

After a well-executed legal battle of 13 years, including a 1998 determination by the National Register of Historic Places of its “exceptional historic and architectural significance,” the Gettysburg Memorial known as the Cyclorama has been demolished by the National Park Service. Dedicated November 19, 1962, demolition of the structure commenced February 18, 2013 with asbestos … Continue reading

The Colors of Neutra

The quartet of small houses Richard Neutra designed in 1922 are located on Onkel Tom Strasse in Zehlendorf, a quiet, leafy, well-to-do Berlin suburb. Known as the Adolf Sommerfeld Residences, they were named after the rather eccentric developer who built them. (Sommerfeld proposed, and Neutra drew, a giant revolving turntable with three partitions, containing, for … Continue reading