GB. Architect John Lautner, “the dialogue with the borrowed landscape”, the apprentice of Wright, part 2. english text. (MBGB)

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«This translation from Spanish (the original text) to English is not professional. I used Google Translate, so there may be linguistic errors that I ask you to overlook. I have often been asked to share my texts in English, which is why I decided to try. I appreciate your patience, and if you see anything that can be improved and would like to let me know, I would be grateful. In the meantime, with all its imperfections, here are the lines I have written». Hugo Kliczkowski Juritz.

A lifelong admirer of his mentor, John Lautner habitually referred to him as “Mr. Wright.” He was deeply influenced by him, to the point of pursuing in his own work a commitment to the principles of Organic Architecture.
Recalling his time at Taliesin, he wrote: “Mr. Wright constantly pointed out those things that contributed to the beauty of space, of the building, or to the function of the kitchen, the dining room, or any other area. He also emphasized the details of construction: how a particular way of resolving them, what he called his grammar, contributed to the total idea, to the whole, to the overall expression of the work. And he kept insisting that there is no true architecture unless one possesses a complete idea. Thus I learned that it is necessary to have a great unifying idea; otherwise, you have nothing—only stories. What most people do is no more than a collection of clichés, façades, or empty formulas.”
He was deeply influenced by Wright.

At Taliesin East, Frank Lloyd Wright shares an evening with the members of the Taliesin Fellowship, among them John Lautner, who joined the apprenticeship program that year (1937)

Lautner was largely self-taught in the manner of autodidacts, learning through travel. He journeyed throughout Europe and Mexico to visit and study the works of Henry Klumb (1905–1984), Oscar Niemeyer (1907–2012), Eero Saarinen (1910–1961), Hans Scharoun (1893–1972), Jørn Utzon (1918–2008), and Juan O’Gorman (1905–1982), as well as those of Pier Luigi Nervi (1891–1979), Eduardo Torroja (1899–1961), Félix Candela (1910–1997), and Frei Otto (1925–2015).
He understood structure both through its technical rigor and its plastic and spatial dimensions. In his architecture, structural expression was not an added element, but an integral part of the design of the spaces he created.
He sought new models of habitation, liberating spaces through flexible plans. He pursued an ever more intense integration between architecture and the natural landscape, understanding that “all the functions of dwelling are spatial experiences.”
The interviews he gave (6) reveal the scant regard he felt for the International Style and its principal representatives: “None of them had anything comparable to Frank Lloyd Wright. In fact, I personally heard Walter Gropius (1883–1969), Le Corbusier (1887–1965), Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886–1969), and all the greats, and they are nothing compared with Frank Lloyd Wright. They are simply nothing. So, when people want to argue about it with me, it’s crazy, that’s all” (laughs)…

Sketch of the Chemosphere House, Los Angeles, California (1960), a dwelling elevated on a single central support that synthesizes the integration of structure, space, and landscape characteristic of John Lautner’s work

“I never copied any of Frank Lloyd Wright’s drawings or took photographs, because he was a purist and I was an idealist. I wanted to work from my own philosophy, and that is what he wanted his apprentices to do: wherever they went, they should contribute to nature’s infinite variety by being individuals, creating for each person an architecture capable of growing and changing. Well, practically none of them were able to do so. I mean, I am one of the two or three who perhaps have managed it…”

“Architecture has to do with every aspect of life, which is why it has no end. When you are 70 or 80 years old, you are still beginning and still learning—that is the life I wanted for myself.”

View of the Chemosphere House, Los Angeles, California (1960)

“Architecture must contribute to human well-being: it should be joyful, it should have light, air, and open spaces.” He explained in the interview for UCLA. (6) “Architecture is, for me, an art form, and for that it has to be alive.”
“I always encourage my students to build something, with whatever money they have and however they can. Drawings on paper are not enough. People want to see something tangible.”

Chemosphere
Among his projects, the Chemosphere House (1960) stands out. Nicknamed the “flying saucer” in its time, it has become one of the architectural landmarks of Los Angeles.
“Architecture has to contribute to human well-being: it must be joyful, it must have light, air, free spaces and be alive”.

The exposed wooden structure and the integrated furnishings contribute to the spatial continuity and warmth of the interior of the Chemosphere House

Interior of the Chemosphere House, featuring integrated furnishings and exposed wood

Perhaps because he sought to convey both hope and audacity through it, the Chemosphere is much more than a house. John Lautner designed and solved the challenge of building an observation belvedere overlooking the San Fernando Valley on a site with a slope of more than 45%, achieving a work that was both structurally stable and economically viable.
In 2000, Benedikt Taschen (1961– ) acquired and restored the house together with the architects Frank Escher and Ravi GuneWardena, restoring it to the splendor of its original conception.

Googie style

Extension of Schwab’s Pharmacy, Los Angeles (1958), where John Lautner explored the expressive possibilities of geometry as applied to commercial architecture

He was recognized both for his residential works and for the design of commercial establishments. After designing the Googie Coffee Shop in 1949—futuristic, eccentric, and filled with impossible angles—his name came to be used, initially in a derogatory sense, to designate an architectural style associated with his distinctive formal proposals.
In an article published in 1952 in Yale University’s magazine, Professor Douglas Haskell (1909–1984) wrote: “The coffee shop is distinguished by its glass walls, its form, and its exuberant signage oriented toward automobile traffic, which constitutes an advertisement in itself.”

John Lautner’s commercial architecture explored the iconic and advertising character of the building, transforming it into a visual landmark capable of engaging with the speed and automobile culture of mid-twentieth-century California

Googie embodied the spirit of the postwar era (Zeitgeist), although it was ridiculed by much of the architectural criticism of the 1950s.
The rejection came not only from architects but also from academic critics, who regarded it as an ephemeral, excessive, and commercial architecture. Decades later, it would be recognized as one of the most original expressions of postwar Californian architecture.Googie was part of the post-war zeitgeist (Zeit-geist), but was ridiculed by architects in the 1950s.

Cover of Learning from Las Vegas (1972), a work by Robert Venturi (1925–2018), Denise Scott Brown (b. 1931), and Steven Izenour (1940–2001), which vindicated commercial architecture and the importance of symbolism and visual communication in urban space

For more on Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown, see https://onlybook.es/blog/robert-venturi-denise-scott-brown/

As we have seen, “Googie” was described as superficial and vulgar.
In 1972, Robert Venturi rescued it in his book Learning from Las Vegas, stating that “the principal ideas of architecture are close to Lautner’s logic,” written together with Denise Scott Brown and Steven Izenour.
The first part expands upon the results of the seminar organized in 1968 at Yale University, with photographs, maps, and diagrams demonstrating how the typical architecture of Las Vegas functions.
At the center of the second part are two emblematic figures: “the duck and the decorated shed.” The duck becomes a sculpture; symbolic form completely takes possession of architecture, assuming an excessive role.

The functional shed is decorated according to its function, with an advertising sign placed on the roof or on the site.
The Googie look is that of those roadside bars, gas stations, and coffee shops of the United States, as cinematic as they are Tarantino-esque, filled with color and references to the Space Race and to airplanes.
A style—that of Las Vegas—that was optimistic, playful, and unapologetic. Lautner’s Henry’s restaurant chain (1949–1952) follows this line. After several years of little work during the 1950s and 1960s, he experienced a resurgence with his concrete houses, particularly the Bob Hope Residence and other houses in Palm Springs.

John Lautner, one of the most original exponents of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Organic Architecture

The sixty years of John Lautner’s professional career constitute one of the most original and least studied contributions to twentieth-century architecture.
Building upon the teachings he received as Wright’s apprentice, he developed a language of his own characterized by the integration of space, structure, landscape, and technology.

His architecture was always at the service of human well-being, employing concrete roofs, large cantilevers, movable glazed walls, and retractable roofs.
From his arrival in Los Angeles in 1938, Lautner designed some of the most singular works of Californian architecture, from the Googie coffee shops to the iconic Chemosphere, Elrod, and Silvertop houses.

The more than one hundred buildings designed by Lautner, most of them private residences, are distinguished by a high degree of individuality and a taste for experimentation. Despite incorporating spectacular elements, they always conveyed a sense of intimacy and balance. His works were meant to adapt to their inhabitants and enhance their quality of life through light and air.

Works by Lautner

– 1940. Lautner Residence, Los Angeles.
– 1940. Norman Springer Cottage, Los Angeles.
– 1941. Bell House, Los Angeles.

In the Bell House (1947), John Lautner explores spatial fluidity and the warmth of natural materials

– 1944. Carling House, Los Ángeles.
– 1945. Darrow Office Building, Beverly Hills.
– 1945. Hancock House, Silver Lake.

The Hancock House (1950) reveals John Lautner’s concern for the siting of the house within its setting

– 1946. Residencia Edgar Mauer, Los Ángeles.
– 1946. Coffee Dan’s No. 1, 2, 3 y 4, Los Angeles.
– 1946. Casa Garnett y Betty Hancock, Los Ángeles.

The Garnett and Betty Hancock House (1950), where John Lautner explores the expressive possibilities of volume, texture, and light

– 1946. Casa de huespedes de Arthur Eisele, Los Angeles.
– 1947. Henry’s Restaurant, Glendale.
– 1947. El Motel De­sert Hot Springs, Coachella Valley en Palm Springs. It still works today.

Desert Hot Springs Motel (1947). John Lautner brought his compositional freedom to the architecture of leisure through folded roofs, sloping planes, and a pronounced horizontality

– 1947. Jacobsen House, Hollywood.
– 1947. W. F. Gantvoort House, La Canada Flintridge.
– 1947. Casa Foster Carling. Los Angeles.

The Foster Carling House (1947). One of his earliest masterpieces, featuring broad overhanging eaves, the warmth of wood, and the open arrangement of its spaces

Casa Foster Carling, Los Ángeles

– 1947. Tower Motors Lincoln Mercury Showroom.
– 1947. Casa Edgar F. y Allison Mauer, Los Ángeles.

The Edgar F. and Allison Mauer House (1947). The repetition of prefabricated wooden frames makes the structure the principal element generating the architectural space

– 1947. Casa George Jacobson, Hollywood.

The George Jacobson House (1947) articulates the dwelling through a sequence of platforms and light volumes

– 1947. Casa Florence Polin, Hollywood.

The Florence Polin House (1947), one of the earliest works in which John Lautner explores the plastic and spatial possibilities of concrete and glass

– 1948. Valley Escrow Offices, Sherman Oaks.
– 1948. Casa Jules Salkin, Los Ángeles.

The Jules Salkin House (1948). The deep overhanging eaves and the carefully composed horizontal planes reveal the maturity of his architectural language

– 1948. Arthur Eisele Guest House Pavilion, Los Angeles.

The Arthur Eisele Guest House Pavilion (1948). Noteworthy are the lightness of its sloping planes and the transparency of its enclosures

– 1949. Apartamentos Sheats «L’Horizon». Westwood.

Sheats Apartments “L’Horizon” (1949). A complex of eight dwellings, an audacious composition of curved volumes and horizontal planes that seem to ascend the hillsid

– 1949. Casa Ganvoort, La Cañada Flintridge.

The Ganvoort House (1949), La Cañada Flintridge. An intelligent combination of wood, glass, and sloping roofs

– 1949. Googie’s Coffee Shop, West Hollywood.
– 1949. Casa Schaffer, Glendale.

The Schaffer House (1949) possesses a highly distinctive geometry, with low-pitched roofs, a curved composition of walls, and the warmth of its wood cladding

– 1949. UPA Studios, Burbank.
– 1949. Grant Dahlstrom House, Pasadena.
– 1949. Casa Slater Dahlstrom, Pasadena

The Slater Dahlstrom House (1949), Pasadena. It is defined by its broad overhanging eaves and the horizontality of its composition

– 1950. Leo Harvey House, Los Angeles.
– 1950. Shusett House, Beverly Hills.
– 1950. Lawrence E. Deutsch House, Los Angeles.
– 1950. Casa Louise Foster, Sherman Oaks.

The Louise Foster House (1949). The dialogue between curved and rectilinear forms characterizes one of his most original residential works

– 1951. Casa George Alexander, Long Beach.
– 1951. Casa Baxter-Hodiak, Los Angeles.
– 1951. Casa Bick, Brentwood.
– 1951. Casa Nouard Gootgeld. Beverly Hills.

The Nouard Gootgeld House (1950). Its broad cantilevered roof and the refined composition of its horizontal planes are particularly noteworthy

– 1951. David Shusett House, Beverly Hills.

The David Shusett House (1950), Beverly Hills. The swimming pool and terraces constitute a natural extension of the interior spaces

– 1952. Casa Howe, Los Angeles.
– 1952. Casa Fern Carr, Los Angeles.
– 1952. Casa Harry A. Williams, Los Angeles.
– 1953. Casa Ted Tyler, Studio City.
– 1953. Casa Ted Bergren, Los Angeles.
– 1953. Restaurane Henry’s, Pasadena.
– 1953. Casa Howe, Los Angeles.
– 1954. Casa Harry C. Fischer, Los Angeles.
– 1954. Casa Beachwood, Los Angeles.
– 1954. Edificio Coneco Corporation, Sherman Oaks.
– 1954. Casa Deutsch, Los Ángeles.

The Deutsch House (1954), Los Angeles. A sequence of platforms, terraces, and glazed spaces

– 1955. Casa Baldwin, Los Angeles.
– 1956. Casa Reiner-Burchill «Silvertop», Los Angeles.
– 1956. Casa Stanley Johnson, Laguna Beach.

The Stanley Johnson House (1955). The sobriety of its lines and the clarity of its composition stand out

– 1956. Edificio Speer Contractors, Los Angeles.
– 1956. Kaynar Factory, Pico Rivera.
– 1956. Casa Willis Harpel House Nº1, Los Ángeles.

Willis Harpel House No. 1 (1956). A sequence of spaces defined by broad overhanging eaves, supports, and large expanses of glass

– 1956. Casa Silvertop, Kenneth Reiner, Los Ángeles.

Silvertop

Silvertop

Silvertop constitutes one of the landmarks of twentieth-century residential architecture. Commissioned by Kenneth Reiner, John Lautner conceived a serene dwelling whose beauty was meant to arise from its relationship with the site and from the unity of space, structure, and technology. Its curved walls and its great concrete roof frame views toward the ocean and the mountains.
Designed in 1956 and constructed through 1964, it incorporated major innovations, including a 24-meter prestressed concrete vault, an infinity-edge swimming pool, concealed mechanical systems, and movable enclosures specially designed for the house. It also marked the first major use of monolithic concrete as both a sculptural and architectural element in Lautner’s work.
Restored and updated in recent decades, Silvertop preserves the architect’s original vision intact.

Honors
Member of the American Institute of Architects, 1970
Architectural Record Award of Excellence, 1971
Distinguished Alumnus Award, Northern Michigan University, 1975
Architectural Record Award of Excellence, 1977
Cody Award, 1980
American Institute of Architects, Los Angeles Chapter, Man of the Year, 1980
Olympic Architect, 1984

Legacy
Lautner’s legacy is now preserved and perpetuated by the John Lautner Foundation, a nonprofit organization. In 2007, the Foundation donated its archive of drawings, models, photographs, and other materials belonging to John Lautner to the Special Collections of the Getty Research Institute.
In 2008, Lautner’s life and work were the subject of a major retrospective exhibition at the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. Reviewing the exhibition, author and critic Hunter Drohojowska-Philp praised Lautner’s work: “If there ever was an architect who deserved an exhibition in an art museum, it is John Lautner. With their fluid curves in space and the rhythm of repeated forms, his buildings stand as functional sculptures. They are unique entities, unlike those of any other architect.”

Harry C. Fischer House

List of Works
1039 John Lautner House, Los Angeles.
1940 Norman Springer Cottage, Los Angeles, Bell House, West Hollywood, Darrow Office Building.
1945 Beverly Hills, Edgar Mauer House, Los Angeles, Hancock House, Silver Lake.
1946 Coffee Dan’s No. 1, Los Angeles, Coffee Dan’s No. 2, Los Angeles, Coffee Dan’s No. 3, Los Angeles, Coffee Dan’s No. 4, Los Angeles (1946)
Arthur Eisele Guest House, Los Angeles.
1947 Foster Carling House, Los Angeles, Desert Hot Springs Motel, Desert Hot Springs, Henry’s Restaurant, Glendale, Florence Polin House, Hollywood, Jacobsen House, Hollywood, W. F. Gantvoort House, La Canada Flintridge, Tower Motors Lincoln Mercury Showroom,
1948 Sheats Apartments («L’Horizon»), Westwood, Valley Escrow Offices, Sherman Oaks.
1949 UPA Studios, Burbank, Grant Dahlstrom House, Pasadena, Schaffer House, Glendale, Googie’s Coffee Shop, West Hollywood,
1950 Leo Harvey House, Los Angeles, Louise Foster House, Sherman Oaks, Shusett House, Beverly Hills, Lawrence E. Deutsch House, Los Angeles.
1951 George Alexander House, Long Beach, Baxter-Hodiak House, Los Angeles, Bick House, Brentwood.
1952 Nouard Gootgeld House, Beverly Hills, Howe House, Los Angeles
Fern Carr House, Los Angeles, Harry A. Williams House, Los Angeles.
1953 Ted Bergren House, Los Angeles, Henry’s Restaurant, Pasadena, Tyler House, Studio City, Howe House, Los Angeles.
1954 Beachwood House, Los Angeles, Coneco Corporation House, Sherman Oaks, Harry C. Fischer House, Los Angeles.
1955 Baldwin House, Los Angeles.
1956 Reiner-Burchill House («Silvertop»), Los Angeles, Speer Contractors Building, Los Angeles, Kaynar Factory, Pico Rivera,
Willis Harpel House No. 1, Los Angeles, Stanley Johnson House, Laguna Beach.
1957 Paul Zahn House, Los Angeles, Henry’s Restaurant, Pomona,
Carl and Agnes Pearlman Cabin, Idyllwild, Ernest S. Lautner House («Round House»), Pensacola.
1958 George Hatherell House, Shadow Hill, Russ Garcia House («Rainbow House»), West Hollywood, Iwerks House, Sherman Oaks,
Leonard J. Malin House («Chemosphere»), West Hollywood.
1960 Concannon House, Beverly Hills, Midtown School, Los Angeles.
1961 Peter Tolstoy House, Rancho Cucamonga, Marco Wolff House, West Hollywood.
1962 Paul Sheats House, Beverly Hills.
1965 Wayne Zimmerman House, Studio City.
1966 Willis Harpel House No. 2, Anchorage, Marina View Heights Headquarters Building, San Juan Capistrano.
1968 Dan Stevens House, Malibu, Arthur Elrod House, Palm Springs, Marco Wolff Mountain Cabin («Windsong»), Banning.
1969 Douglas Walstrom House, Los Angeles.
1970 Garwood House, Malibu.
1971 Gary Familian House, Beverly Hills.
1972 Stephen Bosustow Cabin, Lake Almanor.
1973 Bob Hope House, Palm Springs. William Jordan House, Laguna Beach, Jeronimo Arango House («Marbrisa»), Acapulco.
1975 Beyer House, Malibu.
1978 Robert Rawlins House, Newport Beach.
1979 Crippled Children’s Society, Woodland Hills, Gilbert Segel House, Malibu.
1982 Allan Turner House, Aspen, Alden Schwimmer House, Beverly Hills.
1983 Krause House, Malibu, Stanley Beyer House, Malibu.
1990 Levy House («Concrete Castle»), Malibu.
1992 Shearing House, Coronado.

Notes
6
Interview with Lautner by Laskey in 1986.
In 1986, Marlene Laskey interviewed John Lautner for the Oral History Program at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her six-and-a-half-hour interview was published by UCLA under the title Responsibility, Infinity, Nature. It is available through the Internet Archive, an online library for researchers, historians, and scholars. The library maintains copies of the book in several different formats. It can be read online or downloaded.

Internet Archive. Responsibility, infinity, nature oral history transcription: Lautner, John, 1911- interviewed: free download, loan and transmission: Internet Archive

Internet Archive. Responsabilidad, infinito, naturaleza historia oral transcripción: Lautner, John, 1911- entrevistado: descarga gratuita, préstamo y transmisión: Internet Archive

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