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 treesNot long after wild-man publisher Benedikt Taschen restored the Hollywood Hills-sited Chemosphere House, which had fallen into very serious disrepair, I wrote a … [Read more...]
John Lautner House Imperiled
AN EARLY and long overlooked Beverly Hills house by architect John Lautner -- celebrated by fans as an "organic modernist" -- may soon be history. That's the situation a new story of mine, which runs in Saturday's LA Times, describes. The house, which has fallen into serious disrepair, has been owned for 23 years by a couple, originally from Chile, who have lost patience with the place. … [Read more...]
The Artistry of Cole Gerst
THE graphic design genius of Cole Gerst struck me the first time I saw his indie-rock posters for Spaceland and the T-shirts he designs as Option-G: Birds, bears and other animals against a cool, retro-modernist background.His work struck me as in the tradition of architect John Lautner and illustrator Charley Harper, with its mariage of nature and culture -- what architecture historian Alan Hess … [Read more...]