Recently I was doing my latest pastime of Drawing Botanical, when my instructor told me the best way to draw is slowly with patience which is often promoted by listening to Podcasts. So there I went, to figure out how to get the speakers to talk to my phone, to talk to the podcast world….and after a short time I was set!
As an Architect, what I never had much time for while working to the max….always…was to check out the stories of Architects. So as it is, I have the time, thank you COVID, and Im listening to a talk on Frank Loyd Wright.
What I didn’t know was that he has a strong relationship with Richard Neutra, in fact Neutra idolized him and immigrated to the United States in the early 1920’s with the dual motivation of working for his idol, Mr Wright, and for exploring American industrial potential for economical and lightweight housing, schools, medical facilities and “architecture of social concern”.
Wright's early cordiality changed to vitriol when he characterized those projects as "Cheap and Thin." Although meant as an insult, the characterization revealed a recognition of the different direction that Richard Neutra's goals had given to the basic strategies that Wright had developed twenty years earlier: and thus Mid Century “California Modern” was born.
I found this fun and interesting…evidently with the thin lines and lots of glass, people would mistake the glass panes for openings and walk into the glass. And naturally, Neutra thought that was perfect as it showed that his design intention was working! Form over function!
Dorothy Serulnic was Neutra’s executive assistant. And why do we care…well here comes the connection to my recent work. Richard Neutra designed a home for her and her husband in California.
