Final+Project

media type="custom" key="7766979"

The Richard Neutra’s modernism… But first, who was Richard Neutra?

Richard Neutra was born in Viena, Austria. He was educated by Adolf Loos and influenced by Otto Wagner at the Technical University of Vienna, where he graduated in 1917. He also studied at the University of Zurich and he was a Frank Lloyd Wright’s student. Neutra moved to the US in 1923 and got the nationalization in 1929. He worked for Frank Lloyd Wright in 1924 and with Rudolf Schinder from 1924 to 1926. In 1928 he opened his own firm in Los Angeles.

Neutra released the term “biorealism”, which means “the inherent and inseparable relationship between human beings and nature”. In december 1957, Richard Neutra was invited to a talk in NCSU Design School. He decided to write with his class, a letter to Frank Lloyd Wright:

“Certainly today all serious architectural students are aware of your tremendous contribution to both the fiber and spirit of the art, and almost all are in sympathy with the means you have used in giving your ideas form, even though our own incipient philosophies and forms may be directed in many different ways. With these thoughts in mind, we would like to join with Mr. Neutra in sending you heartfelt greetings at this Christmas season. With respectful wishes-- [Signed by fourteen students.]"

In 1965, Neutra formally associated with his son Dion, Richard and Dion Neutra and Associates. In 1966 he returned to Vienna, and died in Germany in 1970. The firm nevertheless continues to work today.

Now, we’re going to talk about the Kauffman House in Palm Springs, California.

The city was growing up since 1920 when Albert Frey (a Le Corbusier protected) built the first house there. This “moonscape” as Neutra called it, is totally dominated by the Kaufmann House of the desert, a great achievement of modern architecture.

The house is a tribute to the American indigenous cultures, which he really admired. The house shares some similarities with the “Falling Water” Kaufmann house, like the use of stone on its mansory and what we call a “floating weightless”, he inserted the house in that rough background where “the time, the white light of the moon and the starry sky” stressed the modern work in America.

The Kaufmann house distilled space with its horizontal- silver planes that slide over the glass. The only point where verticality is really present is right where the gazebo and fireplace are placed, those being remarked with vertical aluminum foils.

The garden gets inside the house almost inadvertently with soft oscillations, breaking the hard and squared geometry of the house… The glass is the element that helped to make that happen, a real gamble in a house located in the middle of the desert. The center space is totally dedicated for the housing use, and the rooms, yards, living rooms, disposed in spiral reveals the social use of the house. The cross-shaped plan ensures the separation of the spaces and the natural lighting while the day. The only connection between the guest side and the rest of the house are the corridors.

The structural system combines wood and steel, reducing the quantity of vertical supports. This “radial arm” became the principal characteristic in Neutra’s buildings, the so called “spider leg”, which fusions the space and the building.

Finally, in the finish details we find Gutters that guide the rain water to the rocks in the side, simulating a Japanese garden and honoring Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water.