Tour of Older Homes to Showcase Key Elements of Modernist Era
Ten private homes and apartment buildings that typify the “California style” Modernist movement--known for its clean lines and glass-walled openness--will be open to the public for self-guided tours April 2.
In the hands of such noted architects as R.M. Schindler, Richard Neutra, Raphael Sorriano and others, Modernism, which flourished in the 1950s, helped define the Southern California lifestyle.
“Los Angeles made an important contribution to the Modernist movement, and these architects are all significant,” said LouAnne Greenwald of the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, which is sponsoring the tour to raise money for the landmark Schindler House at 835 N. Kings Road in West Hollywood.
The Schindler House, built in 1922, lays out the basic elements of the California Modernist home, she said, with a pinwheel design interlocking interior and garden spaces.
“The residences on the tour span the years from 1922 to 1958,” said Greenwald. “In all of them, you see such key elements of Modernism as the low horizontality of the building, the ribbon windows and the interplay between outdoors and indoors.”
In addition to four Schindler houses and apartments, the tour, which stretches from Mid-Wilshire to the Hollywood Hills, includes Gregory Ain’s Dunsmuir Flats, John Lautner’s Bergren House and two Richard Neutra houses.
A series of lectures that will provide a framework to the tour will take place the same day at the Schindler House. They include architect, author and Schindler specialist Judith Sheine on Schindler; architect and the author of the upcoming “Complete Works of Richard Neutra” (Taschen), Barbara Lamprecht on Neutra; architect and author Frank Escher on Lautner; and photographer Julius Shulman on “The Emergence of Modernism.”
Tickets for the basic tour (including lectures) are $60, with an additional $15 to tour Shulman’s own 1950 house and studio, designed by Raphael Sorriano. A lecture-only ticket is $20 and tickets to a special donor reception are $150. Information and reservations: (323) 651-1510.
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Interior designer Alexandra Stoddard, author of the bestselling book “Feeling at Home” and 20 other books on design, is scheduled to be keynote speaker in Newport Beach on April 8 for the Friends of Concordia University (Irvine auxiliary) annual Spring Event. The brunch, at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel, is open to the public.
Stoddard has been dubbed “The Lifestyle Lady” by House Beautiful magazine. Tickets are $50 per person for the brunch; $75 for brunch and a private reception with Stoddard. Proceeds benefit the scholarship program. Reservations: (949) 854-8002, Ext. 1862.