John Lautner, Architect [Paperback]

Frank Escher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 1998

John Lautner was the quintessential Los Angeles architect. His houses, many perched on hillsides with sweeping glass walls overlooking the valley below, are icons of the drama and exuberance of the best of Southern California architecture.

Born in 1911, Lautner apprenticed to Frank Lloyd Wright before establishing his own office in Hollywood in 1939. Among his best-known projects are the Malin Residence (Chemosphere), the Reiner Residence (Silvertop), and the Elrod Residence in Palm Springs (seen in the James Bond film Diamonds Are Forever).

Designed with Lautner before his death in 1994, this oversized monograph is the only book available on the imaginative and exciting work of this modern master. It includes almost fifty houses, each described in detailed drawings and lavish photographs, as well as an interview in which Lautner discusses the most important influences on his work and his eccentric views on architecture.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"In this fascinating account of new previously unreported information on the commission of American posters during World War II, the authors vividly present quotes revealing the goals and methods applied to pictorial standards. With new insights familiar posters come alive again as the strategies for their design are discussed and assesed in an up to date historical perspective. This book will be invaluable to all those interested in the World War II studies and graphic design." -- Therese Thau Heyman

"This book presents some fifty of the realized projects as well as republishing an interview that Marlene Laskey conducted with the architect in 1986, and a collection of Lautner's observations....The spectacular location of the villas--on rocky slopes, on the ocean, or, better still, on rocky slopes overlooking the ocean--is invariably exploited by Lautner to the full. He developed an infallible feeling for using the design of his houses to emphasize the dramatic aspect of their setting. Grand gestures, prodigious cantilevers (certainly since he discovered the structural possibilities of concrete in 1963), subtle light delivery, and strategic orientation are the most striking characteristics, together with the vast dimensions and robust finish."  -- Arthur Wortmann, Archis

"This book celebrates the career of a neglected giant, who enriched the Southland for over fifty years....Enthusiasts have had to wait for this sumptuous publication to discover the full range of John Lautner's achievement....He was an original striving for the unique, drawing his inspiration from the site, unbending and outspoken." -- Michael Webb, L.A. Architect

Lesser known to laymen's eyes is the work compiled in the recent paperback release of John Lautner, Architect (edited by Frank Escher; Princeton Architectural Press). A Wright apprentice who started his own practice in 1939, Lautner melded his space-age vision for housing with the California landscape, incorporating great expanses of glass, low-slung furniture, and natural materials. -- Elle Dcor

This is the only book on Lautner's work, which spanned the late '30s to the early '90s (he died in 1994) and, fittingly, it is truly user-friendly. Accompanying the 500 photographs are nuggets of text in which the architect-a former associate of Frank Lloyd-Wright-lays out his ideas in no-nonsense language and talks about the experience of putting each house together. Love 'em or hate 'em, you have to agree that they are the products of an abiding interest in marrying people's domestic needs to unusual spaces." -- LA Times

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; First Edition edition (June 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568981422
• ISBN-13: 978-1568981420
• Product Dimensions: 12.7 x 9.7 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.9 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,325,194 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A treasure., December 4, 2001

By 

Taylor Haywood (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: John Lautner, Architect (Paperback)

Any Lautner enthusiast will be captivated by this book. It covers more buildings than any of the others, and includes Lautner's own comment on each, making it an invaluable record of Real Architecture.

Most of the photos in this book appear to have been taken shortly after the buildings were completed (and some during construction), so it makes a great companion to "The Architecture of John Lautner," which has mostly rescent photographs. Together, the books give a facinating "the and now" contrast, and demonstrate the timeless quality of Lautner's work.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Marvelous resource and record..., June 7, 2004

By 

Taylor Haywood (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: John Lautner, Architect (Hardcover)

This book is really a treasure, with virtually all of the text and commentary provided by Lautner himself. A wonderful resource for anyone interested in understanding Lautner and his work.

The photographs, plentiful, are not quite as striking and colorful as in later books (especially the Hess/Weintraub book), but are interesting as most seem to be roughly contemporary with each building's completion, probably the original documentation photography, usually showing the original furniture and decor. (This is also the reason that a few buildings, like the Harvey House, have no interior photos--Lautner was not happy with certain decorative decisions and would not permit their publication.) This book and the Hess/Weintraub book together allow a fascinating "then/now" look at many buildings, showing how well they have adapted and survived changing styles and tastes.

Furthermore, this is the most comprehensive of the books on Lautner, including a great deal more buildings than the others and also a complete list of works, both built and unbuilt, sometimes with drawings. Buildings are also covered in more detail, with plans and sections provided for each.

A note on the older/hardcover editions: some may have binding errors, such as groups of pages out of place or upside down (the title is also upside down on the spine), but these errors may be unique to just a few copies, I'm not sure. Also, I know there is at least one photo that is slightly different in my hardcover copy than in the paperback--same view, different lighting and furniture.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good, But Not as Good as The Architecture of John Lautner, November 30, 2010

By 

C. casey (Watsonville, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: John Lautner, Architect (Paperback)

I initially purchased this book to educate myself when I hired Arthur Dyson, a colleague of Lautner's, to design our home. I bought this book in the 1990s for around $30, and am quite surprised to see it now going for about $800! If you love Lautner, then you will of course like this book. It includes a comprehensive chronology of his residences, interlaced with textual narrative. It also includes a number of plan and elevation views. However, most of the photos are black and white. The resolution of all the photos is mediocre, having relatively poor contrast and some graininess. There are two other books that pretty much tell the same story but with much better visuals: The Architecture of John Lautner by Weintraub, and Lautner by Barbara-Ann Campbell-Lange. For details, see my reviews of those books on Amazon. For photos of my house, designed by Arthur Dyson and built completely by my weary old hands, see [...].