Lautner

Space-age architecture
Going back to the future with the visionary West Coast architect

Michigan-born architect John Lautner (1911–1994) was behind some of the most striking and innovative architectural designs in mid-20th-century America. With designs for homes and commercial buildings primarily in Southern California, Lautner’s innovative work captured the pioneering optimism of 1950s America, a time of space-age technology, economic growth, and affluence. Today, several of Lautner’s houses are labeled Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monuments. Lautner’s projects focused on the relationship between humans, space, and nature.

He was always particularly sensitive to the surrounding environment and would often integrate water and natural landscapes into his designs. His houses are characterized by sweeping rooflines, glass- paneled walls, and steel beams, in a heady combination of fantasy and minimalism.

About the Author

Barbara-Ann Campbell-Lange studied architecture in London, New York, and Cambridge. She is a director of the Campbell-Lange Workshop and lectures at the Royal College of Art

About the Editor

The editor Peter Gössel runs an agency for museum and exhibition design. He has published TASCHEN monographs on Julius Shulman, R. M. Schindler, John Lautner, and Richard Neutra, as well as several architecture titles in the Basic Art series.