Modernism Week 2.0 – Architecture for the people: John Lautner at its best!

During this year’s Modernism Week in Palm Springs by accident we started our very own John Lautner special! On Friday, February 17th 2017 a star dedicated to this outstanding architect was unveiled next to the Palm Springs Architecture Design Center, a lecture series took place at the Annenberg Theater (with Alan Hess) and the film “Spirit in Architecture” by Bette Jane Cohen celebrated it’s 25th anniversary.

Having purchased tickets for all of the events in advance John Lautner’s work has strongly influenced our preps for this years trip to California. Then, last January, we asked ourselves what else we could do or visit to make our upcoming stay unforgettable?

As mentioned in one of our previous posts we found the Pearlman Cabin in Idyllwild and wanted to know if there would be a chance to visit the building. So we contacted the owner, Nancy Pearlman …and Yes… we were lucky because she kindly invited us to her cabin and even took time for us to tell us everything about the design and building process with John Lautner back in 1957.

Did you know that the family built the cabin itself within one year according to the designs of John Lautner?

More about the Pearlman Cabin here…

Having read many articles about an interesting man named James Goldstein, Baseball, Fashion & Architecture Lover and also owner of the Sheats Goldstein Residence and his recent donation of this master piece to the LACMA we expecting absolutely nothing when we tried to contact him to ask …you can imagine what… and we still can’t believe it until today but about a week later his assistant Roberta invited us to visit the house what we never ever expected. So on Thursday, March 2nd we drove up Angelo View Dr. to meet Roberta and to visit a masterpiece…

You can read any article, search the web for images or find interviews with Mr. Goldstein but it will never be the same as being really in this iconic, maybe the most beautiful building in the U.S. to experience and feel the real spirit of John Lautner’s design and what he wanted to express in his buildings. Thanks to Mr. Goldstein and his true love for the residence the building and its extensions are in constant evolution. Until his death in 1994 Mr. Goldstein worked on the building and its extensions together with John Lautner and then continued with Duncan Nicholson (associate of John Lautner) until 2015.

More about the Sheats-Goldstein Residence here…

Special thanks to Roberta who made this visit unforgettable providing her profound knowledge about the architecture and their inhabitants!

Last but not least while walking down Carbon Beach in Malibu we found the Segel House, the iconic beach house designed by John Lautner in 1979.

An architecture trip to California at its best!

PS: DID YOU KNOW THAT NEXT TO THE PEARLMAN CABIN IN IDYLLWILD YOU CAN FIND AN UNKNOWN FRANK GEHRY BUILDING FROM 1958?

All images (with kind permission by the owners): Michael Atzenhofer, Architect

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