By DAWN ELARDO This Saturday would've marked American architect, John Lautner's 100th birthday, July 16, 2011. Comparatively underrated—having been Frank Lloyd Wright's apprentice at Wright's Taliesin Program for young aspiring architects for about five years in the 1930s—Lautner is evidently, one of America's most visionary architects.
Completely underrated, most non-architects probably have never heard of him. As Frank Gehry admits in the documentary about Lauter,Infinite Space (featured below) "I used to go travelling and look at everything he did."
Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner
Admittedly a purist and an idealist about his work, he confessed to rejecting Frank Lloyd Wright's personal aesthetic, "I purposely didn't copy any of Mr. Wright's drawings or even take any photographs. I was going to work from my own philosophy, and that's what he wanted apprentices to do, too: that wherever they went, they would contribute to the infinite variety of nature by being individual, creating for individuals a growing, changing thing. Well practically none of them were able to do it. I mean, I am one of two or three that may have done it, you know..." Indeed, John Launter's style is not a mere mimic of Frank Lloyd Wright's infamous Prairie School of thought (the signature of horizontal lines characterizing the design), but more of a continuation of the Organic Architecture methodology: the philosophy that architecture should encapsulate a clear symmetry between the interior (human habitation), and the exterior (nature surrounding the structure). Have a look at some of of Lauter's remaining works of the Marbrisa House, 1973 and the Elrod House, 1968 (below)—sadly, most of the 200 designs Lautner had built have been demolished.
Marbrisa House by John Lautner, Acapulco Mexico
Marbrisa House by John Lautner, Acapulco Mexico
Elrod House by John Lautner, Palm Springs, California
Elrod House by John Lautner, Palm Springs, California
Elrod House by John Lautner, Palm Springs, California
Elrod House by John Lautner, Palm Springs, California
Marbrisa House by John Lautner, Acapulco Mexico
Marbrisa House by John Lautner, Acapulco Mexico
Elrod House by John Lautner, Palm Springs, California
Elrod House by John Lautner, Palm Springs, California
John Lautner died in 1994 at the age of 83; to date, his practice, Lautner Associates is survived by his protégeé Helena Arahuete. To celebrate John Lautner's 100th Birthday, check the robust event's page at JohnLautner.org: HERE.
