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Richard Neutra on Building: Mystery and Realities of the Site
My experience, everything within me, is against an abstract approach to land and nature and for the profound assets rooted in each site…The ancients thought those vital assets spirits.”
Do you plan to build a small house? A large house? A mansion in the desert? A perch on a mountain? A big housing project? A building of any kind? Or are you, perforce, just a dreamer? Then you will find this book—the first published in the United States on the work of Richard Neutra—a delightful and practical guide, even to your dreams.
In it one of the world’s leading architects states principles that can be applied to a multitude of building conditions, cites illuminating examples of his ingenious solutions to land-and-house problems, and shows countless ways in which the “profound assets rooted and buried in each site” can be awakened to “startling values of design, truly assured of duration, growth, and never-ending life.”
With the originality, felicity and authority that characterize his architecture, this brilliant and profoundly practical architect distills from his knowledge and long experience a wise and witty guide to the first essential of home building: the relation of the design to the land from which the house would appear to grow.
For three decades Neutra’s houses, large and small, have enhanced the landscape and enclosed in “measureless content” the householders of many places and climes. Though most of the examples presented with the aid of Julius Shulman’s fine photography, are generously surrounded by Nature, some of those which seem least “citified” stand in the midst of cities. They show the immense value of Nature used as a screen. Again, most of the buildings are designed with the modern air of precision. They show how man’s work can act as Nature’s foil.
Do you plan to build a small house? A large house? A mansion in the desert? A perch on a mountain? A big housing project? A building of any kind? Or are you, perforce, just a dreamer? Then you will find this book—the first published in the United States on the work of Richard Neutra—a delightful and practical guide, even to your dreams.
In it one of the world’s leading architects states principles that can be applied to a multitude of building conditions, cites illuminating examples of his ingenious solutions to land-and-house problems, and shows countless ways in which the “profound assets rooted and buried in each site” can be awakened to “startling values of design, truly assured of duration, growth, and never-ending life.”
With the originality, felicity and authority that characterize his architecture, this brilliant and profoundly practical architect distills from his knowledge and long experience a wise and witty guide to the first essential of home building: the relation of the design to the land from which the house would appear to grow.
For three decades Neutra’s houses, large and small, have enhanced the landscape and enclosed in “measureless content” the householders of many places and climes. Though most of the examples presented with the aid of Julius Shulman’s fine photography, are generously surrounded by Nature, some of those which seem least “citified” stand in the midst of cities. They show the immense value of Nature used as a screen. Again, most of the buildings are designed with the modern air of precision. They show how man’s work can act as Nature’s foil.
- GenresArchitecture
64 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1951
3 people are currently reading
19 people want to read
About the author
Richard Neutra
43 books4 followersRichard Joseph Neutra was an Austrian American architect. Living and building for the majority of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered among the most important modernist architects. He was famous for the attention he gave to defining the real needs of his clients, regardless of the size of the project.
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October 23, 2014
I enjoyed this much more the second time, probably because I now know more about Neutra’s work and Japanese gardening than I did before. The text references the photo on the jacket, which is often missing, so I’ve posted it below:
Photo by Julius Shulman, from https://placesjournal.org/article/ame...
This book is basically a series of extensively illustrated essays. It’s divided between “The Text Story” and “The Picture Story.” About half of the photos are presented as full-bleed images, making them large enough to appreciate details. Those that aren’t presented in this way are still generally large.
Neutra considers a number of topics, but most interesting for me is his explanation of how he alludes to Japanese architecture in his work. His utilization of views is also a Japanese technique referred to as shakkei, which I recognized from Itoh’s Space and Illusion in the Japanese Garden. In fact, because of the photos selected for this book and because of the size of their reproduction, it’s a good reference showing the application of shakkei in modern, American design.
Photo by Julius Shulman, from https://placesjournal.org/article/ame...
This book is basically a series of extensively illustrated essays. It’s divided between “The Text Story” and “The Picture Story.” About half of the photos are presented as full-bleed images, making them large enough to appreciate details. Those that aren’t presented in this way are still generally large.
Neutra considers a number of topics, but most interesting for me is his explanation of how he alludes to Japanese architecture in his work. His utilization of views is also a Japanese technique referred to as shakkei, which I recognized from Itoh’s Space and Illusion in the Japanese Garden. In fact, because of the photos selected for this book and because of the size of their reproduction, it’s a good reference showing the application of shakkei in modern, American design.
Displaying 1 of 1 review