Born in Austria, Richard Neutra immigrated to the United States in 1923, where he became an undisputed master of mid-century modern architecture. An architect that was intimately attuned to the environment, he created his unique indoor/outdoor living spaces as a corrective to the chaotic reality of modern urban life. His intention was to "place man in relationship with nature; that's where he developed and where he feels most at home."
After fighting in World War I, Neutra and his wife Dione relocated from Austria to Germany, where he worked with architect Erich Mendelsohn. The couple then moved to the Midwestern United States, where Neutra briefly worked under Frank Lloyd Wright before his friend and colleague, Rudolph Schindler, lured him to Los Angeles in 1925. Southern California's dramatic coastal, desert and mountain landscape, combined with the urban sophistication of Hollywood and Beverly Hills, was an ideal canvas for Neutra's brand of modernism. His buildings offered a bright and minimal respite from the demands of urban living. "Our environment is often chaotic, irritating, inhibitive and disorienting," he said. "It is not generally designed at all, but amounts to a cacophonous, visually discordant accretion of accidental events, sometimes euphemized as 'urban development' and 'economic progress'." Read more >
