The Sheats Goldstein house might be the most frequently photographed piece of property in LA (if you haven’t seen it on innumerable blogs like Curbed, or from the video walk through Charles posted awhile ago, you probably remember it from The Big Lebowski)—so obviously, I jumped at the chance to take a tour of the iconic house with architect Duncan Nicholson, who has been restoring and adding to the property since the ’90s. And as much as I tried to restrain my trigger finger, I took a ridiculous amount of photos to add to the home’s documentation—apologies for the seemingly endless scroll above.
Obviously, it’s an amazing house—but I’m most interested in its evolution through the ages. James Goldstein purchased the house in 1972, and then re-hired John Lautner to improve upon the house (and undo some questionable renovations)—the torch was passed to Nicholson, who has been carrying on the work to date.
Duncan started working for Lautner in 1989, and one of his first projects at the firm was to collaborate with James Turrell on his ‘Skyspace’ for the property. The corresponding concrete decks and walkways he designed that connect the house to the Skyspace take you on a near surreal procession through the rain forest-like gardens on the property.
He was also the project architect on the living room installation and designed most of the furniture, some of which was of course immortalized on film when The Dude sat there drinking his laced White Russian.
The plans for the most ambitious phase of the project, including a guest house, tennis court, nightclub and terrace, were shelved for almost 10 years after Lautner passed in 1994. Work on the project resumed in 2003 and has been ongoing ever since. Currently under construction is the nightclub that lives beneath what is arguably the most stunning tennis court in existence. All components of the addition make use of poured-in-place concrete, staying true to Lautner’s original aesthetic, one that somehow manages to make concrete feel warm and organic.
Thanks to David John for the introduction and many facts via his You Have Been Here Sometime interview with Duncan Nicholson.
Beautiful photos by Ward Roberts depicting various courts integrated into the urban landscape in near chameleon ways.
When living in Hong Kong I remember being amazed at how much area was offered up for court/pitch activities, given how short they are on space. Many of these are most likely far above street level, and while not necessarily “green areas,” they give back crucial space that was taken by construction.
I remember the first time I laid eyes on a photo of Brasilia. I actually thought it was from a science fiction movie or computer generated 3D model. In fact, it’s still hard to believe these buildings really exist on our planet today.
Yesterday, the legendary architect behind Brasilia and many more modernist works of art, passed away at the age of 104.
Oscar Niemeyer was an architect by trade, but his buildings embodied much more than the engineering or utility behind them; they were, to borrow a phrase I read in a recent obituary, “a poetic vision of the future.”
And nowhere was Oscar’s vision better demonstrated than in Brasilia, a planned utopia conceived in Brazil’s interior that resembles a spaceport more than anything we might recognize as a city. In fact, after flying over Brasilia’s futuristic presidential palace and modular ministries in 1961, Yuri Gagarin, the Russian cosmonaut and first man in space, said “the impression was like arriving on another planet.”
The photos presented here are from two photographers and sources. Marcel Gautherot’s photos of ‘The Construction of Brasilia’ are sourced from an Arch Daily article you should read and see. The others are from Rene Burri, and you can view more of them through Magnum Photo’s website.
Amazing photos from a new book on Balthazar Korab’s architectural photography.
Emigrating to the US from Hungary in 1955, Korab was initially hired by Eero Saarinen as a designer, but his skills as a photographer quickly took center stage stage and he effectively became Saarinen’s in-house photographer, using photography as a tool for design development in addition to documentation of finished works.
While of course featuring many of Saarinen’s iconic buildings, the book also shows Korab’s commissioned photos of works by Corb, Mies, Kahn, Frank Lloyd Wright….
The design of Apple Stores around the world don’t get enough attention for their design. We’ve all been in an Apple Store before and seen just how simple and effective the interior is. Even though sometimes it gets crowded, the interior design is impeccable. Here are images to prove it.
Star Axis is “an architectonic earth/star sculpture” (detailed info here) by American artist Charles Ross. Conceived in 1971 and began in 1976, Star Axis — located on a Mesa in New Mexico — is scheduled for completion in 2013. Sadly there aren’t a whole lot of photos of this incredible structure out there. I guess I’ll have to take a trip down to Mesa.
Some great shots from inside the home of industrial design icon Dieter Rams. It’s nice to know that those museum shots of Braun products I always see are actually in use somewhere. There’s also this house full of Rams-designed Vistsoe shelving.
One of these days I’d like to visit Sweden, and when I do I’m staying at the Treehotel.
Captured here by Mauro Puccini, the hotel has six rooms accessible through wooden ladders and ropes, and each features a unique name like the Blue Cone, UFO, Bird’s Nest, and their most famous room, the Mirrorcube.
Check out more beautiful images of the hotel here. Also see previous post on Linda Aldredge’s home for more treehouse goodness.
