JOHN LAUTNER TALENTED ARCHITECT OF HOLLYWOOD
Have you seen Tom Ford’s movie, A Single Man, starring gifted actor Colin Firth ? First, I noticed the amazing performance of the actor but was transfixed by the interior of the protagonist’s home… So, as soon as the movie was over, I hunted down the name of the house (the Schaffer Residence) and, above all, the name of the architect, which turned out to be John Lautner.
John Lautner (1911-1994) was actually one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Taliesin Fellows. As a matter of fact, Lautner supervised the Fallingwater house in Pennsylvania for Wright. Known for his residences, Lautner was also well-known for the commercial genre named for his design of Googie’s Coffee Shop in Los Angeles. Here, I want to show four of his most mythical residences (after the break).
As Googie designs were regularly ridiculed by the architectural community in the 1950s, Lautner’s reputation suffered, despite that fact his designs were as good as ever. Thus, following some lean years, he rose again in the 1960s with the “Chemosphere” pedestal house (seen in Charlie’s Angels). This incredible house now belongs to editor Benedikt Taschen.
The Chemosphere pedestal house by John Lautner - Built in 1960
The interior of the Chemosphere pedestal house by John Lautner - Built in 1960
- The Elrod Residence in Palm Springs, that you may have seen in James Bond’s Diamonds are forever movie:
Elrod Residence by John Lautner - Built in 1968
The interior of the Elrod Residence by John Lautner - Built in 1968
The interior of the Elrod Residence by John Lautner (retro)- Built in 1968
- And finally, Sheats Goldstein Residence, that you definitely saw in The Big Lebowski or, at least, in the video clip “Let’s get blown” by Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams:
Sheats Goldstein Residence by John Lautner - Built in 1963
The interior of the Sheats Goldstein Residence by John Lautner - Built in 1963
The interior of the Sheats Goldstein Residence by John Lautner - Built in 1963
The man you will certainly regret, since you know him and his work now :
