Category Archives: About John Lautner

Information on John Lautner

Infinite Space Screened on Major Television in Australia

The newest documentary on John Lautner, Infinite Space, was shown on a major television channel (ABC) July 18, 2010. You can read the description on the station’s website. The entire film can be seen online at http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/597430, but only by persons in Australia, and only until July 23.

Thanks to Dujon Zivic from Australia for this information, and thanks to the many people who wrote to the Foundation after seeing the film there.

See Spirit in Architecture with Panel Discussion

On July 31 the Society of Architectural Historians, Southern California Chapter, will screen Bette Cohen’s The Spirit in Architecture: John Lautner, and present a panel discussion about the film. The panel will include Cohen, film co-writer Tom Marble, co-producer Evelyn Wendell, architectural historian Alan Hess, and Lautner scholar Jon Yoder.

Read about the presentation and the panel members on the SAH-SCC website. Tickets will be free for students, $15 for SAH-SCC members, and $30 for non-members.

The Annotated Bibliography: bio and biblio in one

excerpt from Cover of annotated bibliography
excerpt from cover

John Crosse, retired environmental engineer, has a penchant for research and a gift for doing it well. Because of his interest in architectural history, particularly in southern California, he offered to create an annotated bibliography of publications on the work of John Lautner. And now he is sharing it with all of us.

Crosse’s bibliography includes many photographs from the publications he includes, as well as significant events in the life of John Lautner, so that one can track projects, clients, and other events along with the publicity given to his work.

Read Crosse’s introduction on his website and download the bibliography yourself:

http://socalarchhistory.blogspot.com/2010/04/introduction-2008-hammer-exhibition.html

You might also want to visit his facebook page (the link is on his site) and add him as a friend to keep track of his many activities.

See Spirit in Architecture on the Big Screen

The Spirit in Architecture

Bette Cohen’s documentary on John Lautner, The Spirit in Architecture: John Lautner, will screen at the Southern California Institute of Architecture on July 31, 2010, at 2:00 p.m. This remarkable work features John Lautner walking around and through his buildings, talking about them, as well as comments by clients, notable architects and historians, some of whom are no longer alive. The video (VHS and PAL) is available from this website, but a fully remastered DVD is not yet available. Thus the opportunity to see it on the big screen is not one to be missed.

Following the screening Bette Jane C0hen and co-producer Evelyn Wendel will be joined by Alan Hess, Jon Yoder, Tom Marble, and John Ellis for a panel discussion. Don’t miss this all-star cast!

For up-to-date information, join the Facebook Page on the film.

Exhibit in Palm Springs Takes Different Approach

From Palm Springs Exhibit

The Hammer museum exhibit, Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner, is ending its travels in the Palm Springs Art Museum. Because the exhibit space and lighting is different from what was available at the Hammer the exhibit is laid out differently.

There is an entrance area showing early influences on Lautner, as at the Hammer, then a spiral-shaped path winds its way through the center room, where many plans, sketches, and working models are displayed. The models are in glass cases, allowing close viewing. Finally, an outer ring contains the large-scale exhibit models with their photographic scenic backdrops. Film loops are shown on transparent screens rather than on the wall. Very little material from the original exhibit has been excluded from this smaller-sized version.

The exhibit continues through May 30, 2010. Get an idea of how the exhibit looks through the Foundation’s picasaweb album:

Updated again: Infinite Space Still on the Move

updated March 12, 2010: info on Portland screenings added
updated January 28, 2010: more info on Deventer screening, addition of another Netherlands screening
updated January 27, 2010: more info on Aspen screening

Infinite Space: The Architecture of John Lautner continues to make the rounds at theaters around the world. Upcoming dates:

Tuesday, February 16
Arthouse Cinema
Deventer,
The Netherlands
More information: http://www.filmhuisdekeizer.nl/programma/p_event.php?eventid=3379

Saturday, February 27, 3:30 pm
The Center for Architecture
536 La Guardia Place
NYC, NY
Free, but need to register:
http://cfa.aiany.org/index.php?section=calendar&evtid=1422

Sunday, February 28, 2010, 6 p.m. CET
60-minute version screens on Dutch television
Station Nederland 2, program Close Up
After the show it will be viewable online for some weeks through www.uitzendinggemist.nl (don’t know if viewable from beyond The Netherlands)

Monday, March 1st
Wheeler Opera House
Aspen, CO
5:30 pm, FREE
contractors who built Turner house will be present.
For more info contact: Amy Guthrie
City of Aspen Historic Preservation Officer
130 S. Galena Street
Aspen, CO 81611
Amy.Guthrie@ci.aspen.co.us
(p)970-429-2758 (f) 970-920-5439

Thursday, March 18th
Triangle Modernist Houses (fundraiser)
Galaxy Cinema
Carey, North Carolina
$7.95 advance tickets, $9 at the door
http://www.trianglemodernisthouses.com

Sunday, March 28 and Wednesday, March 31
nwFilmCenter
Portland Art Museum
$8 General
$7 PAM Members, Students, Seniors
$5 Friends of the Film Center

Sunday, April 18
Palm Springs Museum
http://www.psmuseum.org
Producers Anna Thomas and Sara Sackner will be at this screening

More information will be posted here when available.

Palm Springs Television to Feature Exhibit

KPSP, Palm Springs area’s local CBS station, will feature the upcoming exhibit on John Lautner on its “Eye on the Desert” segment Monday, February 15, from 6:45 to 7:00 p.m. Exhibit Co-Curator Frank Escher and Palm Springs Museum Curator Sidney Williams were both interviewed for the segment.

The exhibit, titled “Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner”, was produced by the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles. It has traveled to Glasgow, Scotland, and now to Palm Springs, where it opens February 20. Because of the fragile nature of the original materials in the exhibit, no more traveling is planned. The Palm Springs exhibit will close May 23.

Hammer Exhibit Opens in Palm Springs in February

The Hammer Museum’s well-received major exhibition on John Lautner, Between Heaven and Earth, opens in Palm Springs on February 20, 2010 and continues until May 23, 2010.  The Palm Springs Art Museum is hosting the exhibit, with the exclusive presenting sponsor the City of Indian Wells.

Events related to the exhibit:

Feb. 19: FREE (MUSEUM MEMBERS ONLY) Lecture on exhibition Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner; Lecture by Frank Escher, co-curator of the exhibition; reception follows (lecture starts 5:30 p.m.)

February 20: Exhibition opening:  Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner (runs through May 23)

February 20: Symposium and tour: From Frank Lloyd Wright to John Lautner and After: Reassessing the Organic Tradition in American Architecture (at Ace Hotel) ($50 for symposium, $250 symposium, lunch and tour of Lautner-designed sites)

Check the Palm Springs Museum website for details.

Museum Hours

Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Thursday 12 p.m. – 8 p.m.

Closed Mondays and major holidays ; Store, Box Office, and Cafe are open during museum hours

Museum Admission

Free to members; youths 12 and under and active military personnel and their families ; $12.50 adults; $10.50 seniors 62 and over; $5.00 for students.  Free public admission every Thursday from 4 – 8 pm during VillageFest, sponsored by the City of Palm Springs. Free admission to AAM, NARM, and WMA members with I.D. Group tours available. Free every Second Sunday through support from the Berger Foundation.

More info: Visit us on the web at: www.psmuseum.org