Clapboard, editing, subtitles: Beverly Hills, 2021. Here, in 2021, another timelessly modern icon was polished to a high gloss. The MCM Alfred Wilkes House dates from 1957 and was planned by the architect of the same name, a delicate, light something with casual curves and a large pool. After it was bought by 36-year-old film producer and billionaire daughter Megan Ellison, young architect Sophie Goineau got to work dusting off the little gem. “I believe that everything has a soul and that materials are also alive,” she is convinced. You can see that: Danish clay bricks, terrazzo, Italian plaster, a Spanish bathtub made from a solid block of natural stone. Despite the limitless budget, Sophie Goineau managed to maintain a level of elegant restraint. A luxury make-up for the never-ending Hollywood gala evening.
LIVING EXPERIMENTS
But Los Angeles isn’t just about the big glamor villas that haven’t been scratched by thrift, but also the case study houses of the 1950s, which implemented cozy experiments in a small space with their clever floor plans and innovative materials. Flap, cut, swing to Vienna. Andreas Nierhaus, art historian and curator of the Wien Museum, and the photographer David Schreyer are sitting here. In 2017, the pair took a multi-week trip to LA to trace the homes of Austrian émigré Richard Neutra and his contemporaries. They did it in a very American way: with a rental car, a map and a lot of optimism. Almost all of the residents willingly opened the door for them and told Nierhaus about their lives while Schreyer set up the tripod.
“Many of them work in the film and creative industries,” the two report. They all love their domiciles, whose Californian homeliness is more than clear in the glistening sunny photos. They are little miracle machines: sometimes industrial like Alyn Morris’ house in Silver Lake with thin red steel and lots of glass, sometimes almost hippieesque like Gregory Ain’s Daniel House, sometimes reservedly modern like most of Richard Neutra’s works. But they all live in close proximity to the now lush vegetation.
But LA modernism isn’t just for museums and conservators. Many architects today are inspired by the industrially elegant lightness, such as Barbara Bestor or Lehrer Architects, who – rarely in the USA – also have a social and ecological streak. They designed the Barker House as a zero-energy house with natural ventilation and a roof,
that collects rainwater. Luxury without any waste – yes, that is possible. Fade out, credits.
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