Richard Neutra’s Lovell Health House: Book Launch and Panel Discussion
Yesterday we joined forces with the Twentieth Century Society, to celebrate the launch of a significant addition to scholarship on the origins of the Modern Movement in America – ‘Richard Neutra and the Making of the Lovell Health House, 1925–35’.
Edited by Edward Dimendberg, it tells the story of the Lovell Health House in Los Angeles, designed and built by Richard Neutra from 1927 to 1929, from its inspiration through its construction to its impact.
It was a ‘demonstration house’: widely documented and written about in leading architectural journals when it was built. These publications elevated the house to the status of an icon in the history of modernism and an essential work of the international modern movement, from Berlin to Tokyo and Paris to Milan, at the high point of its influence and fame.
Held at the Alan Baxter Gallery, London, the event featured a conversation moderated by Ingrid Schröder with Nicholas Olsberg, Edward Dimendberg, William Mann and Alison Brooks. Together, they explored the making of the Lovell Health House and its lasting significance for contemporary architecture, pedagogy and criticism.
The Lovell Health House helped to launch the international career of one of the central figures of 20th-century architecture, pioneered the use of concrete and steel in the dwelling, radically advanced the ideals of hygienic, carefree and open-air living, and explored new relationships between space, structure, the natural world and physical and psychological well-being – all of which were touched upon in the debate in the room. The book includes new texts by Edward Dimendberg, Crosby Doe and Nicholas Olsberg, a chronology by Thomas Hines, historic texts by Willard D. Morgan and Richard Neutra, and specially commissioned colour photographs by Grant Mudford.
A huge thank you to our co-hosts for the event, Lund Humphries and the Twentieth Century Society. Copies of the book are available now on the Lund Humphries website here.
