Title:

Presentation Drawing of Sectional Perspective

Description:

"Technology and Environment: The Postwar House in Southern California,"was part of Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A, a program sponsored by the Getty Foundation. The exhibition occupied the 4,000 square foot W.Keith and Janet Kellogg University Art Gallery as well as a large enclosed patio at the entrance to the gallery. It included architectural drawings, archival and contemporary photographs, explanatory panels, large scale models showing structural framing and daylighting, sequences of construction photographs, interactive displays and videos, approximately 140 objects in total. Cal Poly Pomona architecture and landscape architecture students constructed the models, videos and explanatory panels. The focus of the exhibition was the construction technology of the architect-designed southern California house built between 1940 and the mid-1970s. Nine houses were selected to present the thesis of the exhibition, that the architects embraced a broad range of construction systems and spatial types in these postwar houses, creating a continuum from the modern period to the post-modern: Richard and Dion Neutra VDL Research House, Garden house (Richard J. Neutra, Los Angeles, 1939-40); Mischa Kallis house (R.M. Schindler, Los Angeles, 1946); Foster Carling house (John Lautner, Los Angeles, 1948); David and Riva Schrage House (Raphael Soriano, Los Angeles, 1952), Case Study House #17 (Hoffman House, Craig Ellwood, Beverly Hills, 1954-55); Case Study House #21 (Bailey house, Pierre Koenig, Beverly Hills, 1959), Ray and Shelly Kappe house (Ray Kappe, Pacific Palisades, 1966-68); Ron Davis house (Frank Gehry, Zuma Beach, 1968-72); Leland Burns house (Charles Moore with Richard Chylinski, Santa Monica, 1972-74). The exhibition included the landscaped context of the houses conveyed through explanatory panels, video and an installation in the gallery patio. Reproductions of building product advertisements published in popular and professional journals were included as a means of linking construction technology and materials to the living patterns within the house. Contemporary environmental analyses of four of the houses were examined in terms of the solar day, i.e., how the daily movement of the sun affects the qualities and uses of the rooms within the house. The exhibition traced the modifications made to several of the houses since the time of their construction, some of them designed to achieve relative comfort in houses with large glazed openings. Large-scale models of four of the houses showed the range of construction systems employed by the architects and demonstrated the links between their choices of material systems and the spatial ideas and forms of the projects. Two public programs were part of the exhibition. Both were offered on May 23, 2013. "Green Homes: Learning from the Past,"a sustainable design workshop for middle school students was co-organized by Pablo La Roche, and Cal Poly Pomona student Leina Naversen and Eera Babtiwale from HMC Architects. The program focused on global environmental awareness, using examples taken from Southern California postwar houses, emphasizing ways to cohabitate with the environment while conserving and preserving natural resources. "Preserving the Modern House: L.A."was also held on May 23rd. This day-long workshop focused on two iconic modern houses - the VDL House and Ray Kappe's own residence. Preservation efforts at the VDL Research house have centered on the house's flat roofs, and their ability to function as shallow pools. The Kappe house displays an innovative structure of concrete towers spanned by beams of glued laminated timber. Lectures were presented by conservation experts in the areas of water proofing and concrete construction. The program was co-organized by Lauren Weiss Bricker and Cal Poly Pomona student Johnny Tran.

Creator/Contributor:

Kappe, Ray, Architect

Date:

2013

Contributing Institution:

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, ENV Archives-Special Collections