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Records of the Exhibition “Technology and Environment: The Postwar House in Southern California"
cpp.ENVarchives.r.10
cpp.ENVarchives.r.10
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Title: Technology and Environment: The Postwar House in Southern California
Identifier/Call Number: cpp.ENVarchives.r.10
Contributing Institution:
ENV Archive. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
2.0 boxes
Two CD storage boxes, nine oversize boards, 2 rolled banners. The cds contain digital images, videos of interviews, landscape
analysis of four houses and luminesce studies.
Date (inclusive): 2011-2013
Abstract : Contains records of the planning and implementation of the exhibition “Technology and Environment: The Postwar House in Southern
California," part of Pacific Standard Time Presents: Modern Architecture in L.A, Getty Foundation. Documents planning, design
and installation of the exhibition that was held at the W. Keith and Janet Kellogg University Art Gallery, California State
Polytechnic University, Pomona, 11 April-12 July 2013. Includes records associated with the exhibition planning, design and
installation.
"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.
Regarding materials owned by Cal Poly Pomona: ENV Archives-Special Collections, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
For materials loaned to the exhibition but not owned by California State Polytechnic University, please contact the institution
responsible for loaning material to the exhibition.
Permission to publish portions of this collection has been assigned to ENV Archives-Special Collections, California State
Polytechnic University, Pomona, which can grant permission to publish materials for which it holds the copyright. All requests
for permission to publish or quote must be submitted in writing to the ENV Archives-Special Collections director. Contact
directly those facilities holding copyrights of materials loaned to California State Polytechnic University for the exhibition.
ENV Archive. California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
3801 West Temple Avenue
Pomona, CA, 91768
(909) 869-6837
envspeccoll@cpp.edu
Bricker, Lauren Weiss / Sheine, Judith / Sakamoto, Timothy / Pregill, Philip / La Roche, Pablo
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Chylinski, Richard
Ellwood, Craig
Gehry, Frank
Kappe, Ray
Koenig, Pierre
Lautner, John
Moore, Charles Willard
Neutra, Richard
Schindler, Rudolph
Soriano, Raphael
Architects - California
Architectural Firms - California
Architecture - California
Architecture - Domestic - California
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona - College of Environmental Design
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona - ENV Archives
Los Angeles, California