Description
The John Lautner papers contain the comprehensive archive of this Southern California architect who became famous for such
innovative structures as Chemosphere (the Malin House) and Silvertop (the Reiner House). Comprised of about 10,000 drawings,
photographs and slides, and 17 models, plus Lautner's office and correspondence files, the archive is an important resource
for the study of Southern California modernism in all its diverse aspects. The drawings detailing the structural engineering
that enabled Lautner to create his sculpturally innovative houses will be of particular interest to historians of architecture
and science.
Background
Born in Marquette, Michigan in 1911, John Lautner grew up in a world of ideas and art, the first child of parents who believed
that a person is formed by the physical and intellectual environment in which he is raised. The young Lautner was immersed
in a carefully crafted set of balancing influences: an academic father and an artistic and mystical mother; the wild, elemental
landscape of the Upper Peninsula and extended visits to the urban worlds of New York City and Boston. By Lautner's account,
one of the most formative influences of his youth was the family's cabin on the wild shore of Lake Superior, Midgaard. Here,
each summer from 1923-1928, Lautner helped his father construct the building designed by his mother. This first exposure to
architecture set him on his path, the merging of the natural and the fabricated, of landscape and enclosed space.
Extent
958.1 Linear Feet(211 boxes, 711 flatfiles, 139 rolls)
Restrictions
Contact Library Reproductions and Permissions.
Availability
Open for use by qualified researchers, with the exception of the unreformatted audiotape. Boxes 211-217*, Flat file folders
695**-700** and Roll 138** are sealed pending review. Contact the repository for information regarding access to the architectural
models.