Johannes Stoffler, Visiting Fellow GSD - Harvard University
Austrian-American architect Richard Neutra (1892-1970), who emigrated to the USA in 1923 and settled in Los Angeles in 1925, is regarded as a prominent figure of modernism. Many of his projects are distinguished for their finely differentiated outdoor spaces that evolved together and were conceptually closely interwoven with the architecture. The leitmotif of Neutra's garden creations was the site, the found landscape, which he imitated and enhanced by horticultural means. But how did Neutra arrive at this method, which indisputably played a significant role in his success as an architect? What exactly were Neutra's inimitable qualities as a designer of gardens? And what personal convictions lay behind this? Answering these questions leads back to Neutra's European origins, whose shaping influence may be traced through to his Californian residences designed in the 1940s.
