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Bulletins (2006)
COMPLETE NEUTRA BUILDINGS LIST AND LOCATIONS
In 2005, the Neutra Institute has completed a new project listing of all
existing buildings, houses and parcels in which the Neutra firm has a
presence in the last 80 years. The documents were prepared under the supervision
of Dion Neutra and are divided in 14 PDFs documents and one full set for
the convenience of the user. We would like to give our most sincere thanks
to Ms. Lorri McMillan for her kindly help in preparing the documents.
To order one or more of the lists, go to our Client
Services page.
AVAILABLE NEUTRA TOURS IN LOS ANGELES
Called 'The Colony', there are a number of Neutra designs on or close
to Neutra Place; you can view these from the outside at any hour by
touring off Earl Street between Silverlake Blvd. and Glendale Blvd.,
Thomas Guide, page 594 E-5. You can click on 'Directions'
to get there.
Richard and Dion Neutra VDL House II: 2300 Silverlake Blvd..For
possible tours or functions e-mail Assistant Professor Sarah Lorenzen,
AIA at selorenzen@csupomona.edu
or call VDL Phone: 323-953-0224. Specify date(s), type of function and
provide a phone number or e-mail address to facilitate communication
of terms and conditions. Ask about tour fees.
Neutra Architecture Office Building. Our former offices, at
2379 Glendale Blvd. [a couple of blocks from the VDL House]. You can
visit the space during the week from 9 to 5 most weeks. A contact there
would be grace@heavenspot.com
to let them know when you would like a peek. Unfortunately the above
are the only Neutras that we can count on being available for your viewing.
By obtaining a 'Guide
to Architecture in LA' (Gibbs Smith Publisher, 1977) you may be
able to identify locations of other projects in the area to drive by.
In most cases you will see very little from the street, and it is NOT
encouraged to ring doorbells and disturb the occupants. The Lovell Health
House nor the Kaufmann Desert House are NOT regularly available for
visitation.
LYNN SMART-DION NEUTRA WEDDING GALLERY
We congratulate Lynn Smart and Dion Neutra for their wedding on January
1, 2006. We wish them many happy moments to come. We thank Anna and
Buzz Hays for their photos and video work. See
Wedding Gallery.
DIONE NIEDERMANN MEMORIAL (Event completed)
 Wife
of Richard Neutra and mother of three sons. Her 103rd birthday is in
April, 2004. We plan a memorial event on Sunday afternoon, April
4. The focus is on Dione, the individualist, aside from her usual
appelation of 'wife' and 'mother'. We plan a double barreled event that
afternoon. Starting at 2:00 p.m. We'll convene at the Neutra-designed
Eagle Rock Recreation Center, at which a video of her life will be shown,
followed by remembrances by people who knew her personally. We hope
to have time for persons to comment from the floor as well. If you wish
to participate, please let us know by separate email.
It's been decided to make a video of the entire event for posterity.
This will also act as an intro to a whole new generation of folks who
never got to know her in person. This first event will wind up around
5:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Attendance donation for this event will be $15, which will also enlist
you as a member of the Institute for the fiscal year April '04 to end
of March, '05. For a select group of others, there will be a reception
starting at 6:30 p.m. at the Richard and Dion Neutra VDL Research House
II, the Neutra family home and office until the 60s. There VIP guests
will continue the dialog until around 8:30 p.m. Space for this is limited
so it will be first come first served here with invitees paying $35/person
to attend, which will also entitle them to attend the earlier session
at Eagle Rock, as well as renew their membership to the Institute. There
will be light refreshments served at this evening event.
In summary:
- Sunday afternoon, April 4; 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Eagle
Rock Recreation Center (see
map), 1100 Eagle Vista Drive, Eagle Rock [Figueroa Exit 134 Fwy].
- Sunday evening, April 4; 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., VDL Research
House II, 2300 Silver Lake Blvd., 1/2 block North of Institute at
Earl St./Neutra Place. See 'Directions'
for how to get there. Donations to Institute: $15 for event #1 only;
$35 for both events or #2 only. Payment of either donation entitles
you to this year's membership in the Institute. Donations may be tax
deductible; the Institute is a registered 501(c) 3 non-profit corporation.
Make reservations early by paying via Paypal on website. Please click
to select your PayPal choice to attend Event #1 or Event #2 (or both
events). Thank you for your support.
NEUTRA DESIGNED 'TREETOPS' TOWNHOUSE!
Enjoy a central LA City location in CHIC SILVER LAKE with glimpses
of the lake and mountains surrounded by treetops. You don't have to
travel out of town for a weekend break; you're already THERE!
Completed in 1980, this spacious Duplex townhouse type complex stepping
up the hill, focuses on Lake views and surrounds a private pool and
spa. It is the only solo work in the Neutra Colony of architect Dion
Neutra, successor partner and principal of the Neutra firm which in
2006 celebrated 80 years in practice in Silverlake under the name Richard
and Dion Neutra Architects and Associates. and more recently Dion Neutra
Architecture.
The complex is unique in the Neutra canon, due to its exterior facing.
Use of the shingle siding was dictated by the difficulty of applying
plaster or other finish due to the constraints of the site and its shared
driveway access to six lots in the subdivision. This finish contributes
to the 'Mountain Cabin' feel of the complex. Shared swim pool, jacuzzi,
laundry, off-street parking for 5 cars under cover; two more in tandem.
spacious rooms, dishwasher, great kitchens, several greenhouse windows,
multiple decks.
The front unit, 2434, about 1200sf, features an oversize step-down
living dining room with the feel of a New York urban view. There are
two full baths, a guest room or office, and an ample master bedroom
suite, and an enclosed 2-car garage. The upper unit, 2436, two stories
at 1100sf each features 4BR and 2.5 baths with decks and lake views
on all levels, plus a 3-car port. A unique opportunity to enjoy vacation
living within 10 minutes of downtown! The result; two unique open airy
dwelling units of exceptional quality and desirable views.
Contact Dion Neutra, Architect, 323 666 1806, or write to dion@neutra.org
with your qualifications and particulars. Showings will be arranged
by appointment.
CAD Consultant/Joint Venturer Sought for Neutra
Firm
Richard and Dion Neutra, Architects and Associates is in need of a
CAD CONSULTANT to consult with its president, Dion
Neutra, architect on various projects. The firm should offer E-mailing
of programs to a Dell 3000 computer, which is what is in use at the
firm. Preferably applicant should also offer hand drafting skills for
certain tasks.
He/she should be willing to work on an as-needed basis, with periodic
visits available to the Neutra Studio on Neutra Place in Silverlake.
The firm will be working directly with Dion Neutra, but as an Independent
Contractor, so you should have your own work place and stationery for
billing purposes, etc.
Please e-mail or mail firm qualifications, resume, information about
CAD programs you have that can be read on the P.C., which has Autocad
2000 and 4000 on board, along with Photoshop, Illustrator, and a few
others. Include your hourly rate requirements directly to:
Dion Neutra, Architect
2440 Neutra Place
Los Angeles, CA 90039
323.666.1806
dion@neutra.org
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Neutra on the Market
If you know of any Neutra properties on the market, please e-mail
Dion Neutra at dion@neutra.org.
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Neutra in the News
Neutra architecture continues to appear in the press, thanks to the
renaissance of Modernism and a growing awareness of the need to preserve
our architectural heritage. Dion Neutra has also spread the word over
the years through presentations, lectures, exhibits, and interviews.
See the Articles section of this site for:
As of that date, we incorporated a cool feature which is accessed right
below the illustration on our home page. Click on Google News to see
the latest mention of Neutra in most every publication around! This
is much more comprehensive than we ever could be!
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Dion Neutra, Architect and Consultant
 Dion
Neutra, architect and son of Richard Neutra, is now available to consult
on the preservation and conservation of Neutra projects.
With a half century of exposure to the projects of the Neutra firm,
Dion brings a unique perspective to the issues involved in protecting
these important works and adapting them to your current needs.
For more information, see Dion's biography
and consulting philosophy.
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Neutra's landmark Cyclorama Center at the Gettysburg Battlefield in
Pennsylvania is facing demolition, much to the alarm of preservationists.
The modernist building was part of the $1-billion federally sponsored
"Mission 66" program, an effort to improve national park visitor facilities
from 1956 to 1966. The Cyclorama Center is the only Neutra-designed
structure east of the Mississippi River for the Federal Government still
open to the public. It opened in 1962 to the acclaim of officials of
the Park Service and was dedicated by President Dwight W. Eisenhower
using the ‘historic rostrum’ provided by the architects to commemorate
Lincoln’s famed address given a few hundred feet away. The concept had
been to stress reconciliation, and to annually revisit the prophetic
words of the 16th President of the United States at this site where
he spoke his revered address.
Today’s National Park Service, has a very different notion of how
this site should have been developed. A generation too late, it has
nevertheless entered into a development agreement with a non-profit
group to build a new 139,000-square-foot visitor's center and museum
complex designed by Cooper Robertson & Partners, New York, at point
a mile away on another part of the battlefield site. Once completed
in 2007, it claims to make the Neutra building redundant. Supporters
would have the Service rehabilitate the Cyclorama Center theater to
house a new state of the art sound and light show to supplement the
rehoused painting, if indeed, the new center ever materializes. The
Cyclorama building, which originally cost $959,603 to build in 1962,
would cost at least $10,000,000 to replicate in today’s dollars. It
has been stated that this much is slated in the budget for the new center
to destroy the Neutra building and ‘restore’ the landscape it sits on.
The 35,271-square-foot Cyclorama Center takes its name from the 360-degree
panoramic painting that it has housed for a generation of visitors.
The 120-year-old, 359-by-27-foot cyclorama, "The Battle of Gettysburg,"
by French painter Paul Dominique Philippoteaux, was declared a National
Historic Object in 1944. But the Park Service now believes that the
current Cyclorama structure is insufficient to properly display and
conserve the painting. This is due largely to deferred maintenance and
dislike by current administrations for the building. At no time did
the service ever contact the Neutra office for advice on perceived failings
of the structure. This Institute in the person of Dion Neutra, and Christine
Madrid-French of ‘Preserve the Recent Past’, are leading the effort
to save Neutra and Alexander’s famed building. Although listed on the
National Register of Historic Places, the Cyclorama has been blocked
from achieving landmark status, thereby clearing the path for the new
development, and the destruction of this monument.. If this unspeakably
shortsighted plan goes forward as scheduled and this icon is demolished,
it would join lost icons such as Penn Station and other recently destroyed
Neutra buildings, including the Fine Arts Building at Cal State Northridge,
torn down in 1997, and the Maslon House in Rancho Mirage, razed by its
new owner in 2002. Will we never learn that once gone, these examples
can never be replicated? For more information on the Cyclorama, visit reCyclorama. For in-depth discussion of the Park Service justification for demolishing the Cyclorama Center, read Nathan Jefferson Riddle's thesis of 1998.
JOIN WITH OTHERS TO OBJECT! CLICK
HERE TO SIGN PETITION!
Urgent letters are needed -- by the hundreds -- to save the
Gettysburg Cyclorama.
Time is of the essence! The campaign to save this worthy piece of architecture
is a metaphor for preservation itself.
As stated in the Cyclorama article in AIArchitecture,
our country needs to save work that is "too old to be chic, too young
to be revered" -- for the simple reason that works like Neutra's Gettysburg
Cyclorama will surely be both.
This work of highly original American architecture will be lost forever
if we lose the campaign to save it from destruction.
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Volunteer Intern Wanted: Join the Institute
The Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design, a non-profit foundation,
is always in need of volunteers help to assist its Executive Consultant,
architect Dion Neutra, with various projects. The applicant should
preferably know how to operate a Macintosh computer, and if possible,
know how to maintain Web site materials as displayed on this site (www.neutra.org).
He/she should be willing to put in preferably 8-16 hrs/week at the
Neutra Studio in Silverlake (or even at home), and be willing to work
on various types of assignments in conjunction with several Institute
projects. If you have less time available, just let us know what you
can afford to invest. Some research on the Web may be involved as well,
so some knowledge in this area would be great. Applicants with their
own laptops should consider using them on this assignment to speed
up Web surfing.
This is an opportunity to serve in the public service areas being
pursued by Dion and the Institute, as well as gain some valuable hands-on
experience in matters related to architecture. Might even look good
on your resume as well! Please e-mail your resume and qualifications
directly to Dion Neutra
dion@neutra.org.
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Wanted: Information About
Neutra Building Owners
If you know of a Neutra building, or if you OWN a Neutra building,
please get in touch with the Institute and give us the latest information
about the building and its current owner.
The Institute is assembling a database of all current Neutra building
owners. Our goal is to create a mailing list for news about the preservation
and conservation of what remains of the Neutra oeuvre.
If you have any information, please send it to Dion Neutra at dion@neutra.org.
Please include phone numbers, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses if available.
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This traveling exhibition uses the work of Richard and Dion Neutra
to address the question, "What is Architecture?" in a new
and provocative way.
Please visit our Traveling Exhibition page
for a full description (complete with a slide show gallery), plus the
five principles of Neutra architecture.
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