John Lautner: 1911-1994: Disappearing Space

I showed it to friends and everyone seemed to appreciate Lautner’s futuristic and timeless architecture. Its wonderful to calm down and get inspired by the originality.

The in depth writing and pictures in this book are phenomenal, I was able to write a full paper on John Lautner with information from this book. This book is an amazing example of Lautner's architectural style and of his life. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Of course, Lautner is a legend where I live in Los Angeles. And after happening upon the Garcia Residence while trying to find a friend's home in the hills, I was left agast at its whimsy and originality and determined at once that I needed to get to know more about the man behind it.This book serves as a somewhat flimsy, at times opaque, but ultimately worthy introduction to some of Lautner's greatest 'hits.' As an L.A. based architectural photographer, I took great interest in the evolution and rich diversity of his aesthetic. I salivated at the thought of shooting these homes, inside and out, such is the strength of their visual presence. And I think the one strong takeaway that I had was that the book really brought to light what a gifted man Lautner was. While I was left frustrated by the cursory selections of images (many by Julius Shulman) which, due to the unorthodox nature of his homes, do little to give a fully synthesized sense of the residences' form, I sense that this speaks to the complexity of conveying the whole of his designs without vast pictorial support. It left me desirous of a more in-depth exploration of some of the homes. Not a bad thing!Perhaps if I were to land something of a soft blow on this book, it is the frequent inadequacy of the accompanying text to describe the homes in terms that a non-professor of architecture, or possibly anyone unfamiliar with the home might understand. The text, l felt, dragged me into lofty intellectual interpretation and critique of a home that I was as of yet fully unaccustomed with, particularly given the lack of full photographic coverage (often one or two shots in total), and that may not fill the eager minds of many a layperson to whom a book like this (in the Taschen Basic Series after all) is almost certainly more directed. Perhaps, the text would have better served its target audience by interpreting in less academic and rather more grounded tangible terms how these residences fit into the Lautner story as a whole, what makes them distinct, and how they helped (or failed to) steer the greater trajectory of Los Angeles architecture.Further, the size of the floor plans in this book bordered on unintelligible so then I ask, what was the point of including them. Additionally, the figure annotations were lacking in insight for the most part.And so, this overview of Lautner doesn't quite fit snugly into the camp of experts and scholars (low in content and depth), or that of the budding enthusiast for whom many will sadly learn after three reads followed by resignation, that not all things will become clear, no matter their efforts. Nonetheless, the investment of time required to get through this slender volume is negligible and the knowledge gained serves as a good springboard from which to gather more.Recommended and a worthy addition to my bookshelf, but not without some reservations.

A beatifully presented and interesting book, which made a very nice gift for a very appreciative friend.Thanks to Amazon also for their speedy delivery in time for Christmas.Luciano

Visually appealing and informative. A must have!

Beyond expectations. Everything one could want in a concise beautiful package.

Influenced the design of the house I live in.

it's original, good qualiti and fast shiping . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Super well detailed and well written book, would recommend.

Enthält Grundrisse und Geschichten zu den einzelnen Häusern. Ein paar Häuser vermisse ich aber im Buch wie z. B. das Schwimmer Haus. Aber für den Preis in Ordnung.

Molto bello

Perfecto

Livro ótimo para conhecer a trajetória e a vida do arquiteto. Além de maravilhosas obras de arquitetura impressionantes. Gostei muito!