John Lautner's 100th Birthday: L.A. Celebrates its Forgotten, Space-Age Architectural Giant

Courtesy of the John Lautner Foundation

Lautner's Marbrisa house in Acapulco, Mexico

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Our print edition this week features a story about John Lautner, L.A.'s forgotten architectural giant, written by Lautner-obsessed Evelyn McDonnell. LACMA and the John Lautner foundation are celebrating Lautner's 100th birthday with a series of events this month.McDonnell writes:

A wizard of engineering feats, [Lautner] made concrete roofs fly and walls disappear. Homes like the Arango, a colossus of cement and glass encircled by a clear, flowing moat, and the Beyer Residence, where Malibu beach boulders spill into the living room, defy logic and convention, not to mention traditional building codes. When [Bob] Hope first viewed Lautner's model of his Palm Springs home, he quipped, "At least when they come down from Mars, they'll know where to go."

Read the full story here: John Lautner's 100th Birthday Celebration