Richard J. Neutra

Portrait of the architect and designer Richard Neutra

Richard Neutra Headline

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A woman relaxes on the stylish Boomerang Chair from the Neutra Furniture Collection by VS.

"California calls you!"

Wer war dieser Richard J. Neutra, der nicht nur die moderne US-amerikanische Architektur maßgeblich prägte, sondern auch den südamerikanischen Schulbau und die deutsche Nachkriegsarchitektur? Der repräsentative Villen und Museen baute, aber auch kostengünstige Wohnheime und Siedlungen, zum Beispiel in der norddeutschen Provinz?

1892 In Wien geboren, studierte Richard Neutra bei Adolf Loos, war Assistent von Erich Mendelsohn und siedelte mit 31 Jahren in die USA über. Dort arbeitete er unter anderem mit Frank Lloyd Wright, bis er 1925 – angeblich inspiriert vom Werbeslogan „California Calls You!“ – an die Westküste zog und sich in L. A. niederließ. Dort stieg der ehrgeizige junge Einwanderer in kurzer Zeit zu einem der einflussreichsten Architekten der kalifornischen Moderne auf und wurde zu einem der wichtigsten Repräsentanten des „International Style“. Heute zählt der 1970 verstorbene Architekt zu den Großen der Architekturgeschichte.

"Ein richtig entworfenes Haus ist eben nicht ein statisches Gehäuse, sondern ein Spiegel des Naturgeschehens darum herum, und gerade dadurch eine immer neue Seelenerfrischung."
Richard Neutra

Sehen wir uns zwei legendäre Bauwerke von Richard Neutra an: das Lovell Health House (1929) und das Kaufmann Desert House (1947).

Lovell Health House

Richard Neutra had not been in the United States for long when, in 1927, he received an order that would make him internationally famous: the Lovell Health House in Los Angeles. The building was to house Leah Lovell's progressive school and was completed in 1929. What a success! The three-storey house blends into the green hills of Los Angeles with equal parts lightness and boldness, and aesthetically follows the principles of the International Style. At the same time, it caused a sensation with its technical innovations: the steel skeleton construction and large windows made of prefabricated elements, as well as the use of sprayed concrete, reflect Richard Neutra's interest in industrial production.

And the Lovell Health House caused a sensation: in 1932, it was part of the much-acclaimed ‘Modern Architecture’ exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, which retrospectively defined the International Style. The house is also known as the setting for several Hollywood film productions, including ‘L.A. Confidential’.

Kaufmann Desert House

.One of Richard Neutra's most famous buildings – and one of the icons of modern American architecture – is the Kaufmann Desert House on the edge of a desert near Palm Springs, California. Designed in 1946 for department store magnate Edgar J. Kaufmann, the house was ready for occupancy in 1947. Here, too, Neutra used glass, steel, wood and stone to create a vision of lightness, carefully designing the dialogue with the barren surroundings. One of the innovations Neutra introduced was narrow vertical slats to keep out the heat of the desert without obstructing the view of the outdoors.

The fame and mystique of the Kaufmann House was further enhanced by the atmospheric black and white photographs taken by architectural photographer Julius Shulman and the society photos taken by Slim Aarons – but also by a long series of changes of ownership, which culminated in a record auction price of 16.84 million US dollars in 2008, a sale that did not go through in the end.

Seating for reading, lounging, living

Anyone who devotes as much attention to their projects as Richard Neutra does not stop at the furnishings. Richard Neutra designed several armchairs, sofas and tables that matched the lifestyle of the residents and still impress today with their elegance, functionality and comfort. Do they impress you too? At VS, we are very proud to be able to exclusively manufacture and distribute these individual pieces and small series. We developed the Neutra Furniture Collection by VS together with Dion Neutra, the son of Richard Neutra.

We present some of the characteristic furniture below; the complete collection can be found here.

Lovell Easy Chair + Ottoman
Thick leather cushions in dramatic contrast to a delicate, dynamically curved frame: Richard Neutra designed the Lovell Easy Chair and matching footstool (ottoman) for the Lovell Health House. The design, which did not go into production in 1929, envisaged a wooden frame and has now been realised for the first time for the Neutra Furniture Collection by VS with a tubular steel frame.

Alpha Seating
Time for a little reading? Richard Neutra also designed an armchair, a two-seater sofa and a three-seater sofa for the Lovell Health House, which are now part of the Neutra Furniture Collection by VS and were originally intended to create reading corners. The seating furniture in the Alpha Seating line is strictly cubic and at the same time asymmetrical. Thick cushions invite you to linger in an angular body made of fine wood.

Boomerang Chair
You have definitely seen it before: the Boomerang Chair from the Neutra Furniture Collection by VS has long since become a design classic. Richard Neutra designed it in the 1940s as a casual piece of furniture in different versions. Originally, the chair was intended for a residential project for shipyard workers in San Pedro, California.
The version offered by VS went into production in 1951, with the original model having been carefully revised in detail by Neutra's son Dion. The basic elements of the frame are boomerang-shaped rounded wooden parts, which touch the floor at the tips and are connected with a plug-in construction. Parallel straps form the seat and backrest, while seat and head cushions ensure comfort.

Curious about other modern classics in the Neutra Furniture Collection by VS?

The Lovell Easy Chair, designed by Neutra in 1929, now realised for the first time in the Neutra Furniture Collection by VS

Lovell Easy Chair + Ottoman

This version of the Lovell Easy Chair was designed by Neutra in 1929 for the Lovell Health House in Los Angeles, but not actually manufactured at the time. Up until a short while ago the design existed only as a drawing. Created now for the very first time from the architect’s original drawing, the chair is in the Neutra Furniture Collection by VS; its slim and dynamic steel frame points clearly to its potential to be a modern classic.

Alpha Seating

The chair and two or three-seater sofa are based on Neutra’s designs for Lovell Health House. Neutra developed the Alpha Seating in strictly cubic form – but it is asymmetrical to create inviting places for reading in his houses. Balanced in its dimensions, this seating is pure elegance.

Boomerang Chair

The Boomerang Chair has long been iconic: It was designed by Neutra in the 1940s in different versions as easy furniture for projects including the Channel Heights housing development, Nesbitt House (pictured) and Logar House. The sweeping side pieces and straight oak rounded poles in combination with webbing are a hallmark of the era.

"Put people in touch with nature – that is where they have developed and that is where they especially feel at home."
Richard Neutra

Architecture as a political mission

Richard Neutra made his mark not only through numerous buildings, but also through lecture tours and programmatic books, including ‘How to Build in America’ (1927), ‘If We Want to Live’ (1954) and ‘Building Close to Nature’ (1970). The Neutra Institute for Survival Through Design (neutra.org) foundation, established in 1962, continues to carry Neutra's legacy around the world: it sees climate protection as a task and, in the spirit of its founder, promotes creative research and design that serves people and the environment.

In 1959, on the initiative of Federal President Theodor Heuss, Richard J. Neutra received the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in recognition of his contribution to architecture in post-war Germany. The award is one of many others that have honoured Neutra's work.

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Stefan Behnisch

Aesthetic, functional, yet uncompromisingly sustainable: the name of architect Stefan Behnisch is a byword for architecture that conserves resources and makes people feel comfortable. What is less well-known is the fact that he has also created furniture systems that are so timelessly appealing and flexible that they last for decades - whether in the German Bundestag or on the other side of the Atlantic.