Richard Joseph Neutra

April (8, 1892 – April 16, 1970)

• He is considered
as one of
modernism's
most important
architects.
 CAREER
•He worked for Erich
Mendelsohn early in
his career, while he
was still in Vienna.

• Later immigrated
to America
and worked for Frank
Lloyd Wright and
From left to right, Frank Lloyd Wright, Rudolf Schindler.
Richard Neutra, Sylva Moser, and new
baby, Kameki Tsuchiura, Nobu
Tsuchiura, Werner Moser on the violin
and Dione Neutra on the cello in the
living room at Taliesin, 1924
 CAREER
•He later set up his own
practice in Los Angeles.

• After he set up his own

practice his wife, Dione,
became his architectural
partner.

• After richard Neutra’s

death his son continued
his practice as Richard
and Dion Neutra
FLW and Richard Neutra
at Taliesin, 1924.
Architecture.
achievements
•His ideas, which were
based on the simple post
and beam design, were
distinctly modern.

• With the high amount

of design demands in
southern California,
Neutra’s design
philosophy came into full
motion.
Julius Shulman left and
modernist architect
Richard Neutra
achievements
•He developed an
appropriate regional
architecture in
southern California.

•He added new

dimension and direction
to the several regional
architectural style
already in that area.
 “Architecture” that
Evokes “emotion”
• Although Successful architecture (meaning
functional buildings) must satisfy the program first
and foremost, the emotions of the clients as well as
the users of the space must be considered.
• Richard Nuetra believed in a pychoanalysis of
architecture and aimed at creating a “therapeutic”
house for his clients. He would interview them and
pick apart their daily lives in order to create a
home that would satisfy the emotional needs of the
client as a form of therapy. In turn the
architecture he created evoked a personal emotion
for the users and many others that visited this
building.
 Selected
works

•Kaufmann Desert
House, 1946, Palm
Springs, California.
 Kaufmann
Desert House
• The Kaufmann
House Desert
House is a house
located in Palm
Springs California,
that was designed
by architect Richa
rd Neutra in
1946.
 Kaufmann
Desert House
•It was one of
the last
domestic
projects
conducted by
Neutra, but it
is also arguably
one of his most
famous homes.
 Kaufmann
Desert House
It is "one of the most important examples
of International Style architecture in the
United States and the only one still in private
hands", and was recently up for sale.
 Kaufmann
Desert House
• This five-bedroom,
five-bathroom
vacation house in
Palm Springs,
California, was
designed to
emphasize
connection to the
desert landscape
while offering
shelter from harsh
climatic conditions.
 Kaufmann
Desert House
• Large sliding glass
walls open the living
spaces and master
bedroom to adjacent
patios.
• Major outdoor rooms
are enclosed by a row
of movable vertical
fins that offer
flexible protection
against sandstorms
and intense heat.
 Kaufmann
Desert House
• A combined living and
dining space, roughly
square, lies at the
center of the house.
• While the house
favors an east-west
axis, four long
perpendicular wings
extend in each
cardinal direction
from the living areas.
both indoors and out.
 Kaufmann
Desert House
• Thoughtful placement of larger rooms at the
end of each wing helps define adjacent
outdoor rooms, with circulation occurring.
 Kaufmann
Desert House
• The south wing
connects to the public
realm and includes a
carport and two long
covered walkways.
• These walkways are
separated by a massive
stone wall and led to
public and service
entries, respectively.
 Kaufmann
Desert House
• The east wing of the
house is connected to the
living space by a north-
facing internal gallery
and houses a master
bedroom suite.
• To the west, a kitchen,
service spaces, and staff
quarters are reached by
a covered breezeway.
 Kaufmann
Desert House
• Neutra used as basic
materials stone, glass and
steel, and tended not to
depart from the range of
colors than the desert
offered, so that the house
does not desentonase of
their natural environment.
• The plan in the form of
cross guarantees that the
four wings get both
daylight and good
ventilation.
 Kaufmann
Desert House
• In the northern wing,
another open walkway
passes along an exterior
patio, leading to two guest
rooms.
• The Kaufmann house was
included in a list of all
time top 10 houses in Los
Angeles, despite its being
in Palm Springs, in a Los
Angeles Times survey of
experts in December 2008
 Kaufmann
Desert House
• The desert, or rather, this
primordial wilderness area
that stretches around
Palm Springs, fascinated
Neutra.
• Despite the neat
precision of the Desert
House, it evokes the spirit
of the houses of those
Indian tribes, which he
admired so much.
 DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
• His design approach is very simple.

• His designs are pure, clean and straight line organized without any
curve or arc and mixed with landscape of the site without any
ambiguity or confusion in design.

• Neutra’s ability to incorporate technology , aesthetics , science and

nature in his designs brought him to the forefront of MODERNIST
ARCHITECTURE.

• Plate glass walls, ceilings and deep over hangings connecting indoors
and outdoors had become the trade mark of Neutra’s architecture.
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
REAL NEEDS OF CLIENTS :
He gave great attention to define the real needs of his clients.
Used questionnaires to find out what exactly was needed by his clients.

BIOREALISM :
Neutra introduced green design concept in connection with building and nature. He
termed “biorealism” to describe the inherent and inseperable relationship between
man and nature.
Used natural elements like water, light and concrete throughout his designs.

DESERT MODERNISM :
Modernism adapted to warm climate and arid terrain of south California led to
desert modernism.
International style was varied and adopted to the region by using desert natural
elements mainly like rugged stone and desert plants in landscaping.
 conclusion
In 1949, Time magazine featured Neutra on its cover
and ranked him second only to Frank Lloyd Wright in
American architecture.. Between 1927 and 1969,
Neutra designed more than 300 houses in California
and a few elsewhere. Neutra coined the term
biorealism, which means "the inherent and
inseparable relationship between man and nature.”