LECTURE 29 August - Raymond Neutra: My Father and Frank Lloyd Wright

Museum Het Schip - Amsterdam - The Netherlands - 7:30pm

From old-world Vienna to the breezy mid-century Modernism of Southern California: the career of the architect Richard Neutra (1892-1970) spanned continents and epochs. His son Raymond Neutra is coming to Amsterdam for an event co-hosted by the John Adams, Iconic Houses and Museum het Schip, to talk about his father’s work and his relationship to architecture in America. After all, after emigrating to the US in 1923 to work with Frank Lloyd Wright, Neutra became one of the most influential architects of the past century.

Under the influence of Wright, Neutra developed a philosophy all his own called ‘biorealism’, and embraced technology as a way – oddly enough – to connect man with nature. He was an innovator who explored the American industrial potential for economical and light weight housing, schools, medical facilities and other ‘architecture of social concern’. There was also a Dutch link: the wealthy industrialist Van der Leeuw, who commissioned the Van Nelle factory, was a supporter of Neutra, who named the home he built for his family in Los Angeles ‘VDL House’.

Based on research he carried out for his book “Cheap and Thin: Neutra and Frank Lloyd Wright”, Raymond Neutra will discuss his father’s relationship with Frank Lloyd Wright. This will be illuminated by clips from the new documentary Neutra: Survival Through Design by the American filmmaker PJ Letofsky. Raymond Neutra decided to pursue his own career in environmental medicine and epidemiology, but was influenced by his father’s interest in nature, physiology and design.

Program:

5:30pm Doors open at Museum het Schip, Oostzaanstraat 45, Amsterdam.

Your ticket also includes a tour of the museum, including the museum apartment in the housing complex. The tours are from 6:00-6:45pm and from 6:30-7:15pm.

You can also book a light meal of soup and bread for 10 euro.
You can choose this option when you make your reservation.

7:30pm Lecture starts. Introduction: Natascha Drabbe, founder of the Iconic Houses Network. Moderator: Tracy Metz, director of the John Adams Institute.

Tickets: € 22,50 (€15 discount with Museumkaart)

Click below to listen to Raymond Neutra and Neutra expert Barbara Lamprecht discuss the career and legacy of Richard Neutra at US Modernist Radio.

Posted 11 July 2019