John Lautner: Hollywood’s favourite architect
By Dublo, published on 16 February 2011
What do A Single Man, Charlie’s Angels, Diamonds Are Forever, Less Than Zero, The Big Lebowski and Lethal Weapon 2 all have in common? Well, you’d be forgiven for thinking not very much. However, they all share a common star: The architecture of John Lautner.
John Lautner was, without doubt, one of the Twentieth Century’s most gifted architects. In a career that spanned over fifty years, Lautner created some of the most eye-catching and iconic buildings of our time.
Apprenticed to Frank Lloyd Wright in his early years, Lautner became a great believer in Organic Architecture. He was passionate about the relationship between the natural environment and the structures he created, striving to create a harmonious balance and determined to humanise the spaces of the built world.
It was this philosophy and these principals that led to the creation of the dramatic flourishes that are a hallmark of his modernist, sculptural creations. It is also this sense of drama and their unique style that make them an ideal backdrop for the fantasy world of cinema.
He has certainly been a big influence on production designer Michael Riva. When Riva and conceptual artist Phil Saunders were tasked with the creation of Tony Stark’s billionaire’s home for the Iron Man films, they turned to inspiration from John Lautner. Their creation is homage to many of Lautner’s iconic homes, with elements of the Arango and Beyer residences clearly incorporated into the final design.
This is not the only film in which production designer Michael Riva referenced Lautner. For the 2000 film Charlie’s Angels, Riva approached the Lautner Foundation requesting permission to create a home based almost entirely on Lautner’s Marlin Residence, or “Chemosphere”. The final set is incredibly similar, albeit approximately twice the size of the actual home.
Riva returned as production designer on the sequel, however, rather than create a set based on a Lautner home, they simply shot on location in Lautner’s Sheats-Goldstein Residence. Incidentally, this is also where “The Dude” finds himself when he wakes up from being drugged in The Big Lebowski.
Riva was also the production designer on Lethal Weapon 2, where for this film it is the turn of the bad guy to own the home. Riva gives him The Garcia House or “Rainbow”. Unfortunately, in the film Mel’s Martin Riggs decides to destroy it, so a full size replica had to be built.
Riva isn’t the only production designer to get in on the Lautner action, though. One of the greatest production designers that ever lived, Sir Ken Adam, creator of some of the most iconic sets from the James Bond films, chose Lautner’s iconic Elrod House as a location for Diamonds Are Forever rather than create his own set.
Another great production designer to use a Lautner home is Dan Bishop, better known as the man responsible for the production design on Mad Men. In A Single Man, Dan Bishop and director Tom Ford chose The Schaffer Residence for Colin Firth’s character and the house features very prominently in the film.
Nowadays it may seem that Lautner’s homes have become synonymous with Hollywood fantasy, but this is a far cry from Lautner’s commitment to creating harmonious and humanised living spaces. Still, many a film has been enhanced by his dynamic buildings and we hope that production designers such as Michael Riva continue to incorporate his influence into our fantasy worlds.
Dublo can be contacted on Twitter and you can read more of his work on Double O’ Nothing.
John Lautner: Hollywood’s favourite architect
Our resident screenwriter, Dublo, turns his attention to John Lautner who was, without doubt, one of the Twentieth Century’s most gifted architects. In a career that spanned over fifty years, Lautner created some of the most eye-catching and iconic buildings of our time.
4 Responses to “John Lautner: Hollywood’s favourite architect”
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Thanks Ivan, I’m glad you enjoyed the article.
It seems to me that when filmmakers are looking for a house location that needs to appear modern, extravagant and unique, Lautner is often the architect they turn to.
Obviously, there are other architects that often have their works featured in films. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House springs readily to mind as an oft used location. Indeed, Mid-Century architecture seems to be something of a passion for many production designers.Whether it be Arthur Erickson in Twilight: New Moon, Julius Shulman’s Stahl House in Galaxy Quest or Speyer and Haid’s Ben Rose House from Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, you can see examples of the period cropping up in movies, television shows and music videos all the time.
It’s always fun for me to check out the architecture and the architectural references in movies. Architecture and production design are two of my favourite interests and if I hadn’t spent my school days dreaming up stories perhaps I would have found myself getting into those areas.
I’ve been thinking about doing an article on cool houses in films. Perhaps I’ll write it one of these days for the Guide. Who knows?
Dublo
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Don’t tease. Get writing.
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[...] I have a slight obsession with movie architecture. Previously, I’ve looked at the architecture of John Lautner in films, Tony Stark’ Iron Man pad, and I’ve also taken a look at the home of a certain Mr. [...]
Ivan Y
17 February 2011
Very interesting article. It’s interesting that Mr. Lautner’s designs aren’t flavor-of-the-moment and have held up and don’t look out of place in movies in such a wide spectrum of movies.