Comments on: John Lautner's Chemosphere: part Jetsons, part Bond and vintage L.A. Modern.

John Lautner's Chemosphere: part Jetsons, part Bond and vintage L.A. Modern.

matteo — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 09:21:46 -0800

The most modern home built in the world. "From the outside it looks like a spaceship you cannot enter. But if you go inside, it feels very cozy... very Zen and calming. Maybe because you are floating above the city, in the sky". John Lautner's Chemosphere residence is the product of a fortuitous union of architect, client, time and place. Leonard Malin was a young aerospace engineer in late-1950s L.A. whose father-in-law had just given him a plot north of Mulholland Drive, near Laurel Canyon. The only catch: at roughly 45 degrees, the slope was all but unbuildable. Lautner sketched a bold vertical line, a cross, and a curve above it. "Draw it up," he told his assistant. Now publisher Benedikt Taschen owns Chemosphere (NSFW), and after 20 years of neglect the house has been beautifully restored (.pdf) by Frank Escher.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 09:35:13 -0800

the "Benedikt Taschen owns Chemosphere"link is sort of NSFW, unless nude women are sfw for ya...

By: matteo

matteo — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 09:37:57 -0800

Bob, read the post: "Now publisher Benedikt Taschen owns Chemosphere (NSFW), and after 20 years of neglect... etc"

By: Sk4n

Sk4n — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 09:42:54 -0800

Nice place. Cultural reference - it was featured in the first Charlies Angels movie, where a naked Drew Barrymore got shot out the window... So more nekkid ladies then. Ahh, culture....

By: carter

carter — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 09:52:04 -0800

Lovely post, thanks, matteo!

By: stinkycheese

stinkycheese — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 09:58:01 -0800

Wasn't that also the house in De Palma's "Body Double"?

By: Zurishaddai

Zurishaddai — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 10:04:14 -0800

It was actually a recreation in Charlie's Angels. I was surprised at myself for recognizing it from that context — normally such stuff doesn't stick with me — but the second I saw these images, I thought, "Hmmm... movie... female secret agents at a cocktail party...?!"

By: santiagogo

santiagogo — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 10:09:19 -0800

It's the house of tomorrow, TODAY! Does this remind any of you of the house Troy McClure lived in in the episode where he marries Patty/Selma?

By: kimota

kimota — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 10:09:26 -0800

stinkycheese, Yes; and it looks like Lautner's provided us a number of movie settings. The same site says that the Charlie's Angels scene referenced by Sk4n was influenced by but not actually the Chemosphere.

By: HuronBob

HuronBob — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 10:11:22 -0800

matteo...wow, i could swear (nsfw) that I re-read your post before I made that comment.. I was even a bit surprised that you would miss that... my apologies....

By: Jikido

Jikido — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 10:12:13 -0800

I've seen this house on the Simpsons! "Hi I'm Troy McClure, my acting gigs payed for this pool and my good-looks filled it with water." Lisa: "I remember you from such movies as "The Greatest Story Ever Hula'd"

By: Jikido

Jikido — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 10:14:14 -0800

oops! santiagogo beat me....

By: fenriq

fenriq — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 10:15:05 -0800

I rather enjoyed the NSFW link. The house is cool too. But I'm not sure its cool enough to go and live in LA for.

By: mania

mania — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 10:27:45 -0800

I can't make up my mind...self-indulgent eyesore or model for modern living?

By: agregoli

agregoli — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 10:38:22 -0800

So jealous. Would love to live somewhere like that.

By: jonson

jonson — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 10:40:21 -0800

Oh fenriq; if only you realized how awesome and better than anywhere else Los Angeles actually is... sigh.

By: carsonb

carsonb — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 11:21:58 -0800

taschen's publications are some of my favorites to page through (the last one was actually "1000 favorite websites" -- supersweet). they're always on interesting subject matter and usually visually striking. it fits that he lives in this house. i wonder why they don't bulldoze a driveway instead of using a cablecar (took me a while to figure out what funicular meant).

By: peacay

peacay — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 11:55:10 -0800

Great post. I was hoping to see the caged funicular - a term you'd think more likely to come up on that (also great) NSFW page. on prev: I had to look it up also, carsonb .

By: matteo

matteo — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 12:07:31 -0800

A modern cliffhanger Hillside homes have evolved from stilt-built cabins to technological marvels. In them, we see L.A.'s sense that anything's possible. (NSFW) A few years ago, I went to interview Benedikt Taschen. This involved going to his home, The Chemosphere. It was designed by John Lautner and looks something like a flying saucer perched atop a stem growing from the side of the Hollywood Hills. I rode a funicular to get there (NSFW)

By: peacay

peacay — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 12:17:30 -0800

Ahhh....so they're the houses I (would have) see(n) on the news during Californian rainstorms. Thx matteo.

By: salad spork

salad spork — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 12:48:24 -0800

This reminds me of a house I first noticed as a seven-year-old in the backseat of the car, driving up into the mountains of Colorado along I-70. It's called The Sculptured House, and it looks like an alien spacecraft landed on the side of a mountain.

By: kfury

kfury — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 13:17:27 -0800

Sorry for coming late to the party. My uncle actually owned the Chemosphere house from around 1982 to 1997. The view is amazing, you have to take an inclinator (or about 200 stairs) to get from the parking garage up to the house, and there are two plexiglass plates in the floor near the edge where you can look down to the area immediately below the house. The exterior shots in Charlie's Angels are of the house, but the interior was all on a soundstage. Body Double was largely filmed there, prior to my uncle's ownership. It's very much an entertaining house, with only one (or two, if you forgo the den) bedroom. Fun fact: One of the vertical wood wall planks in the living room is actually hinged and if you open it you can see through a 8x10" pane of one-way glass into the shower.

By: matteo

matteo — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 13:25:34 -0800

cool! thanks.

By: unsweet

unsweet — Thu, 07 Apr 2005 14:24:14 -0800

Cool links, matteo. I love sci-fi looking architecture. And, kfury, thanks for the inside scoop. Those plexiglass floor plates sound like they would scare the crap out of me.

By: dejah420

dejah420 — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 19:24:27 -0800

I bet the views from this thing are just extraordinary. The Sculpture house referenced above is amazingly cool too.