Raymond Neutra Lectures on the Neutra VDL Studio

In this installation of the Iconic Houses lecture series, Raymond Neutra, son of modernist architect Richard Neutra (1892-1970) gives a talk at the Van Schijndel Houses in Utrecht. Richard Neutra was an Austrian American architect, an influential modernist architect best known for his work in the Silver Lake District of Los Angeles. A film about Neutra's VDL Research House accompanies the lecture. The career evolution of Neutra can be best seen in the various modifications and reconstructions of his VDL Research House (sometimes known as the Van der Leeuw House) over the course of four decades. The home was built in 1932, with the support of Dutch businessman Cees van der Leeuw: the 'VDL ' of its name is a tribute to him. The original compact design of the house in 1932 exemplified Neutra's seminal early work before the 1939 addition of the backyard garden house embodied the new necessity of indoor/outdoor living for the growing family. Then, when the original house was destroyed by fire and rebuilt in the 1960s by Richard and his son Dion, who is also an architect, it became the quintessence of environmental, climate-sensitive design. Hundreds of projects were designed there, launching the careers of many renowned architects. The site became a cultural and political salon, attracting some of the world's most prominent thinkers. Yet today the house is in danger of significant decay. 
 For more information, visit http://www.neutra-vdl.org/site/defaul... This video is part of the "Architects in the Picture: Iconic Houses" lecture series, held in the Van Schijndelhuis in Utrecht and organized by the Iconic Houses Network. www.iconichouses.org