At the first mention of his name, one can easily picture them: light-flooded bungalows that are lavishly composed into nature and that characterize the architectural style of the American West Coast surrounding Los Angeles. But it is sometime overlooked that the career of Richard Neutra (1892-1970) began in Berlin-Zehlendorf. And yet these houses in Zehlendorf represent a fascinating phase in Neutra’s work. With their complex color schemes and extravagant interior design, they reveal themselves to be more than just an experimental and radically innovative design. Indeed, these lesser-known aspects already hint at elements that will be taken up again in future projects. The present publication finally provides for a rightful appreciation of Neutra’s early works and, alongside historical sources, it collects countless new and unpublished documents about the houses and their first residents
By (artist) Richard Neutra, Text by Harriet Roth