Neutra VDL House

Moments from 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭, a site-specific performance at the Neutra VDL House on July 28th by Kaylee Gibson, in collaboration with Jobel Navarrete-Medina, Alyson Van, Annahstasia Enuke, and Mia Garcia

Photos by Kourtney Kyung Smith

Thank you to the Sam Francis Foundation for the support

Dear Visitors, the VDL House will temporarily close for tours for the next few weeks of Summer. Stay tuned for announcements on reponing, new tour appointments, and upcoming programs in the weeks to come.

Photo of the Garden House by Julius Shulman, J. Paul Getty Trust.

Please consider supporting the VDL House repairs with a donation to our 501(c)3 Foundation. Every donation helps us keep the house alive for visitors to enjoy. Link to donation page in bio.

The Neutra VDL House Presents 𝐒𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭 by Kaylee Gibson, in collaboration with Jobel Navarrete-Medina, Alyson Van, Annahstasia Enuke, and Mia Garcia.

Join us Sunday afternoon, July 28th, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Neutra VDL House for a site-specific performance.

By RSVP only. Audience capacity is limited—link in bio.

We hope to see you there!

This is part of an ongoing performance series, The Movement Sessions, curated by Kaylee Gibson.

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The program is supported by:
The Sam Francis Foundation
A.P.C.
The European Space Agency

Image: https://www.esa.int/ESA_Multimedia/Images/2016/05/Rosetta_s_comet

The book "The 1930's" by Alison and Peter Smithson highlights the VDL I in the year 1932,

"Neutra was the first to make the precise glamorous: perhaps this is an old Viennese talent. Neutra's houses, as they exist in photographs, are so polished, so perfect, as to seem impossible to achieve: as if their builders all wore white gloves and tabi and had their bath-house hut erected as the first building on site in the Japanese manner: as if their owners never had an unpresentable moment or laid down a pair of sunglasses.

The photographs have a kind of de-materialized glamour, almost that of soap and toilet paper advertisements (although which came first is difficult to tell) that are especially, even uniquely American, rooted no doubt in the standards upheld by the pioneer women of The Little House stories.”

Alison Smithson, circa 1973.

Sharing some behind-the-scenes photos of Walking Walls installation by and and from several sites students visited with Fernanda in her four-week research workshop titled A House for More. The workshop examined historical references that challenge the definitions of home and included lectures, a design exercise, and visits to the Huntington Library Archives to view the Llano del Rio papers, Gregory Ain’s Avenel Cooperative Housing thanks to , and the Schindler House, thanks to

Photos by Kimberly Yan, Alex Gomez, and Noam Saragosti

This program was made possible with the support of the State Norpell Workshop and Lecture Series

In October architect Fernanda Canales and artist Pablo Kobayashi joined us for a residency at the VDL House. The residency included an educational workshop and a temporary installation titled Walking Walls with architecture students from Cal Poly Pomona University . The installation consisted of placing six inflatable walls where students could interact and restructure the interior and exterior space of VDL House. The walls became a playful and flexible element capable of creating new uses within the existing building and simultaneously imagining post-domestic futures.
Photos by Erik Benjamins .benjamins

This program was made possible with the support of the State Norpell Workshop and Lecture Series

A House for More
Fernanda Canales at the Neutra VDL House

October 21st
4:00 PM Lecture (rsvp link in bio)
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM Opening Reception (no rsvp)

The Neutra VDL House is proud to host architect Fernanda Canales for the State Norpell Workshop and Lecture Series. Fernanda has been conducting a workshop at the VDL with architecture students from Cal Poly Pomona this October.

The workshop includes two parts: the first is a research and theoretical workshop, in which Fernanda has engaged with Cal Poly Pomona students for the past 4 weeks focusing on historical references that have challenged the definitions of home. Students have also been designing alternatives to rethink the VDL House using inflatable partitions.

The second part will be an installation, titled Walking Walls, in collaboration with Pablo Kobayashi that will extend the house outwards to use the vacant roofs and accommodate varied activities for more people. The boundaries between public and private will be challenged using movable cloth walls intended to provoke us to question how much are we willing to share.

On October 21st we will conclude the workshop with a lecture at 4:00pm, and a public reception from 5:00pm - 8:00pm. The reception is open to all and RSVP is not required.

This program was made possible with the support of the State Norpells.

We’re happy to share photos from our workshop with Max Núñez and architecture students from Cal Poly Pomona. The workshop included a rigorous design exercise and inspiring visits to modern houses by architects such as John Lautner, Pierre Koenig, and Richard Neutra.

This program was made possible with the support of the State Norpell Workshop and Lecture Series

We are pleased to share images of Veronika Kellndorfer’s exhibition, Dialogue with Silver Lake Metabolism of Architecture, a site-specific exhibition by artist Veronika Kellndorfer currently on view at the VDL House.​ Photos by Jarred Grimes and Veronika Kellndorfer.

Veronika Kellndorfer participated in an artist talk at the VDL House, joined by architect and educator Mark Lee of Johnston Marklee Link in bio.

The exhibition is extended for the following tour dates: July 29th, August 19th, and August 26th. The VDL House will be closed for tours on August 5th and August 12th. Appointments can be made through the VDL website.

Exhibition supported by the Villa Aurora and Thomas Mann House

Dialogue with Silver Lake, Metabolism of Architecture is organized by artist Veronika Kellndorfer, the Neutra VDL House under the directorship of Noam Saragosti and Christopher Grimes Projects

An axonometric drawing of the VDL I living room from a 1934 issue of Architectural Forum Master Detail Series.

“The curtain may be used to cut off the view of the desk from the rest of the room. It may be pulled to the right to hide the piano and radio cabinet, or to the left to hide the alcove in the corner. The implications of each of these positions are readily seen to be of great effect upon the appearance and psychological influence of the remainder. The folding glass and metal partition has the same effect in another direction. When it is open, the entire room seems to be out of doors.”

Dear Visitors, the VDL House will temporarily close for the next few weeks for restorations starting March 1st, 2023. Stay tuned for announcements on reponing, new tour appointments, and upcoming programs in the weeks to come.

SUPPORT THE VDL

Please consider supporting the VDL House repairs with a donation to our 501(c)3 Foundation. Every donation helps us keep the house alive for visitors to enjoy. Link to donation page in bio.

Photo by

Please join us Saturday afternoon, February 18th from 4-6pm at the Neutra VDL House for a site specific performance, Devotion by Madeline Hollander. The piece features 12 dancers from L.A. Dance Project and an original score by composer Celia Hollander.

Beverages and natural wines will be served in the courtyard from Martha Stoumen , Las Jaras Wines and Ghia
We hope to see you there!

Please RSVP to [email protected]

This is part of an ongoing performance series, The Movement Sessions, curated by Kaylee Gibson.

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Image: Madeline Hollander, Devotion, performance at the Museum of Islamic Art Park Heritage Dhow Boats, Doha, Qatar, as part of Festival In Motion, December 2022. Photo: Josh Rose