Richard Neutra is considered one of the most significant architects of the mid-century modernist movement and pioneered the creation of an integrated relationship between built structures and the natural environment. He sought to blur the boundaries between interior and exterior, using the landscape as a foundation for his designs. At the Neutra VDL House, he integrated water elements into the building's design, creating a dialogue between the structure and its surroundings. Kellndorfer's artistic intervention manifests as freestanding glass sculptures that reflect the building's mirrors and watery surfaces. The engraved silkscreened images capture the interplay of light and shadow on the building's surfaces, engendering a dynamic connection between the architecture and its environment.

 

Kellndorfer's intervention also acknowledges the transformation of the "original house", which was destroyed by fire in March 1963. The fire not only destroyed the house, but also Neutra's collection of drawings, writings and his architectural library. In 1965, he rebuilt the house based on the exact same floor plan as part of an overall therapeutic concept. He is now concerned with topics such as plant metabolism, which means that we smell the excretions of the plants. With this, Neutra not only poses the social question: how do we want to live and how can society make it possible to build in such a way that all social classes have access to a living space that meets their needs? In addition, he asks how one can live together with plants and animals? Prompting unexpected places to commingle, created by inviting nature and time to complete the architectural design. To commemorate the burnt down house, Kellndorfer has a drone circling over Silver Lake, carrying the original VDL House model that goes up in smoke and is dropped over the lake. Dialogue with Silver Lake. Metabolism of Architecture is organized by artist Veronika Kellndorfer, the Neutra VDL House director Noam Saragosti, and Christopher Grimes Projects. Find more information about the exhibition here.

 

 

Since 2003, Kellndorfer has photographed modernist architectural landmarks in Los Angeles, including the Eames House, Rudolph Schindler’s Lovell Beach House, the only house built by Oscar Niemeyer in the Uni- ted States and most recently Richard Neutra's VDL House in Silver Lake. In 2012, she began photographing the architecture of Lina Bo Bardi and the gardens of Roberto Burle Marx, finding their approach to Brazilian Modernism nascent to a new scope of reference. Yet, rather than capturing the iconic wide-angle views of these buildings, Kellndorfer focuses on the intimate details of windows and reflections and how they reveal the ephemeral nature of seeing, as well as the subjectivity of space. This ambiguity of space is heightened by Kellndorfer’s use of highly reflective glass panels that are often life-sized and when displayed in a public setting, museum, or gallery, invites the viewer to experience his or her own subjective surroundings.