Piecing Together Los Angeles: an Esther Mccoy Reader

Piecing Together Los Angeles: An Esther McCoy Reader

edited and with an essay by Susan Morgan

east of borneo books East of Borneo Books is an imprint of East of Borneo, a collaborative online magazine of contemporary art, and its history, as seen from Los Angeles.

Every effort has been made to identify the rightful copyright holders of texts reprinted in this volume. Credit for all re-published material is provided at the back of the book. Some original publishers or their heirs could not be found, and we welcome any information that would allow us to correct future editions. We want to thank the Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution for granting permission to use materials from the Esther McCoy Papers.

Published by East of Borneo, in collaboration with the Art School at California Institute of the Arts.

East of Borneo California Institute of the Arts 24700 McBean Parkway Valencia, CA 91355 www.eastofborneo.org www.calarts.edu

FIRST EDITION Library of Congress Control Number: 2012930257 ISBN: 978-0-615-52823-6

Design: Jessica Fleischmann / still room, with Riah Buchanan Printing: Typecraft Wood & Jones

Cover photo: Esther McCoy, circa 1950. Back cover photo: Interior with typewriter, Don and Henrie Gordon house (R.M. Schindler, remodeling and furniture, 1944–53), Los Angeles. Table of Contents

9 Essay: Writing Home by Susan Morgan

1 The Journey West

22 Patchin Place: A Memoir 36 About Malibu 45 Outward Journey 49 The Death of Dreiser

2 California Changes Everyone

64 Peter Reyner Banham: 1922–1988: An Appreciation 67 The Founding Mother by Reyner Banham 71 Schindler, Space Architect 75 The California House…How It Started 77 Notes on Greene and Greene 79 Charles Greene’s Presence 83 An Architect Speaks Out [William Gray Purcell] 85 Gill’s Birthday 92 The Dodge House 95 Letter from Esther McCoy to Torrance City Council 96 Frank Lloyd Wright: 60 Years of Living Architecture 98 Conversation with Lutah Maria Riggs, FAIA 102 The Office of R.M. Schindler 114 Happy Birthday, R.M.S. 126 Neutra in California 131 Neutra: An Appreciation 133 Konrad Wachsmann: Memorial for Wachsmann at USC 139 The Second Generation 154 Los Angeles: A Private Proving Ground 3 The New Face of the 1950s

162 Peter Reyner Banham, review of Modern California Houses: Case Study Houses, 1946–1962 164 Arts & Architecture Case Study Houses 181 Charles and Ray Eames 189 A. Quincy Jones and Frederick E. Emmons 194 Then and Now [Whitney R. Smith and Wayne R. Williams] 196 Architecture West [Harwell Hamilton Harris] 198 Recommendation for Harwell Hamilton Harris 199 Pierre Koenig 203 The Ultimate Climes of John Lautner 205 Letter Regarding John Lautner 206 Before the Silvers

4 Writing and Raking Over the Foibles

216 The Important House 222 Library Use 225 Palms 229 Landscape Architecture in the Urban Scene 232 Letter from Ray Bradbury to Esther McCoy 237 Letter from Esther McCoy to Ray Bradbury 240 Letter from Ray Bradbury to Esther McCoy 242 Wanted: Architect (Preferably a Dead One) 244 If You Don’t Want to Get a Loan… 247 Letters to the Editor

5 Building, Ambition, and Vision

254 A Vast Hall Full of Light, the Bradbury Building 258 Architecture West [Hearst Castle] 260 Acceptance Speech for Julia Morgan Award 262 The Wiltern Theater 263 Watts Towers 264 Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle Village 269 Those “Crazy” Domes 272 Report from Malibu Hills 274 Frank O. Gehry 278 Dr. Salk Talks About His Institute 283 High-Tech Images 287 The Blue Bombshell: Pacific Design Center 292 Robert Venturi: To Whom It May Concern

6 Looking Backward

300 On Attaining a Certain Age [Eames House] 303 A Love of Small Packages: A Friend Remembers Ray Eames 307 Architecture West: News Report [Santa Monica] 309 J.R. Davidson 313 Something to Wrap the Herring In 315 John Entenza: A Memorial 317 Lloyd Wright 1890–1978 324 The Rationalist Period 334 Letter from Esther McCoy to Richard Weinstein 335 Second Guessing Schindler 338 Geography as Destiny

342 A Who’s Who 368 Notes 373 Acknowledgments 375 Index 388 Photographs 389 About Esther McCoy 390 About Susan Morgan 391 About East of Borneo

Notes

1 The Journey West “Patchin Place: A Memoir.” Grand Street 5, no. 1 (Autumn 1985): 86–103. “About Malibu.” Unpublished memoir (n.d.), Esther McCoy Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution (hereafter cited as McCoy papers). “Outward Journey.” Memoir sent out privately (Christmas 1946), McCoy papers. “The Death of Dreiser.” Grand Street 7, no. 2 (Winter 1988): 73–85.

2 California Changes Everyone “Peter Reyner Banham: 1922–1988: An Appreciation.” Angeles Magazine, September 1988. “The Founding Mother,” by Reyner Banham. California Magazine, March 1984, 104–120. © 1984, 2011 by Reyner Banham. Courtesy of Mrs. Mary Banham and Shelley Power Literary Agency Ltd. “Schindler, Space Architect.” Direction 8, no. 1 (Fall 1945): 14–15. “The California House…How It Started.” Los Angeles Times, July 19, 1953, sec. H. “Notes on Greene and Greene.” Arts & Architecture 70, no. 7 (July 1953): 27, 38. “Charles Greene’s Presence.” Review, Southern California Chapter, Society of Architectural Historians (Spring 1982): 1–2. “An Architect Speaks Out [William Gray Purcell].” Los Angeles Times, February 15, 1959, sec. J.

368 “Gill’s Birthday.” Lecture at San Diego Museum of Art (1979), McCoy papers. “The Dodge House.” AIA Review (Autumn 1965): unpaginated. Letter from Esther McCoy to Torrance City Council, January 19, 1965, McCoy papers. “Frank Lloyd Wright: 60 Years of Living Architecture.” Los Angeles Times, March 7, 1954, sec. K. “Conversation with Lutah Maria Riggs, FAIA.” Lecture at the Women’s Building, Los Angeles (May 12, 1978), McCoy papers. “The Office of R.M. Schindler.” Lecture at University of California Santa Barbara (1967), McCoy papers. “Happy Birthday, R.M.S.” Unpublished memoir (n.d), McCoy papers. “Neutra in California.” Zodiac, no. 8 (1961): 58–63. “Neutra: An Appreciation.” LA Architect (June 1977): unpaginated (1). “Konrad Wachsmann: Memorial For Wachsmann at University of Southern California.” (February 11, 1981), McCoy papers. “The Second Generation.” Lecture at Los Angeles Conservancy (September 1984), McCoy papers. “Los Angeles: A Private Proving Ground.” Los Angeles Herald Examiner, February 6, 1980, sec. B.

3 The New Face of the 1950s Peter Reyner Banham, review of Modern California Houses: Case Study Houses, 1946–1962, by Esther McCoy. Clipping, McCoy papers. © 1984, 2011 by Reyner Banham. Courtesy of Mrs. Mary Banham and Shelley Power Literary Agency Ltd. “Arts & Architecture Case Study Houses.” From Blueprints for Modern Living: History and Legacy of the Case Study Houses. Edited by Elizabeth A. T. Smith. Los Angeles: Museum of Contemporary Art, in association with MIT Press, 1989. An exhibition catalogue. “Charles and Ray Eames.” Design Quarterly, no. 98/99 (1975): 20–29. © 1975 Walker Art Center. “A. Quincy Jones and Frederick E. Emmons.” Arts & Architecture 83, no. 4 (May 1966): 8–13.

Notes 369 “Then and Now [Whitney R. Smith and Wayne R. Williams].” Los Angeles Times, December 14, 1952, sec. J. “Architecture West [Harwell Hamilton Harris].” Progressive Architecture (May 1974): 38, 42. © 1974 Hanley Wood and Architect magazine. Recommendation for Harwell Hamilton Harris, 5 February 1985, McCoy papers. “Pierre Koenig.” Zodiac, no. 5 (1959): 156–166. “The Ultimate Climes of John Lautner.” Pamphlet guide to John Lautner exhibition at the R.M. Schindler House, Los Angeles (1986), McCoy papers. Letter from Esther McCoy to Ms. C. Tanaka, 18 November 1985, McCoy papers. “Before the Silvers.” Progressive Architecture (October 1976): 66–69. © 1976 Hanley Wood and Architect magazine.

4 Writing and Raking Over the Foibles “The Important House.” The New Yorker, April 17, 1948, 50–56. “Library Use.” Lecture at National Library Meeting, Los Angeles (February 13, 1985), McCoy papers. “Palms.” Original typescript, McCoy papers. Published in New West (June 7, 1976). “Landscape Architecture in the Urban Scene.” Lecture at University of Southern California (April 23, 1965), McCoy papers. Letter from Ray Bradbury to Esther McCoy, 3 May 1960, McCoy papers. © 1960 by Ray Bradbury. Courtesy of Don Congdon Associates, Inc. Letter from Esther McCoy to Ray Bradbury, May 1960, McCoy papers. Letter from Ray Bradbury to Esther McCoy, 11 June 1969, McCoy papers. © 1969 by Ray Bradbury. Courtesy of Don Congdon Associates, Inc. “Wanted: Architect (Preferably a Dead One).” Los Angeles Times, August 21, 1960, 26–27. “If You Don’t Want to Get a Loan…” Los Angeles Times, April 15, 1951, sec. F. “Letters to the Editor.” Arts & Architecture 83, no. 1 (January 1966): 6.

370 Notes 5 Building, Ambition, and Vision “A Vast Hall Full of Light, the Bradbury Building.” Arts & Architecture 70, no. 4 (April 1953): 20–43. “Architecture West [Hearst Castle].” Progressive Architecture (January 1973): 52. © 1973 Hanley Wood and Architect magazine. Acceptance speech for Julia Morgan Award, UCLA Graduate School of Architecture and Urban Planning (April 1987), McCoy papers. “Wiltern Theater.” Original typescript (March 5, 1980), McCoy papers. “Watts Towers.” Original typescript (August 1965), McCoy papers. “Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle Village.” From Naives and Visionaries. Minneapolis: Walker Art Center, in association with E.P. Dutton & Co, 1974. An exhibition catalogue. © 1974 Walker Art Center. “Those ‘Crazy’ Domes.” Los Angeles Times, February 22, 1959, sec. K. “Report from Malibu Hills.” Progressive Architecture (December 1974): 40. © 1974 Hanley Wood and Architect magazine. “Frank O. Gehry.” Progressive Architecture (October 1986): 75. © 1986 Hanley Wood and Architect magazine. “Dr. Salk Talks About His Institute.” Architectural Forum (December 1967): 27–35. “High-Tech Images.” Progressive Architecture (February 1974): 66–70. © 1974 Hanley Wood and Architect magazine. “The Blue Bombshell: Pacific Design Center.” Progressive Architecture (October 1976): 78–83. © 1976 Hanley Wood and Architect magazine. “Robert Venturi: To Whom It May Concern.” Original typescript (October 1987), McCoy papers.

6 Looking Backward “On Attaining a Certain Age [Eames House].” Progressive Architecture (October 1977): 80–83. © 1977 Hanley Wood and Architect magazine. “A Love of Small Packages: A Friend Remembers Ray Eames.” California Magazine, December 1988, 22.

Notes 371 “Architecture West: News Report [Santa Monica].” Progressive Architecture (May 1973): 56. © 1973 Hanley Wood and Architect magazine. “J.R. Davidson.” LA Architect (May 1977): unpaginated (4). “Something to Wrap the Herring In.” Progressive Architecture (February 1986): 25. © 1986 Hanley Wood and Architect magazine. “John Entenza: A Memorial.” LA Architect (July 1984): unpaginated (2). “Lloyd Wright 1890–1978.” Arts & Architecture 83, no. 9 (October 1966): 22–26. “The Rationalist Period.” From High Styles: Twentieth-Century American Design. New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, in association with Summit Books, 1985. An exhibition catalogue. Letter from Esther McCoy to Richard Weinstein, Dean of Architecture, UCLA, 12 April 1987, McCoy papers. “Second Guessing Schindler.” Progressive Architecture (April 1989): 86–89. © 1989 Hanley Wood and Architect magazine. “Geography as Destiny.” California Magazine, March 1987, 107.

372 Notes