Event
ANFA Interfaces and Neutra come to Los Angeles
Neutra's son Raymond, a distinguished epidemiologist, will ask "Is There a Future for Approaches such as Richard Neutra's Biorealism?" while Barbara Lamprecht, the author of three books on Neutra, will explore "The Nature of Neutra: Richard Neutra's Roots in Science and Landscape."
Time and Place: January 20, 6-7:30 pm at Gensler
500 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90071
IS THERE A FUTURE FOR APPROACHES SUCH AS RICHARD NEUTRA'S BIOREALISM?
Raymond Richard Neutra MD Dr.PH
Abstract: My father's interest in phenomenology and neurosciences, his faith that evidence could supplement intuition in providing designed environments that would foster the flourishing of clients, led me into a career in environmental epidemiology. Evidence can tell us THAT something works, and many times that is sufficient to guide decisions even if we don't have evidence WHY things work. Evidence can tell us what to avoid (much of my career generated that kind of evidence) but it also can be generative and suggest new possibilities. Are there lessons from the practice of individual medicine and public health that hint at the potentials and limitations of scientific evidence in the practice of environmental design?
Bio: Raymond Neutra retired in December 2007 as Chief of the Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control (DEODC) after 27 years at the California Department of Public Health (CDPH). Before joining CDPH he was a tenured Associate Professor of Epidemiology at UCLA and an Assistant Professor at Harvard. He has done research in diverse fields including the application of epidemiology to quantitative decision-making, and the relevance of ethical frameworks and public participation to the formation of environmental health policy. He is helping to raise funds for the Richard and Dion Neutra VDL Studio/Residences, designed by his father and his brother Dion which, in 1990 was left to Cal Poly Pomona College of Environmental Design.
THE NATURE OF NEUTRA: RICHARD NEUTRA'S ROOTS IN SCIENCE AND LANDSCAPE
Barbara Lamprecht, M.Arch., Ph.D.,
Abstract: The work of the great Modern architect, Viennese-born Richard Neutra (1892 1970), is often celebrated for its smooth forms and cool compositions of sliding planes that stretch into the landscape. There is no question of his place in the pantheon of 20th century architects. Yet Neutra's motivations and reasons for that sleek form-making were quite different to that of his peers. His convictions linking the body, mind, and environment as irrefutably engaged are little known, as is his early immersion into the work of the German philosopher Wilhelm Wundt (1832 1920) one of the founders of physiological psychology. Rejecting Cartesian dualism, Neutra understood that the nervous system senses and perception and cognition worked together. He integrated that insight with findings in evolutionary biology, stressing that a "bio-realistic" architecture had to take into account the ancient setting of the savannas of East Africa, where the human body, brain, and nervous system evolved. Dr. Lamprecht's talk focuses on Neutra's extraordinary background; how his work expresses his beliefs; and contemporary research and findings which corroborate his prescience.
Bio: Dr. Lamprecht is an architectural historian and the author of three books on Neutra. Her recent Ph.D. from the University of Liverpool develops many of the themes of her talk.
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LocationGensler (View)
500 S Figueroa Street
Los Angeles, CA 90071
United States
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