Neutra, Richard Joseph (1892–1970)

Austrian-born architect and author, a US citizen from 1929. Influenced by Adolf Loos and Erich Mendelsohn, he worked with Rudolph Schindler in Los Angeles from 1926 and became a leading exponent of the international style. His works, often in impressive landscape settings, include Lovell Health House, Los Angeles (1929), which incorporated the innovation of steel framing; and the Kaufmann Desert House, Palm Springs (1947).

Neutra also designed the Military Academy at Los Angeles, the Tremaine House, Santa Barbara (1947–48), and many uncompromisingly modernist houses, hospitals, and schools in California, Texas, and Puerto Rico. His books include Survival Through Design (1954), which promoted ‘biorealism’, a balance among buildings, people, and the environment.

Neutra was born in Vienna where he trained, and also returned in 1919 after war service. He emigrated to the USA in 1923.