Strathmore Apartments

Strathmore Apartments

Architect Richard Neutra had a fifty percent interest in his Strathmore Apartments project. This complex, which was completed in the same year as another complex designed by Neutra, the Landfair Apartments, uses the same white stucco and ribbon casement windows. However, in contrast to the Landfair Apartments, which are modeled after contemporary European precedents, the design for the Strathmore Apartments takes inspiration from pueblo architecture’s stacked dwellings and rooftop terraces which Neutra had visited in Taos and Albuquerque. Across four buildings, eight different apartments form interlocked and stacked volumes, six of which were larger two-bedroom spaces and two of which were smaller one-bedroom units. Because these buildings are staggered across a slope, spanning a total of four different levels, and interspersed with lush plantings, each unit has a sense of privacy. Furthermore, because of this asymmetric composition, no two units are the same in section or plan, giving each a sense of individuality. At the same time, a stairway connects all the apartments, allowing for a degree of sociability. Several famous residents, including the actor, writer, and director Orson Welles, the playwright Clifford Odets, and the film star Luise Rainer, suggest the social cachet associated with the complex.

Adapted from Neutra – Complete Works by Barbara Lamprecht (Taschen, 2000), p. 134.