Koblick Duplex

Koblick Duplex

This duplex is one of the first domestic projects that the architect Richard Neutra completed on a very steep site, a practice that would later became a mainstay of his work. Cantilevered precariously from the hill, white stucco porches extend out into space from the glass and steel framed face of the structure. This cantilevered porch was supported by massive beams and bracing against lateral shocks guaranteed it would survive future tremors. In style, the duplex suggests European precedents of early Modernism. Although its main lines are horizontal, the duplex does not parallel the hill like many of Neutra’s other designs, and a vertical element on the north side of the structure contains the bedrooms. Largely a monolithic design, initial sketches considered breaking the volume down into smaller geometric components. The project was built for the art professor Harry Koblick, who occupied the top duplex.

Adapted from Neutra – Complete Works by Barbara Lamprecht (Taschen, 2000), p. 142.