"An important document that should be included in any library of
design and architecture." - Daniella Ohad "A masterful blend of
émigré biography and architecture and design history, proving
that the twentieth century fostered more than one modernism." -
Donald Albrecht Christopher Long, author of seminal monographs on
Adolf Loos, Kem Weber, and Paul T. Frankel, turns his attention to
the little-known architect and designer Jock Peters, a largely
forgotten figure of early Los Angeles modernism. This visually rich
study is also an intimate portrait of an architect who, like too
many, struggled to establish a career during the early decades of
the 20th century, years ravished by World War I and the Great
Depression. Among Peters's early works in Germany are designs for
the Levantehaus and Karstadt department stores, an innovative
design dated 1916 for a magnificent glass pavilion, and his work
for Peter Behrens after the war, but the architect's most
accomplished and compelling work came after 1922 when he settled in
Southern California. Most notable are the strikingly lavish and
elegant commercial interiors Peters designed for the iconic
Bullock's Wilshire store in Los Angeles and the tragically
forgotten Hollander department store in New York City; both
projects brought him international recognition. The breathtaking
scope of his short-lived career includes modern film sets for
Famous Players-Lasky, later Paramount Pictures, while working under
the legendary art director Hans Dreier; a dynamic sales office for
the trendsetting Maddux Air Lines, which later became TWA; and
modern residences, including the still extant homes he built for
cinematographer Alfred Gilks, who would later win an Academy Award
for An American in Paris, and art gallerist and developer
William Lingenbrink for whom Peters also designed stores and a
vibrantly colourful sidewalk for the Silver Strand beach
development north of Los Angeles. Lingenbrink, a major supporter of
the burgeoning modernism, also commissioned Jock Peters, alongside
Schindler, to design houses for Park Moderne, the legendary
avant-garde modernist retreat for artists in Calabasas. Peters also
designed the retreat's Streamline Moderne pump house, clubhouse,
and zigzag fountain, which still stands. This important study on
early modernism includes never before published material from the
architect's personal archive, still in family hands. These
remarkable and inspiring images-more than 250 historic photographs,
etchings, watercolours, and drawings-alongside Long's insightful
narrative, demonstrate how Peters, despite his early death, managed
to leave his mark on the modernist landscape in Southern California
at a time when the new style was just emerging.
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