Pearlman Mountain Cabin by John Lautner Overview and Walkthrough

hello my dear audience this john lautner youtube channel wouldn't be complete without a review of the perlman mountain cabinet this is the smallest design by john lonner but it is regarded as one of his best why because of all his designs this house comes the closest to the definition of organic architecture organic architecture was invented by frank lloyd wright and it means architecture that mimics the shapes of nature and does exist in harmony with the landscape when you take a look at the perlman cabin you see an almost literally translation of this statement the house appears to have grown out of the trees and from a distance it seems to disappear in a landscape the cabin integrates in its location because it is made of the same materials that were already growing on that location from the inside you feel like living in a bird's nest amongst the trees the house is located in idlewild a small town east of los angeles which is isolated deep in the forest after a long drive over curving sandy roads we arrive at our location high up in the mountains this is how the location looks from the street you must pay attention because the cabin is so hidden that you can easily drive by without noticing it when we walk over a pathway towards the house we see that most of the structure is hidden behind the hillside from here it doesn't look really spectacular but when we descend over the hill we immediately see the beauty of this unusual house but why is this house built in such a strange way the cabin was designed as a vacation retreat for a couple that wanted a remote and peaceful hideaway in forest after a long search they found a romantic place but it was a steep climbing hillside that was covered with boulders and rocks and full of trees it was almost unsuitable for building purposes almost because there was only one architect who saw the difficult task as a challenge john loner decided that the only solution was to build a platform that only rests for a small part on the hillside for the largest part the platform is supported by the same trees that were cut down to make plays for the house this is one of the most important aspects of organic architecture the landscape is not influenced by the house by only rearranging the trees and not removing them there's no significant change to the environment after they were cut down the trees were re-erected with concrete foundations in the ground the platform was placed on a steel frame that was connected to the trees with screws and bolts the roof was placed on the top of the tree trunks each of the trees is different in height and different in thickness creating an unpredictable combination of pillars the shape of the nature is influencing the shape of the house and not as usual the other way around let's now take a look at the layout of the house this floor plan gives a good indication of the limited size of the cabin almost all the living quarters are placed in one circular space only the bathroom is a separated room the sleeping area is in a rectangular wing that is attached to the main circle the living room has place for a piano an open kitchen a dining table and a sitting area with a fireplace the couch can be transformed into a guest bed and last but not least there is a balcony that can't deliver the hillside when you step through the front door you are almost immediately in the living room when you walk through the living room you get a view of the landscape that looks like a cinema screen this dramatic effect is created by the shape of the house which is best to describe as a cylinder with a cone as roof the front part of the cone that faces the valley is placed upwards so that a cone breaks open this creates a fan shaped shelter from underneath the shelter the ceiling climbs upwards towards landscape this immediately draws your attention outside into the nature the entire opening of the house is covered with gloss windows from floor to ceiling john loner wanted to create illusion that there are no windows at all so to avoid light reflection he decided to place the windows diagonal and in a half circle this zigzag pattern of windows secures that from each standpoint the gloss is completely transparent to make the windows even more invisible john loner didn't allow any window frames to hold the glass plates in place grooves were cut over the entire length of the tree trunks the glass plates were simply shoved in these grooves at the top the glass plates were placed in long horizontal cuts in the ceiling above these cuts the windows continue until they reach the roof which is a few inches higher than the ceiling there are the gloss plates finely connected with ordinary window frames because the ceiling starts to climb in front of the windows you can't see the cuts in the ceiling this conceals the point where the windows meet the ceiling it creates the feeling of having no windows at all blurring the verge between inside and outside and giving you the feeling of living in a forest with mountains in a distance [Music] by painting the ceiling pale yellow the sunlight is reflected with a warm filter a large circular mirror on the ceiling reflects the trees from the outside and blends the interior with the nature so when you look up at the dining table you got illusion of no ceiling and trees above your head when you remove your eyes from the panoramic windows and look at the other side of the living room the atmosphere immediately changes to an enclosed and intimate feeling of a humble log cabin the many brown and gray colors of the interior are based on the colors of the forest the fireplace is the only concrete part of the wooden house the balcony is built around an existing tree the tree continues to grow through a hole in the floor a good example of not interfering the nature which is a common trademark of organic architecture [Music] the roof exists of wooden beams that are placed diagonal in a circle and come together in the point of the cone the wooden beams are covered with pieces of timber at the outside the timber is protected with a coating of plaster the ceiling does not go all the way up to the point of the cone horizontal beams are attached halfway the diagonal beams any support a circular wooden ceiling because the cabin was used for practicing the piano this ceiling was necessary for a better sound reverberation gloss door makes it possible to bring large furnitures like the piano into the living room from the door you can step directly into the forest the rear side of the house is placed on four small foundations because of the elevation of the hill the wall is partly sunken in the ground with the small windows less than a yard above ground level now we take one final look to see how the house absorbs in the background the glass plates that seem to float between the trees didn't have a reflection at the inside but they do reflect at the outside this mirroring of the trees creates an optical illusion making the house disappearing like camouflage and leaving the beauty of nature undisturbed the pearlman cabin is an absolute milestone in john lotter's career despite being very small and cheaply built the construction introduced many inventions that john lorna would later use in larger houses for instance the circular living room with his conical roof was also used in elroth house the diagonal placed windows with tree trunks as window frames returned in the second hotel house living trees that were kept in place reappeared in both the and the wolf house and finally the idea of a house on pillars was also the base for the garcia house and the camosphere but in contrast with the complexity and luxury of these later designs the perlman is plain and simple it's a raw and pure embodiment of john lonner's vision on architecture this was your tour guidance don't forget to like and subscribe and i'll see you next time

Channel: John Lautner Architecture Videos

Views: 22,424

Keywords: pearlman cabin, pearlman john lautner, mountain cabin john lautner, lautner pearlman, john lautner idyllwild, pearlman house, john lautner cabin, organic architecture, mid century modernism, space age, googie architecture, john lautner house, john lautner design, design, art history, nancy pearlman, pearlman idyllwild, threehouse, interior design, nature house, log cabin, american architecture, architecture video, house walkthrough, frank lloyd wright, john lautner

Id: 2pWw9fiElFU

Length: 9min 59sec (599 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 17 2022