5/31/2023 0 Comments Julius shulman![]() With the safety of school constantly on my mind, I was drawn to photographs of the Corona Avenue Elementary school, designed by modernist architect Richard Neutra. This led to what were called “open-air” classrooms that brought the outdoors inside, through lots of glass and open windows, or that let students bring their desks outside to terraces or gardens. These natural elements were believed to both strengthen the body and fight off rampant illnesses like tuberculosis and cholera. Buildings from hospitals to housing and schools were designed to be more hygienic and to let in more fresh air and sunlight. I had written a book that focused, in part, on how ideas about contagion, hygiene, and good health had changed architecture in Europe and the United States around the turn of the 20th century. I already knew a bit of history about schools during a health crisis. As the months numbly passed, I paid close attention to news about how schools might reopen safely in our new reality. When the schools shut down in mid-March last year, we thought it would just be for a few weeks. Her teacher is patient and trying his best to teach during a pandemic, but it’s still bizarre that she only knows him as a head and shoulders on her computer screen. The technical difficulties weren’t too bad today, fortunately. She’s antsy now, after hours of sitting in the same chair, with a few breaks in another chair at the kitchen table. I’ve just finished shepherding my daughter through another day of online elementary school. LYRA KILSTON: My name is Lyra Kilston and I’m a senior editor at the Getty Museum. This week Lyra Kilston discusses Julius Shulman’s photograph of a Richard Neutra school building. We’ve asked members of the Getty community to share short, personal reflections on works of art they’re thinking about right now. Today, a great many of the buildings documented by Shulman have disappeared or been crudely converted, but the thirst for his pioneering images is stronger than ever.JAMES CUNO: Hi, I’m Jim Cuno, president of the J. ![]() A sense of humanity is always present in his work, even when the human figure is absent from the actual photographs. The precise compositions reveal not just the architectural ideas behind a building’s surface, but also the visions and hopes of an entire age. Each Shulman image unites perception and understanding for the buildings and their place in the landscape. The clarity of his work demanded that architectural photography had to be considered as an independent art form. The brilliance of buildings like those by Charles Eames, as well as those of his close friend, Richard Neutra, was first brought to light by Shulman’s photography. Some of his architectural photographs, like the iconic shots of Frank Lloyd Wright’s or Pierre Koenig’s remarkable structures, have been published countless times. In 1947, Julius Shulman asked architect Raphael Soriano to build a mid-century steel home and studio in the Hollywood Hills. ![]() His contemporaries include Ezra Stoller and Hedrich Blessing Photographers. His vast library of images currently reside at the Getty Center in Los Angeles. Through his many books, exhibits and personal appearances his work ushered in a new appreciation for the movement beginning in the 1990s. Shulman’s photography spread California Mid-century modern around the world. Pierre Koenig, Architect.” The house is also known as The Stahl House. Julius Shulman was an American architectural photographer best known for his photograph “Case Study House #22, Los Angeles, 1960.
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