Malibu : A Century of Living by the Sea
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Renowned Southern California architectural photographer Julius Shulman began exploring Malibu in 1929. Nearly 80 years later, he is still bringing back pictures of paradise-except that the pristine landscape is now a backdrop for luxury homes. In Malibu: A Century of Living by the Sea, more than 300 lush vintage and new photographs by Shulman and his collaborator Juergen Nogai capture the look and feel of a private Shangri-La. While many of the homes were designed by architects with local and international reputations--including James Moore, Frank Gehry and Richard Meier--the book also conveys the quirky flavor of do-it-yourself designs that hark back to the beach town's beginnings. A brief historical section describes how a Massachusetts millionaire's $10-per-acre land purchase was transformed into the Malibu Film Colony. Beginning in 1924, 30-foot-wide oceanfront lots were rented to Hollywood stars, who built modest weekend hideaways. Once ownership restrictions were lifted, the style parade began. In 1948, Modernist architect Welton Becket designed a flat-roofed beach house for his family with broad expanses of glass facing the ocean and a deep roof overhang to protect against the dazzling sun. Twenty years later, John Lautner worked his magic on a narrow lot by designing a towering curved concrete shell-like a surf rider's wave-enclosing the floor-to-ceiling glass facade of Stevens House. Before land costs became prohibitive, artists and musicians often designed their own homes in eclectic, personal styles that incorporated local crafts, or even an oak tree growing in the living room. Local architects developed inventive ways of handling difficult sites, the constant threat of fire and the requirements of the California Coastal Commission. And the super-rich built their palaces, ranging from a crenellated monstrosity called The Castle Kashan to an 7,000-square-foot modular compound designed by Bart Prince. Invitingly packaged, except for the hard-to-read gray type, Malibu is above all a showcase for Shulman's signature manipulation of sunlight and shadow to reveal architectural form. --Cathy Curtis
Book Description
In addition to being one of the most recognized places in the world for its long association with celebrities (many of whom live here), Malibu's strikingly beautiful coastline contains a greater concentration of world-class residential architecture than perhaps any other city in the United States, if not the world. This gorgeous book offers a behind-the-scenes view of the most exciting houses built here since 1894-by John Lautner, Richard Meier, and Frank Gehry, among others-presented decade by decade by legendary architectural photographer Julius Shulman and his colleague Juergen Nogai.
Shulman, now 94 years old, first came to Malibu in 1929 and, armed with a Vest-Pocket Kodak, started taking pictures of the landscape and wildlife. He continued to visit for the next 75 years, and his personal archive of pictures from those years-a guided tour of houses that, for the most part, have never been shown to the public-forms the heart of this book. Hollywood historian and best-selling author David Wallace contributes an introductory walk through the history of Malibu and its inseparable relationship with Hollywood glamour. AUTHOR BIO: Julius Shulman is one of the most important and influential architectural photographers of all time. His numerous honors include a lifetime achievement award from the International Center of Photography. Juergen Nogai is an architectural and fine arts photographer based in Santa Monica, California. In 2001 he began a collaborative partnership with Julius Shulman. David Wallace is the author of the best-selling Lost Hollywood and Hollywoodland. Richard Olsen is an editor and writer specializing in architecture and design books. He is the editor of Abrams books such as The Ranch House and The Abrams Guide to American House Styles.
Malibu : A Century of Living by the Sea,Julius Shulman,Juergen Nogai,Harry N Abrams,0810958856,20th century,Architecture,Architecture, Domestic,Buildings, structures, etc,California,Design & Construction,Domestic,Gay Studies,General,History - Specific Styles,Home Improvement / Construction,Malibu,Malibu (Calif.),U.S. Architecture - General,United States - West - Pacific (General),Architecture / Domestic
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