Few movements have defined a region’s identity as clearly as California Modernism. From the 1920s through the 1960s, architects, designers, and developers including Charles and Ray Eames, Joseph Eichler, Albert Frey, Pierre Koenig, John Lautner, Richard Neutra, and Rudolph Schindler transformed Los Angeles and its surroundings into a showcase of modern living. Using glass, steel, and concrete, they created homes, furnishings, and new perspectives on decorative schemes that embodied clarity, openness, and light.

At the heart of this story stands the Case Study House Program, launched in 1945 by John Entenza, editor of LA-based Arts & Architecture magazine, which offered bold prototypes for a new way of life. These houses, with their open plans and seamless connection between indoors and outdoors, reflected the aspirations of their patrons and the easy rhythm of Southern California living. Alongside these landmarks, lesser-known works reveal the depth and variety of the modernist vision.

Disseminated through architectural publications and immortalized by the lens of photographer Julius Shulman, California Modernism became more than a regional style—it became a symbol of innovation and elegance. Art historian Jennie Hirsh explores the architects, their training, influences, and legacy, tracing how a generation of visionaries reshaped the modern landscape of design across California and beyond.

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