Abstract

Richard Neutra, a pioneer of modern architecture, produced a famous series of house designs in California throughout the 1940s and 1950s. In this paper five of these houses are investigated to test three related facets of Neutra’s design theory; the social function of the exterior and the use of long, controlled sight-lines to shape the way space is observed and comprehended. The houses are investigated using Axial Line analysis; an established method that models the way spaces are experienced and understood through movement. The method identifies–through visual analysis and the application of graph theory mathematics–several properties of each design including visual depth, permeability and intelligibility; properties which broadly correspond to the three facets of Neutra’s theory. Through this compound process, the paper not only tests the application of these parts of Neutra’s design theory but it also develops a new reading of the relationship between form and topology in these houses.