Robert Lautman, Dean of D.C. Architectural Photographers, Dies at 85

A 1954 photo by Robert Lautman of Charles

Goodman’s renovated farmhouse in Alexandria.

(Courtesy of the National Building Museum)

Robert C. Lautman, the dean of Washington’s architectural photographers, died Oct. 20 of pancreatic cancer, the Washington Post reported. Lautman worked extensively with local modernist architects such as Charles Goodman and Hugh Newell Jacobsen. Earlier this year, Lautman reflected on his 60-year career at event hosted by the National Building Museum, which houses Lautman’s photographic archive. In 2007, Lautman received the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Gold Medal for Architectural Photography and is an honorary member of the AIA.

Upcoming DCPL Events: Most Endangered List, Symposium on Third Church

The D.C. Preservation League is will announce its 2009 list of most Endangered Places on June 2 at 12:30 p.m. See full details here. I wonder if there will be any MCM buildings on the list this year? Last year, the brutalist Third Church of Christ, Scientist correctly made the list. The city has now has given the green light for it to be razed.
While the DCPL is looking at its legal options concerning the decision on the church, which was previously designated a historic landmark by the District, it will hold a symposium, Third Church: A Hard Building to Love, June 2o from 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. at the offices of the American Institute of Architects. (The program is free, but registration is required. See full details here.)
The symposium will feature nationally recognized architects Hugh Newell Jacobsen and Arthur Cotton Moore along with other leading experts who will “discuss key strategies for successfully adapting this controversial mid-century modernist landmark for contemporary use and how these strategies can serve as a prototype for similar buildings.”

Lautman Reflects on Career, Goodman

Robert C. Lautman, Washington’s dean of architectural photography who chronicled the work of local modern architects such as Charles Goodman, Hugh Newell Jacobsen and Arthur Keyes, reflected on his career last night at the National Building Museum. Still working after 60 years, Lautman discussed the joy his continuing career has brought him. Presenting a dual slideshow–one side highlighted some of his favorite and most arresting images, while the other had quotes discussing his craft and those he worked with such as Goodman and Jacobsen. (Jacobsen was at the event, but left before I could talk to him.) After the slideshow, NBM curator Chrysanthe Broikos led a discussion with the photographer.
Lautman, who received the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Gold Medal for Architectural Photography and is an honorary member of the AIA, described Goodman as a “great mentor” and perfectionist who would send back photographs he did not think were up to par. Lautman described one time he was with Goodman photographing one of the architect’s early works. Goodman, looking admiringly at his own work, said: “Goddamn that’s a beautiful house.”
“To get hooked up at the beginning of my career with one of the most interesting architects, with a kind of pilot modern architect in Washington, was just a stroke of sheer fortune,” Lautman said of Goodman.
Lautman said Goodman would have been “world famous” if he wasn’t such a stickler. Lautman recounted how he had shown some picture of Goodman’s work to editors of House Beautiful who were interested in featuring Read More >

NBM Event: Robert Lautman: Remembering a Lifetime of Architecture on Film

A 1954 photo by Robert Lautman of CharlesGoodman’s renovated farmhouse in Alexandria.
(Courtesy of the National Building Museum)

The National Building Museum is holding a discussion on Feb. 3 with Robert C. Lautman, Washington’s dean of architectural photography who chronicled the work of local modern architects such as Charles Goodman, Hugh Newell Jacobsen and Arthur Keyes. Goodman described Lautman’s work as having “…an effortless naturalness and clarity.”
In 2007, Lautman, who received the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Gold Medal for Architectural Photography and is an honorary member of the AIA, donated his photographic archives to the National Building Museum. In this special celebration of Lautman’s 60-year career, NBM curator Chrysanthe Broikos will hold a discussion with Lautman about his six decades of capturing architecture on film. The exhibition, Cityscapes Revealed: Highlights from the Collection, will be open prior to the program.
You can register for the program here.

Luxist Estate of the Day: D.C.’s Slayton House

Luxist, the blog about all things luxurious, highlighted the the Slayton House in Cleveland Park as its Estate of the Day. (Modern Capital got a shout out at the end of the post.) I wrote about the home designed by I.M. Pei and updated by Hugh Newell Jacobsen here back in March. The early 1960s house, with its triple-vault design, is still on the market for $4.25 million. A nice excuse to look at the pictures one more time.

Post Explores the Meaning in Moderism for a Traditional Town

The Brown House by Richard Neutra, 1968
For those of you at the beach who may have missed the Post‘s Saturday Real Estate section, the paper ran a piece exploring the meaning in modernism in a town “best known for its Colonials and Victorians.” The paper talked to the owners of three modernist houses in the city “about how modernism reflects and influences their lifestyles.” Simon Jacobsen, the son of Hugh Newell Jacobsen, talks about growing up in the 1860s Italianate rowhouse that his father turned into a modernist haven for furniture by the likes of Mies van de Rohe. Architect Travis Price discusses his modern treehouse built in the heart of Rock Creek Park. ( It can be yours for $3.5 million.) We also get to hear from Ann and Donald Brown, who just happen to own the only Richard Neutra-designed home in Washington (pictured above). Neutra designed the home for the couple 40 years ago, planning the house in a few minutes once he saw the wooded lot overlooking Rock Creek Park. The 1968 home, which I mentioned here a year ago, “is designed as a series of glass- and redwood-covered steel platforms that heavily borrow from the landscape.”

Baltimore’s Bolton Square Celebrates 40 Years of Modernism

Bolton Square, a complex of 35 mid-century modern townhomes designed by D.C. modernist architect Hugh Newell Jacobsen, is celebrating its 40th anniversary today with home tours and an opportunity to meet with Jacobsen and developer Stanley Panitz. Jacobsen’s design for the townhomes is a streamlined take on the 19th century rowhouses in nearby Bolton Hill. The event costs $15 per person. Here is more info from the hosts, today’s Washington Post story and one from Baltimore’s STYLE magazine.