Living in a Lautner Home

One of our earlier blogs, when we started writing these three years ago, was about the Sheats-Goldstein Residence designed by one of our favorite architects John Lautner. The blog goes into how early on in her career and prior to SweisKloss, Abeer toured the Sheats-Goldstein Residence and found it to be a defining moment, realizing how special and extraordinary architecture can be. With this week’s blog, we find ourselves coming full circle as we write about another Lautner home, the Tyler House.

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The Proper Place to Be

Santa Monica has been teeming with tourists once again, and what a welcome sight it is because their presence brings back some normalcy to our neck of the beaches. Given that we live + work here, we often forget how much of a vacation destination SM is for lots of people. With the last year behind us, the energy is back, and the streets are filled with those looking to enjoy their downtime.

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Charlotte Perriand, Influencer of Her Time

Imagine if there was social media in the early years of the 20th century. French architect and design icon Charlotte Perriand would have blown up Instagram like nobody’s business. She had personal style and a bold personality. Combine that with her incredible design of furniture, interiors and architecture, and she would have been a clear influencer of her time. She was definitely a pioneer for women in modernist design.

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LEGO® Architecture: Form Follows Fun

We all loved LEGO® bricks as a kid…and without question still do. It’s a classic toy treasured by the most avid of fans, and LEGO Architecture has a serious following. There are websites and blogs devoted to “brick architecture” written by self-declared “brick geeks.” One can easily find sites listing which architecture sets are coming out and which are retiring. ArchDaily, AD, and Dezeen —to name a few publications—did articles highlighting LEGO sets that have taken brick architecture to great heights.

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The Beauty of a Lookbook

Some of you may be asking “What’s a lookbook?” The short answer: a lookbook is a collection of photos done in a nicely designed format to show images and convey a style, theme, or brand to a select audience. They are quite useful for those who appreciate having a visual, which is why we created a new one for SweisKloss last year. So, when Dezeen started publishing lookbooks a couple months ago, we were really excited. Since then, we go to their website each week to see what’s new.

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Pen to Paper Before Click of Mouse

We all love (and sometimes hate, right?) the digital world, especially this past year. There are incredible software programs for design and architecture that can render 3-D images to perfection and others that can create drawings down to the tiniest of details from every angle possible. But there is something to be said for the tactile quality and visual artistry of putting pen to paper, which is why many from our design + construct team sketch out on paper before turning to the computer.

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One Long and Impressive Filmography Belongs to…a Mansion?

Dead Ringer (the Bette Davis version). The Fabulous Baker Boys. There Will Be Blood. The Social Network. What do these films have in common? Architecture. Specifically, Greystone Mansion. Celebrity sightings are kind of a given in LA, but one notable Hollywood star should be Greystone Mansion, which has served as the cinematic backdrop and setting for a countless list of films, tv shows, commercials and photoshoots.

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Santa Monica, an Abundance of Historic Preservation

There are a ton of places to admire in Southern California. We have the coast, the mountains, the best weather, not to mention an amazing amount of historic architecture and landmarks. Without question, a favorite city to visit, live, and work is Santa Monica, which is why Abeer chose it as the location for the SweisKloss office—we’ve been in the Central Tower building in DTSM for 20+ years. Many of our staff live here, and if given the chance, they will tell you how much they love it.

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Spotlight on Ernie, SweisKloss Foreman + Electrician

When it comes to hiring, we are always on the lookout for good people. We welcome someone who is not only creative, talented, skilled, etc. but those who have a sense of humor and a positive outlook, both of which go a long way in work and life. So, when Ernie Samudio came along, we couldn’t have been more thrilled to bring him on board as our foreman and in-house electrician. His infectious laughter and energetic spirit are appreciated by all.

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Santa Barbara Architecture, a City on a Mission

June 29, 1925 was a defining moment in the history of Santa Barbara. A major earthquake leveled the majority of the downtown corridor. Although disastrous, this event was the impetus for furthering a community movement to have a uniform architectural style.

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Questions to Ask Yourself Before Doing a Full Kitchen Renovation

The kitchen. AKA the heart of the home…the space, no matter how big or small, where family and friends gather together the most. A highly utilized area, the kitchen has to work from a design perspective with the right aesthetics and functionality, but it also has to be a thoughtful reflection of you. Does it fit your lifestyle? Does it feel special?

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Manuela…the Art of Food and Design

Would you all agree that we have some of the best restaurants in Los Angeles? Successful restaurants have to check many boxes, but the clear-cut ones are as follows: the menu/food has to be incredible, especially with such discerning foodies in LA; service has to be on point; and the design of the space has to be memorable…a place one would want to go back to time and again. Manuela in DTLA’s Arts District would certainly meet these criteria.

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5 Photo Boards of Sustainable Lights That Caught Our Eye

Have you ever thought about how much lighting can either enhance or detract from the design of a space? This is an essential element to be considered, which is why we devote time to a lighting plan when designing a project. The perfect illumination creates highlights and depth to everything it touches, and successful architecture captures the interplay between light and shadow.

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Getting to the Getty

Who would ever think that “seeing red” would be a good thing? Moving from the Covid-19 purple tier to the red tier for Los Angeles is, in fact, a very good thing for many reasons. Most important, cases are going down. We will have some sense of normalcy once more places open including our amazing museums. Announcements are coming out that a few museums are opening, with limited capacity, as early as April 1. One of our favorite museums is the Getty Center, which is slated to open in phases starting mid- April.

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Head for the Hills and Tour Stahl House

Stahl House (Case Study House #22) is synonymous with iconic Los Angeles homes. The Stahl House photograph taken by legendary Julius Shulman is one of the most published and recognizable architectural photos. The mid-century modern home, beautifully built into and around the topography of the Hollywood Hills, was designed by prestigious California architect Pierre Koenig. But who were Buck and Carlotta Stahl? According to them, nobody famous.

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A SweisKloss Photo Essay: Outdoor Space Inspirations

It goes without saying, we are very visual people. A key part of what we do is being able to visualize, conceptualize, and create a presentation of images to effectively show that intention. We love inspiring our clients, but what inspires us?

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What to Consider Before Building an ADU

California is a popular place to build ADUs (accessory dwelling unit). Perhaps the state legislative changes that occurred in 2020 incentivized homeowners to take the ADU plunge, or maybe the pandemic prompted people to create a separated work-at-home space.

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Market Research…History, Architecture, and Foodies

Adaptive reuse. We all know the term. We all appreciate the concept. As designers, we see the significance of adaptive reuse, and when done well, the results can be the perfect blend of historic preservation, art, design and sustainability.

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Only 502 are Black Women

Out of 116,000 architects in the United States, only 502 are Black women. What a staggering statistic. That is only 0.4%. And this number is up ten times from where it was 30 years ago, which one could say is certainly progress. But is slow progress enough progress?

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Our First Eugene Kinn Choy Project

Signing on to a new design + construct project is always exciting. Signing on to a Eugene Kinn Choy designed home, and we have to admit, we took an extra minute to let it fully sink in that such an opportunity was ours. Architects and designers revere history-rich homes and buildings.

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