Visiting Modern San Diego

Though Los Angeles is regarded as the capital city of modern domestic architecture, San Diego has a quieter but no less dynamic history. It too enjoyed the ideal growth conditions for architectural experimentation--sublime climate, years of economic expansion, entrepreneurial clients open to exploring, and talented architects who liked pushing boundaries.

For whatever reason, uncovering information about Modern San Diego is a bit of a chore. We had to rely on the 1977 edition of Gebhard and Winter's still amazingly relevant A Guide to Architecture in Los Angeles & Southern California. Few comprehensive resources exist (except ModernSanDiego.com!) and there's a whole territory out there waiting to be cataloged and written about. Grad students, start your engines!

To make any architectural expedition worth your while, you need a great companion. One who is curious, adventurous, aesthetically astute and willingly disregards the social and legal norms of trespassing. Check! (JT enters stage left. Takes bow.)

Looking over the map, we set our sights on three choice sites. (1) Kendrick Bangs Kellogg's Babcock House, (2) Rudolph Schindler's Pueblo Ribera Court, (3) Killingsworth, Brady and Smith's Case Study House Triad. With perhaps the exception of Schindler, both are unsung masters of the craft.






Kellogg, still practicing today, offers an intense flavor of organicism that exceeds even Frank Lloyd Wright. The Babcock House (available for vacation rental!) is an early example of his work...a dramatic origami of a building that belongs more on a mountain promontory than the seashore, but is still thrilling nonetheless. A friendly Pacific Beach denizen let us know that Kellogg is still adding on the structure and is a darn nice guy. Good to know. Kellogg's original home and studio are just down the street (and also available for rental!).





The Pueblo Ribera Court are Schindler's only SD area structures, and they are gems! Undergoing renovations, these former vacation cottages are slowly coming back to life. Schindler pioneered cooperative housing designs on the west coast and was expert at creating privacy within a single multi-unit project. Made largely of concrete, redwood and glass, the buildings are simple and natural. They are the Wrightish forms characteristic of Schindler's early period arranged into complex spaces. We couldn't scale the walls to actually enter into one of the units, but the walkways between them gave enough flavor to sense the greatness of these buildings. Behind them sits a new construction by Lou Dominy that pays strong homage to the originals.

Finally, the Killingsworth Case Study Triad (nothing to do with the Chinese Mafia, folks...) sit high on the hills of La Jolla, overlooking the ocean. They are as elegant as they are simple. The Case Study Houses were a great postwar experiment to create a simple, modern housing for returning veterans employing the latest in materials and building methods. Financially, these were largely a bust, but they spurned some of the greatest architectural experimentation of the 20th century. Architect's careers were made because of their involvement in the program. Killingsworth, a lesser known figure of the mid-century practitioners, was catapulted to renown because of his Case Study contributions. When you see these houses, you'll know why.





The homes themselves are simple, light boxes, sometimes arranged around small courtyards. The most dramatic of the projects sits below street level and incorporates one of Killingsworth's trademark features--an entryway that traverses a shallow pool of dark water. Though its only an inch or two deep, the psychological journey of crossing it evokes a perilous moat. By the time you reach the front door, you feel you've arrived into a zone of domestic safety. The effect is stunning.

(Sigh) The sun started to set and our energy flagged by the time we finished with these. However, we only scratched the surface of what's available in our friendly, laid-back neighbor to the south. Surely, more adventures await!