Mid2Mod: Atomville

Showing posts with label Atomville. Show all posts

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Paul Laszlo's Atomville

Paul Laszlo's bomb shelter design

When I was researching Paul Laszlo's biography, I was intrigued by his work designing a swanky bomb shelter for the United States Air Force, as well as his concept for an underground city called Atomville.

In October of 1954, Popular Mechanics contained an article entitled "At Home, 2004 A. D.", in which Paul Laszlo's concept of Atomville and the home of the future were described in detail.

The city would be laid out with all the city streets concentric circles and major highways like the spokes of a wheel. Most travel would be by air, with cars only used for visiting within the city. Families would own their own helicopters and "convertiplanes," which could be used for land and air travel, and every house would have a flyport.

Although the homes would be underground, they would be open at each end, allowing access to terraced lawns and gardens. Because of increased population, land would be at a premium, so Laszlo envisioned "three-level use of a lot: living below the surface, landing on it and traveling above it."

His plans included a steel and concrete "mechanical core" roof, with tubes providing atomic energy for heating, cooling and power, as well as tubes for other utilities, and even pneumatic tubes to deliver goods that had been selected from televised displays in 3-D and color. The houses would be 1800 square feet and include spacious bathrooms with glass-enclosed areas open to the heat and light of the sun and with adjacent outdoor pools.

Although Laszlo refused to predict that communities like these would exist in 50 years, Popular Mechanics speculated that his ideas might, in fact, turn out to be conservative.

Paul Laszlo's design for the Atomville home

Aerial view of Atomville house with flyport

Interior view of Atomville home

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Paul Laszlo

Paul Laszlo (1900-1993) was born in Hungary. Educated in Vienna, Laszlo later moved to Stuttgart, where he had established a successful decorating firm by 1927. Alarmed by the increasingly anti-Semitic political climate in Germany and a clash with Albert Speer, Hitler´s architect, he abandoned his business and fled to New York in 1936.

Laszlo made his way to Beverly Hills shortly thereafter, where he reestablished his studio and quickly rose to prominence. His work attracted a celebrity clientele including Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, Billy Wilder, Barbara Stanwyck, Debbie Reynolds and Ronald Reagan. In fact, his clients in general were so well-heeled and powerful that a 1952 Time magazine article nicknamed him "the millionaire´s architect."

In addition to designs issued under his own label, Laszlo produced a variety of furniture for mass production. In 1948, Herman Miller hired him to create a collection for the middle class market; he also collaborated with Glenn of California and Brown Saltman.

Although noted for their sumptuous materials and fine craftsmanship, Laszlo´s furniture and interiors were tastefully understated. And, because Laszlo designed every detail from fixtures to textiles, his spaces were always remarkably cohesive. He was also noted for his ability to create harmonious schemes out of disparate and unexpected colors. Notable interior projects included department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Ohrbach's, corporate interiors, hotels, and the interiors of Howard Hughes' Las Vegas casinos. Other slightly more unusual ventures included a swanky bomb shelter for the United States Air Force, and "Atomville", a futuristic underground city.

Laszlo was known for rejecting clients if he believed the he would be unhappy with the relationship. He turned down Elizabeth Taylor at the height of her career in 1960 because she insisted on having input into the design process. He later refused to design for Barbra Streisand for the same reason.

From lostcityarts.com