Gregory Ain
Encyclopedia
Gregory Ain was an American
architect
active in the mid-20th century. Working primarily in the Los Angeles
area, Ain is best known for bringing elements of modern architecture
to lower- and medium-cost housing.
in 1908, Ain was raised in the Lincoln Heights
neighborhood of Los Angeles. For a short time during his childhood, the Ain family lived at Llano del Rio
, an experimental collective farming
colony in the Antelope Valley of California
He was inspired to become an architect after visiting the Schindler House as a teenager. He attended the University of Southern California
School of Architecture
in 1927–28, but dropped out after feeling limited by the school's Beaux Arts training.
His primary influences were Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra
. He worked for Neutra from 1930 to 1935, along with fellow apprentice Harwell Hamilton Harris
, and contributed to Neutra's major projects of that period.
Beginning in 1935, Ain cultivated a practice designing modest houses for working-class clients. In these projects he wanted to address "the common architectural problems of common people," which prompted flexible floor plans and open kitchens.
Ain was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
in 1940 to study prefabricated housing. During World War II
, Ain was Chief Engineer for Charles and Ray Eames
in the development of their well-known plywood chairs.
After the war, in Ain's most productive period, he formed a partnership with Joseph Johnson and Alfred Day in order to design large housing tracts. His major projects of this period included Park Planned Homes, Avenel Homes
, Mar Vista Housing, and Community Homes. He collaborated with landscape architect Garrett Eckbo
on each of these projects. They were an expression of Mid-century modern
design.
These projects attracted the attention of Philip Johnson
, the curator of architecture at the Museum of Modern Art
, who engaged Ain to build a house in the museum's garden in 1950. At the same time, Ain was perceived as a communist, and the growing "Red Scare
" caused him to lose several opportunities, including participation in the Case Study Program
.
He also taught architecture at USC after the war. Then, from 1963 to 1967, he served as the Dean of the Pennsylvania State University
School of Architecture. He died in 1988.
A film, 1000 Sq. ft. documenting Ain's life, is currently in production and is directed by award winning American director, Christiane Robbins
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
active in the mid-20th century. Working primarily in the Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
area, Ain is best known for bringing elements of modern architecture
Modern architecture
Modern architecture is generally characterized by simplification of form and creation of ornament from the structure and theme of the building. It is a term applied to an overarching movement, with its exact definition and scope varying widely...
to lower- and medium-cost housing.
Biography
Born in Pittsburgh, PennsylvaniaPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
in 1908, Ain was raised in the Lincoln Heights
Lincoln Heights, Los Angeles, California
-Geography and transportation:Lincoln Heights is bounded by the Los Angeles River on the west, the San Bernardino Freeway on the south, and Indiana Street on the east; the district's Eastern border is unclear due to the area's uneven terrain...
neighborhood of Los Angeles. For a short time during his childhood, the Ain family lived at Llano del Rio
Llano Del Rio
Llano Del Rio was a commune located in what is now Llano, California east of Palmdale in the Antelope Valley, Los Angeles County. The charter was issued October 15, 1915 by progressive/socialist political candidate Job Harriman, after he had failed his bid to become the mayor of Los Angeles...
, an experimental collective farming
Collective farming
Collective farming and communal farming are types of agricultural production in which the holdings of several farmers are run as a joint enterprise...
colony in the Antelope Valley of California
He was inspired to become an architect after visiting the Schindler House as a teenager. He attended the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
School of Architecture
USC School of Architecture
The USC School of Architecture is the architecture school at the University of Southern California. It is one of USC's 17 professional schools, offering both undergraduate and graduate degrees in the fields of architecture, civil engineering, landscape architecture and historic preservation...
in 1927–28, but dropped out after feeling limited by the school's Beaux Arts training.
His primary influences were Rudolph Schindler and Richard Neutra
Richard Neutra
Richard Joseph Neutra is considered one of modernism's most important architects.- Biography :Neutra was born in Leopoldstadt, the 2nd district of Vienna, Austria Hungary, on April 8, 1892. He was born into both-Jewish wealthy family...
. He worked for Neutra from 1930 to 1935, along with fellow apprentice Harwell Hamilton Harris
Harwell Hamilton Harris
Harwell Hamilton Harris, FAIA was a modernist American architect, noted for his work in Southern California that assimilated European and American influences.-Biography:Harris was born in Redlands, California in 1903...
, and contributed to Neutra's major projects of that period.
Ain was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
in 1940 to study prefabricated housing. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Ain was Chief Engineer for Charles and Ray Eames
Charles and Ray Eames
Charles Ormond Eames, Jr and Bernice Alexandra "Ray" Eames were American designers, who worked in and made major contributions to modern architecture and furniture. They also worked in the fields of industrial and graphic design, fine art and film.-Charles Eames:Charles Eames, Jr was born in...
in the development of their well-known plywood chairs.
After the war, in Ain's most productive period, he formed a partnership with Joseph Johnson and Alfred Day in order to design large housing tracts. His major projects of this period included Park Planned Homes, Avenel Homes
Avenel Cooperative Housing Project
Avenel Cooperative Housing Project, properly known as Avenel Homes, is a 10-unit cooperative housing development designed by architect Gregory Ain, and built in 1947 in the Silver Lake section of Los Angeles...
, Mar Vista Housing, and Community Homes. He collaborated with landscape architect Garrett Eckbo
Garrett Eckbo
Garrett Eckbo was an American landscape architect notable for his seminal 1950 book Landscape for Living.-Youth:...
on each of these projects. They were an expression of Mid-century modern
Mid-century modern
Mid-Century modern is an architectural, interior and product design form that generally describes mid-20th century developments in modern design, architecture, and urban development from roughly 1933 to 1965...
design.
These projects attracted the attention of Philip Johnson
Philip Johnson
Philip Cortelyou Johnson was an influential American architect.In 1930, he founded the Department of Architecture and Design at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and later , as a trustee, he was awarded an American Institute of Architects Gold Medal and the first Pritzker Architecture...
, the curator of architecture at the Museum of Modern Art
Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...
, who engaged Ain to build a house in the museum's garden in 1950. At the same time, Ain was perceived as a communist, and the growing "Red Scare
Red Scare
Durrell Blackwell Durrell Blackwell The term Red Scare denotes two distinct periods of strong Anti-Communism in the United States: the First Red Scare, from 1919 to 1920, and the Second Red Scare, from 1947 to 1957. The First Red Scare was about worker revolution and...
" caused him to lose several opportunities, including participation in the Case Study Program
Case Study Houses
The Case Study Houses were experiments in American residential architecture sponsored by Arts & Architecture magazine, which commissioned major architects of the day, including Richard Neutra, Raphael Soriano, Craig Ellwood, Charles and Ray Eames, Pierre Koenig and Eero Saarinen, to design and...
.
He also taught architecture at USC after the war. Then, from 1963 to 1967, he served as the Dean of the Pennsylvania State University
Pennsylvania State University
The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...
School of Architecture. He died in 1988.
A film, 1000 Sq. ft. documenting Ain's life, is currently in production and is directed by award winning American director, Christiane Robbins
Christiane Robbins
Christiane Robbins is a trans-disciplinary artist, director, curator/programmer, designer and scholar. She is known for creating works of video/film, photography, visual art, installation, varied cultural projects and publications...
Buildings
- 1936: Edwards House, Los Angeles, CA
- 1937: Ernst House, Los Angeles, CA
- 1937: Byler House, Mt. Washington (Los Angeles), CA
- 1937-39: Dunsmuir Flats, Los Angeles, CA
- 1938: Brownfield Medical Building, Los Angeles, CA (later destroyed)
- 1938: Beckman House, Los Angeles, CA
- 1939: Daniel House, Silver Lake (Los Angeles), CA
- 1939: Hay House, North Hollywood, CA
- 1939: Tierman House, Silver Lake (Los Angeles), CA
- 1939: Vorkapich Garden House, for Slavko Vorkapich, Beverly Hills, CA (later destroyed)
- 1941: Ain House, Hollywood, CA
- 1941: Orans House, Silver Lake (Los Angeles), CA
- 1946: Park Planned Homes, Altadena, CA
- 1947-48: Mar Vista Housing, Mar Vista (Los Angeles), CA
- designated as a Historic Preservation Overlay ZoneCity of Los Angeles' Historic Preservation Overlay ZonesThe city of Los Angeles, California has been hailed by historic preservation advocates for its pioneering Historic Preservation Overlay Zone program, which designates not just buildings but entire neighborhoods or districts as worthy of historic preservation...
by the city of Los Angeles in 2003.
- designated as a Historic Preservation Overlay Zone
- 1948: Avenel Homes (cooperative), Silver Lake, Los Angeles, CA
- listed in the National Register of Historic PlacesNational Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 2005.
- listed in the National Register of Historic Places
- 1948: Hollywood Guilds and Unions Office Building, Los Angeles, CA (later destroyed)
- 1948: Miller House, Beverly Hills, CA
- 1948: Community Homes (cooperative), Reseda (Los Angeles), CA (unbuilt)
- 1949: Schairer House, Los Angeles, CA
- 1950: Beckman House II, Sherman Oaks, CA
- 1950: Hurschler House, Pasadena, CA (later destroyed)
- 1950: MOMAMomaMoma may refer to:* Moma , an owlet moth genus* Moma Airport, a Russian public airport* Moma District, Nampula, Mozambique* Moma River, a right tributary of the Indigirka River* Google Moma, the Google corporate intranet...
Exhibition House, New York City (later destroyed) - 1951: Margolis House, Los Angeles, CA
- 1951: Mesner House, Sherman Oaks
- 1962-63: Ernst House II, Vista, CA
- 1963: Kaye House, Tarzana, CA
Awards and honors
- Guggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim FellowshipGuggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
, 1940 - American Institute of ArchitectsAmerican Institute of ArchitectsThe American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
College of Fellows (FAIAFAIAFellow of the American Institute of Architects is a postnomial, designating an individual who has been named a fellow of the American Institute of Architects...
)