Rooted in a personal philosophy that is the imaginative extension of Frank Lloyd Wright's theories, his exuberant designs epitomize the landscape of southern California - from the fifties techno-optimism of the drive-in, freeway and Cadillac tail-fin to the structural innovation of hilltop houses overlooking the ocean. Despite his extraordinary technical achievements, the pushbutton glass walls and retracting roofs, however innovative, always serve to create humane spaces that allow occupants to commune with nature and themselves.
His eye-popping creations include the celebrated Googie's, with jazzy roof lines and kaleidoscopic geometry, and California houses sporting hexagonal roofs, free-floating walls and indoor-outdoor pools. In the sixties he built the now-iconic Chemosphere, Elrod and Silvertop houses. Finally, Lautner's athletic use of concrete reaches its zenith in dizzyingly fantastic forms.