Neutra VDL Studio & Residences

In 1932 Richard Neutra built and designed his home, the VDL Studio and Residences, with the help of a Dutch industrialist, Cees H. van der Leeuw. Through the home’s use of innovative materials and design features, Neutra was able to demonstrate how functional and elegant design could be made affordable.

In collaboration with photographer Elizabeth Carababas and developer Jason Bradley, we set out to re-design the VDL brand identity and website. With primary access to both the residence and Neutra’s personal library and archive, we began the process of translating the history of the home into a new digital experience.

Newly captured photography and archival scans come together in both site and print collateral to further contextualize the relationship between past, present and future of the house. Pages such as History and Archive further highlight this, emphasizing the necessity for preservation and adaptation within architecture.

The project bookended with an in-person showcase at the VDL residence, where visitors could see moments from the re-design through the print collateral, view a video installation on Neutra’s design philosophy, as narrated by his wife, Dione, and experience the research house as it was intended to be — lived in.