Overview

Scholar and historian Christopher Long turns his attention to the little-known German-born architect and designer Jock Peters (1889–1934). Long's engaging study introduces us to the modernist's architectural work in Hamburg, Germany before World War I, and also to Peters' work created after he immigrated to America in 1922. Most notable are his interiors for the once-famous Hollander department store in New York City and for Bullock's Wilshire in Los Angeles (the building was recently restored by Southwestern Law School). Both projects brought him international recognition. Peters also designed a dynamic sales office building for the short-lived Maddox Airlines, as well as stores and houses for the developer William Lingenbrink, a major supporter of the burgeoning modernism in Southern California. Aside from his architectural work, Peters designed film sets for Famous Lasky-Players (later Paramount Pictures), working in the famed art department of Hans Dreier. Despite his early death, Peters managed to leave his mark on the modernist landscape in Southern California at a time when the new style was just emerging. AUTHOR: Christopher Long is Martin S. Kermacy Centennial Professor of Architecture at the University of Texas, Austin, where he first began lecturing in 1999. Shortly after receiving his Ph.D. in history, Long taught at the Central European University in Prague (1994–1995). His research centres on modern architectural history, with a particular emphasis on Central Europe between 1880 and the present. Long has lectured worldwide and written or contributed to over fifty publications, including his numerous studies of the architecture of Adolf Loos and his seminal books on Paul Frankl and Kem Weber (both published by Yale University Press). He has collaborated on several exhibitions, advising on Living in a Modern Way: California Design 1930–1965, a travelling exhibition that originated at the Los Angeles Museum of Art (LACMA) in 2011, and I Have Seen the Future: Norman Bel Geddes Designs America at the Museum of the City of New York (2013). He co-curated Josef Frank arkitektur at the Swedish Museum of Architecture in Stockholm (1994); Josef Frank, Architect and Designer: An Alternative Vision of the Modern Home at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts in New York City (1996); Paul T. Frankl: Ein Wiener Designer in New York und Los Angeles in Vienna and Budapest (2014); The Rise of Everyday Design: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain and America at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin (2019); and is currently working on an exhibition with co-curators Wendy Kaplan and Monica Penick scheduled for 2024 at LACMA: Better Living Through Science: The Home of the Future, 1920–1970. 114 colour, 147 b/w illustrations

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The German-born, Los Angeles-based Jock Peters was one of the 20th century's unsung polymaths. He designed buildings, interiors, furniture and Hollywood film sets. He also refused to limit himself to one signature style and roamed across a spectrum from Art Deco to Bauhaus Modernism. At the same time, his life and career deepen our understanding of the trans-Atlantic dialogues that shaped avant-garde architecture and design in the United States and, specifically, Southern California, in the 1920s and '30s.--Donald Albrecht The New York Times

[Jock Peters] created endless sets for Hollywood studios, interiors for some of the best department stores, and chic residential interiors. He was no less ambitious than Neutra, and no less talented than Urban... His most famous project was Bullock's Wilshire, one of the greatest retail establishments along Los Angeles's Miracle Mile. [Long] is an amazing scholar who never cuts corners, whose ambition in revealing the lesser known is admirable. His contribution to the study of modern design is unparalleled, particularly the chapter of early modernism in the United States. Jock Peters is an important document that should be included in any library of design and architecture.--Daniella Ohad, ""Jock Peters and his Varieties of Modernism"" ""Daniella on Design"" Ben Marks says: ""If you are a fan of Southern California modernist architecture in the first half of the 20th century, you are probably familiar with names like Irving Gill, Frank Lloyd Wright, his son Lloyd Wright, R.M. Schindler, and Richard Neutra. But few have heard of Jock Peters, who contributed mightily to the movement before dying of tuberculosis at the age of 45 in 1934. That is about to change thanks to a new book by University of Texas architecture professor Christopher Long [that] gives an unsung participant his due while reminding us how fluid modernism was in its infancy.""--Mark Frauenfelder ""Boing Boing"" Jock Peters [is] an undeservedly obscure master architect who is the subject of a gorgeous new book by Christopher Long... essential reading for anyone who wants to truly understand midcentury modern design in Southern California. Breezing through its pages creates a yearning to be in Peters's rarefied interiors, even for just a moment of shopping.--Tracy Conrad ""The Palm Springs Post"" Long's new book shines a welcome spotlight on this early modernist... Jock Peters, Architecture and Design is packed with newly available drawings, photographs, correspondence, and reference materials from the Peters family archives.--Ben Marks, ""Modernist Man: Jock Peters May Be the Most Influential Architect You've Never Heard of"" ""Collectors Weekly"" The German-born, Los Angeles-based Jock Peters was one of the 20th century's unsung polymaths. He designed buildings, interiors, furniture and Hollywood film sets. He also refused to limit himself to one signature style and roamed across a spectrum from Art Deco to Bauhaus Modernism. At the same time, his life and career deepen our understanding of the trans-Atlantic dialogues that shaped avant-garde architecture and design in the United States and, specifically, Southern California, in the 1920s and '30s.--Donald Albrecht, ""Shining a Light on Forgotten Designers"" ""The New York Times"" Vintage photos and Long's lively and authoritative text capture the groundbreaking design of Peters's stunning interiors. I highly recommend this beautiful book and encourage readers to add it to your Deco library alongside Long's noteworthy books on Kem Weber and Paul T. Frankl.--Bennett Johnson ""Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine""

[Jock Peters] created endless sets for Hollywood studios, interiors for some of the best department stores, and chic residential interiors. He was no less ambitious than Neutra, and no less talented than Urban... His most famous project was Bullock's Wilshire, one of the greatest retail establishments along Los Angeles's Miracle Mile. [Long] is an amazing scholar who never cuts corners, whose ambition in revealing the lesser known is admirable. His contribution to the study of modern design is unparalleled, particularly the chapter of early modernism in the United States. Jock Peters is an important document that should be included in any library of design and architecture.--Daniella Ohad, Jock Peters and his Varieties of Modernism Daniella on Design, (January 20, 2022) Ben Marks says: If you are a fan of Southern California modernist architecture in the first half of the 20th century, you are probably familiar with names like Irving Gill, Frank Lloyd Wright, his son Lloyd Wright, R.M. Schindler, and Richard Neutra. But few have heard of Jock Peters, who contributed mightily to the movement before dying of tuberculosis at the age of 45 in 1934. That is about to change thanks to a new book by University of Texas architecture professor Christopher Long [that] gives an unsung participant his due while reminding us how fluid modernism was in its infancy. --Mark Frauenfelder Boing Boing, (November 28, 2021) Jock Peters [is] an undeservedly obscure master architect who is the subject of a gorgeous new book by Christopher Long... essential reading for anyone who wants to truly understand midcentury modern design in Southern California. Breezing through its pages creates a yearning to be in Peters's rarefied interiors, even for just a moment of shopping.--Tracy Conrad The Palm Springs Post, (March 6, 2022) Long's new book shines a welcome spotlight on this early modernist... Jock Peters, Architecture and Design is packed with newly available drawings, photographs, correspondence, and reference materials from the Peters family archives.--Ben Marks, Modernist Man: Jock Peters May Be the Most Influential Architect You've Never Heard of Collectors Weekly, (November 19, 2021) The German-born, Los Angeles-based Jock Peters was one of the 20th century's unsung polymaths. He designed buildings, interiors, furniture and Hollywood film sets. He also refused to limit himself to one signature style and roamed across a spectrum from Art Deco to Bauhaus Modernism. At the same time, his life and career deepen our understanding of the trans-Atlantic dialogues that shaped avant-garde architecture and design in the United States and, specifically, Southern California, in the 1920s and '30s.--Donald Albrecht, Shining a Light on Forgotten Designers The New York Times, (October 28, 2021) Vintage photos and Long's lively and authoritative text capture the groundbreaking design of Peters's stunning interiors. I highly recommend this beautiful book and encourage readers to add it to your Deco library alongside Long's noteworthy books on Kem Weber and Paul T. Frankl.--Bennett Johnson Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine, (Summer 2022)

"[Jock Peters] created endless sets for Hollywood studios, interiors for some of the best department stores, and chic residential interiors. He was no less ambitious than Neutra, and no less talented than Urban... His most famous project was Bullock's Wilshire, one of the greatest retail establishments along Los Angeles's Miracle Mile. [Long] is an amazing scholar who never cuts corners, whose ambition in revealing the lesser known is admirable. His contribution to the study of modern design is unparalleled, particularly the chapter of early modernism in the United States. Jock Peters is an important document that should be included in any library of design and architecture.--Daniella Ohad, ""Jock Peters and his Varieties of Modernism"" ""Daniella on Design, (January 20, 2022)"" Ben Marks says: ""If you are a fan of Southern California modernist architecture in the first half of the 20th century, you are probably familiar with names like Irving Gill, Frank Lloyd Wright, his son Lloyd Wright, R.M. Schindler, and Richard Neutra. But few have heard of Jock Peters, who contributed mightily to the movement before dying of tuberculosis at the age of 45 in 1934. That is about to change thanks to a new book by University of Texas architecture professor Christopher Long [that] gives an unsung participant his due while reminding us how fluid modernism was in its infancy.""--Mark Frauenfelder ""Boing Boing, (November 28, 2021)"" Jock Peters [is] an undeservedly obscure master architect who is the subject of a gorgeous new book by Christopher Long... essential reading for anyone who wants to truly understand midcentury modern design in Southern California. Breezing through its pages creates a yearning to be in Peters's rarefied interiors, even for just a moment of shopping.--Tracy Conrad ""The Palm Springs Post, (March 6, 2022)"" Long's new book shines a welcome spotlight on this early modernist... Jock Peters, Architecture and Design is packed with newly available drawings, photographs, correspondence, and reference materials from the Peters family archives.--Ben Marks, ""Modernist Man: Jock Peters May Be the Most Influential Architect You've Never Heard of"" ""Collectors Weekly, (November 19, 2021)"" The German-born, Los Angeles-based Jock Peters was one of the 20th century's unsung polymaths. He designed buildings, interiors, furniture and Hollywood film sets. He also refused to limit himself to one signature style and roamed across a spectrum from Art Deco to Bauhaus Modernism. At the same time, his life and career deepen our understanding of the trans-Atlantic dialogues that shaped avant-garde architecture and design in the United States and, specifically, Southern California, in the 1920s and '30s.--Donald Albrecht, ""Shining a Light on Forgotten Designers"" ""The New York Times, (October 28, 2021)"" Vintage photos and Long's lively and authoritative text capture the groundbreaking design of Peters's stunning interiors. I highly recommend this beautiful book and encourage readers to add it to your Deco library alongside Long's noteworthy books on Kem Weber and Paul T. Frankl.--Bennett Johnson ""Chicago Art Deco Society Magazine, (Summer 2022)"""

Author Information

Christopher Long is Martin S. Kermacy Centennial Professor of Architecture at the University of Texas, Austin, where he first began lecturing in 1999. Shortly after receiving his Ph.D. in history, Long taught at the Central European University in Prague (1994–1995). His research centres on modern architectural history, with a particular emphasis on Central Europe between 1880 and the present. Long has lectured worldwide and written or contributed to over fifty publications, including his numerous studies of the architecture of Adolf Loos and his seminal books on Paul Frankl and Kem Weber (both published by Yale University Press). He has collaborated on several exhibitions, advising on Living in a Modern Way: California Design 1930–1965, a travelling exhibition that originated at the Los Angeles Museum of Art (LACMA) in 2011, and I Have Seen the Future: Norman Bel Geddes Designs America at the Museum of the City of New York (2013). He co-curated Josef Frank arkitektur at the Swedish Museum of Architecture in Stockholm (1994); Josef Frank, Architect and Designer: An Alternative Vision of the Modern Home at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts in New York City (1996); Paul T. Frankl: Ein Wiener Designer in New York und Los Angeles in Vienna and Budapest (2014); The Rise of Everyday Design: The Arts and Crafts Movement in Britain and America at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas, Austin (2019); and is currently working on an exhibition with co-curators Wendy Kaplan and Monica Penick scheduled for 2024 at LACMA: Better Living Through Science: The Home of the Future, 1920–1970. 

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