Art: Homes Inside Out

The name Richard Joseph Neutra means nothing at all to most Americans. Of all architects who have made their reputations in the U.S., Richard Neutra ranks second only to lordly Frank Lloyd Wright.

Last week publishers in Italy and South America were planning books about Neutra. And an issue of the French magazine L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, devoted almost entirely to him, had reached the U.S.

Neutra has done as much as any modern architect to prove that glass, steel and concrete are practical, if not cosy. His wide, white houses perch perkily on the hills around Los Angeles where he lives, and they alter...