Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA)

Pacifica was a synthesis of Pacific island and California design concepts in architecture and furnishings. It emerged in 1949, championed by Harry Jackson, the owner of Jackson's Furniture in Oakland, California. The movement was characterized by a love for natural materials combined with a bold and direct simplicity that adapted the restraint of Japanese design to furnish American homes.

In 1952, PACIFICA: Furniture, Textiles, and Ceramics, an exhibition at the De Young Museum in San Francisco gained widespread attention. It was organized by Jackson and was featured in design and architecture magazines including Arts & Architecture and Interiors–each highlighting the fusion of Californian, Japanese, and Pacific island influences. The trend then went national with a large number of manufacturers and retailers participating in the concept. There were 36 pages dedicated to Pacifica in House Beautiful and a multi-page article in Life Magazine. The program also extended into architecture with a Pacifica House, akin to Arts & Architecture magazine’s Case Study Program. The first structure was designed by Cambell & Wong in the San Francisco Civic Auditorium, with a garden designed by Eckbo, Royston and Williams. Subsequent Pacifica House projects were permanent homes designed by architects such as John Funk, Jon Konigshofer, Herbert E. Goodpastor, and Herbert T. Johnson.

Designs by Walter Lamb, Harry Lawenda, Ficks Reed, Pacific Iron, and Greta Magnusson-Grossman were among the original contributions. However, it was a small group of San Francisco Bay Area designers who were most closely associated with Pacifica and whose work embodies the vision. Luther Conover, Muriel Coleman and Peter Rooke-Ley, through Coleman’s company California Contemporary created a Pacifica line and associated catalog that was marketed through Jackson's and comprised most of the furnishings on display at the De Young exhibition. Luther Conover’s Pacifica Group received first prize at Good Design 1952. Harry Jackson then served on the selection committee of the 1953 Good Design exhibition, along with Florence Knoll and Edgar Kaufmann Jr.

Through Japanese designer Isamu Kenmochi, who Harry Jackson knew personally, word about Pacifica and the popularization of Japanese design made it to Japan. Kenmochi designs were also sold at Jackson's. Then in 1962, to bring things full circle, Harry Jackson opened "Jackson's Furniture Corner" in the Takashimaya department store in Tokyo. They offered antiques, designs by modern Japanese designers, and furniture designed by Americans that were made by Japanese craftsmen.

Ultimately, Pacifica represented not only a design movement but also a lifelong philosophy of Harry Jackson, emphasizing the value of cultural understanding and the integration of diverse cultural elements into design and lifestyle. It left a significant mark on the design world during its relatively short existence.

LAMA is proud to present a special selection of design curated by Esoteric Survey, featuring more than 100 works that represent platform founder Steve Aldana's guiding fascination with mid-century design and design history in California. Drawing from Aldana's personal collection as well as from his design-minded community, this collection includes iconic works as well as deeper cuts that represent lesser-known, but nonetheless integral, achievements of postwar artists and designers. 

An urban planner by vocation, Aldana has nurtured his fascination with modern design, particularly the strains that emerged in mid-century Southern California, through Esoteric Survey for nearly 15 years. With a desire to share fascinating obscure design figures and document visits to architecture and design sites, he created the blog he named Esoteric Survey in 2009. What first served primarily as a private log for personal reference eventually blossomed into a valuable resource for like-minded design aficionados, and has since taken the form of an immensely popular Instagram account.

Explore Steve Aldana's Blog Esoteric Survey