Los Angeles Modern Auctions (LAMA)

Phillip Lewis worked at the Herman Miller factory in Venice, California, from 1950 to 1953. He then joined the Eames Office, where his work included furniture design, architecture, toys, exhibits, the residential use of Buckminster Fuller's Geodesic Dome, and still and motion picture photography.

The present work was produced in Phillip Lewis's San Francisco workshop. At the time, talks were underway, which included Isamu Kenmochi as the Design Coordinator for the Japanese Government, to have the stools produced in Japan. This plan was never realized and a total of 250 stools were made, all in the San Francisco workshop.

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