'In Harmony with Nature': Works of organic architecture by artist James Hubbell on display in Los Angeles

An exhibition honoring the work of visual artist, architect, craftsman, and environmentalist James Hubbell will soon be on view in the Los Angeles area at the Helms Bakery District. Titled In Harmony with Nature: The Architectural Work of James Hubbell, the event will showcase select creations by the California-based multidisciplinary artist.

On view from April 22 (Earth Day) to June 18, 2022, within the Helms Design Center, the show will celebrate Hubbell’s signature style of organic architecture, which includes handcrafted environments made from natural materials that provide shelter and inspiration for those who seek to live in harmony with nature. The likes of his self-made home, Ilan-Lael, his Pacific Rim Park and schools in Tijuana, his chapel at Sea Ranch as well as stunning doors, windows, stained glass, and other decorative building elements will be on full display. 

Hubbel has a career spanning 60 years, in which he has designed and made buildings, artifacts, and fine art that draw inspiration from the shape of plants, movement of water, and the colors and materials found in organic life. In addition to his array of private and public works, he also designs architectural elements, such as carved wooden doors, stained glass windows, ethereal metal gates, molten glass light fixtures, mosaiced sinks, showers and fountains, and more.

As stated in the Helms Bakery District’s announcement, “Hubbell’s vision is the antithesis of rational and industrial.” 

“Most important is my infatuation with nature,” said Hubbell. “There is also my love of the primitive and naive, gothic architecture, the arts and craft movement, Frank Lloyd Wright, Gaudí, and the pleasure of working with the material of stone, wood, cement, clay, metal, glass, and mosaics.”