The Schindler House, also known as the Schindler Chace House or Kings Road House, is a house in West Hollywood, California, designed by architect Rudolph M. Schindler.[2] The house serves as headquarters to the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, which operate and program three Schindler sites, and is owned and conserved by the Friends of Schindler House.
The Schindler House was a departure from existing residential architecture because of what it did not have; there is no conventional living room, dining room or bedrooms in the house. The residence was meant to be a cooperative live/work space for two young families. The concrete walls and sliding canvas panels made novel use of industrial materials, while the open floor plan integrated the external environment into the residence, setting a precedent for California architecture in particular.
Inspiration
Schindler and his wife Pauline vacationed[3] in Yosemite in October 1921. Inspired by the trip, Schindler returned to create a design for multiple families to share a modern living area, much like Curry Village, Yosemite National Park.[4]
Architecture
Isometric drawing
The Schindler House is laid out as two interlinking L-shaped apartments (referred to as the Schindler and Chace apartments) using the basic design of the camp site that he had seen a year before. Each apartment was designed for a separate family, consisting of 2 studios, connected by a utility room. The utility room was meant to serve the functions of a kitchen, laundry, sewing room, and storage. The four studios were originally designated for the four members of the household (Rudolph & Pauline Schindler and Clyde & Marian Chace). The house also has a guest studio with its own kitchen and bathroom. The house, at just under 3,500 square feet (330m2), sits on a 20,000-square-foot (1,900m2) lot.
Instead of bedrooms, there are two rooftop sleeping baskets. The baskets were redwood four post canopies with beams at mitered corners, protected from the rain by canvas sides.
Construction
When Schindler first submitted plans to the local planning authorities, they were denied, citing this radical, at the time, new method of construction. After many trips to the local planning office and extensive talks to convince them of its merit, the Building department granted him a temporary permit, meaning that they reserved the right to halt construction at any stage.[5]
The house is built on a flat concrete slab, which is both the foundation and the final floor. The walls are concrete tilt up slabs, poured into forms on top of the foundation. The tilt up slabs are separated by 3 inches (76mm), filled with concrete, clear glass or frosted glass. The tilt up panels act as the hard sheltering wall at the back of the house, and a softer permeable screen at the front. Schindler had long been fascinated by the construction method of tilt up concrete slabs, having done extensive research on them in his early days working for Ottenheimer, Stern, and Reichert. He was now intent on using this method for the new home he was designing, along with his friend Clyde Chace, an engineer and contractor who had worked closely with Irving J. Gill who pioneered tilt-up architecture in Southern California.
With Schindler as architect and Chace as builder to save costs, construction began in November 1921. Construction was complete by June 1922, with a total cost of $12,550. The landscaping, furniture and sleeping baskets remained to be completed. The Chaces and Schindlers shared the house from the summer of 1922 until July 1924 when the Chaces moved to Florida.
History
Schindler's friend, partner and rival, Richard Neutra along with his wife Dione and son Frank lived in the Chace apartment from March 1925 until the summer of 1930.
Pauline Gibling Schindler left the house and her husband in August 1927 while Rudolph remained at the house until his death in 1953. The Chace apartment had a variety of famous and creative people live in it, including; art dealer & collector Galka Scheyer,[6] dancer John Bovingdon, novelist Theodore Dreiser, photographer Edward Weston and composer John Cage. Pauline Schindler returned to live in the Chace Studios part of the house, separate from her former husband, in the late 1930s and stayed until her death in May 1977.
Friends of the Schindler House (1977-present)
Pauline Schindler died in May 1977, leaving the house in the Schindler family until the Friends of the Schindler House (FOSH), an organization created by architects and historians passionate about the house and its legacy as well as members of the Schindler family, purchased the property in June 1980[7] from the California State Office of Historic Preservation[8] with the aid of a $160,000 state grant.[9]
FoSH owns and is responsible for the house, which was in a very challenging state when it was received. The first phase of restoration to the house was completed in the mid-1980s. By this time, the West Hollywood neighborhood had been rezoned to allow four-story apartment buildings. Gregory Ain (who greatly admired Schindler), advocated that the property should be sold and the house rebuilt in the desert, because its context had changed so profoundly.[10] As with all complex renovations, debates as to which era to return the house to have been part of the restoration and preservation process.[11]
In 2022, on the hundredth anniversary of the Schindler House, FoSH launched a campaign to stabilize and preserve the house.[12] Events during the year include special events, a film screening, and a series of online discussions of the impact of the house on architectural modernism.[13]
MAK Center for Art and Architecture (1994-present)
On August 10, 1994, the Friends of the Schindler House signed an agreement with the Austrian Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna to create the nonprofit MAK Center for Art and Architecture.[7] The MAK Center for Art and Architecture's mission is to serve as a contemporary, experimental, multi-disciplinary center for art and architecture and is headquartered in three architectural landmarks by the Austrian-American architect Rudolph M. Schindler. The center operates a residency program and exhibition space at the Mackey Apartments (R.M. Schindler, 1939) and runs more intimate programming at the Fitzpatrick-Leland House (R.M. Schindler, 1936) in Los Angeles.
The FoSH and MAK Center agreement allow Pauline Schindler's FoSH to retain full ownership of the property, with MAK Center serving as the public-facing institution that operates the house for public visits, tours, exhibitions, programs, and events. A $250,000 grant from MAK was used to restore the house as a study center for experimental architecture, and the museum also provide significant operating costs to FoSH.[14] In 2022, the Museum der angewandte Kunst and the MAK Center contributed $150,000 in support of the FoSH's centennial campaign to restore the Schindler House.
Schindler House Centennial Celebration (2022)
In 2022, the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, the public institution which operates the Schindler House, presented Schindler House: 100 Years in the Making, a series of programs and exhibitions to mark the building's hundredth anniversary.[15][16]
Recognition
Schindler's radical concept for a cooperative life/work space with its raw concrete walls and sliding canvas panels were an innovative use of industrial materials and its open floor plan thoroughly integrated the house with the surrounding gardens. "The Pit (Breitenbrunn am Neusiedlersee, Austria)", Peter Noever's land art project at the beginning of the Eurasian Steppe, situated at the interface between two world cultures, at a geopolitical intersection in the east of Austria, bares the "Concrete Fragment - Rudolph M. Schindler". A 1:1 cast of the tilt-up slabs in concrete, made on the occasion of the exhibitions at the MAK.[17][18] It is at the same time a landmark to Schindler's architectural conception, where one can clearly witness the spirit, scale and material, 6.127 miles (9.860km) away from the Kings Road House and only 24 miles (39km) from Schindler's birthplace.
In recent years, the Schindler House has had to contend with the rising density of the surrounding neighborhood. The surrounding neighborhood is currently dominated by 4-story condominium and apartment buildings designed by Lorcan O'Herlihy,[19] vastly different from the original expansive lots for single family residences.[20] The condominium was built despite efforts by numerous notable architects who were invited by Peter Noever on behalf of the MAK Center in 2003 to submit alternative proposals for the site. Selected by a jury that included Frank Gehry, Chris Burden, Michael Asher and Richard Koshalek,[21] all of the resulting proposals—including the three winning designs, by Odile Decq, Eric Owen Moss and Carl Pruscha—were organized into an exhibition, "A Tribute to Preserving Schindler's Paradise," at the house.[19] Other competition entrants included Coop Himmelb(l)au, Lebbeus Woods, Dominique Perrault, Zaha Hadid, and Peter Eisenman.[22] All submitted projects are documented in the publication "ARCHITECTURAL RESISTANCE."[23]
The Schindler House was included in a list of all-time top 10 houses in Los Angeles in a Los Angeles Times survey of experts in December 2008.[24]
Architectural drawings and elevations (click to see the rest of the sheets)
Schindler House exterior from Kings Road
Robert Sweeney, Harriett Gold and Peter Noever, signing of corporation agreement between Friends of the Schindler House (FOSH) and the Republic of Austria, August 10, 1994, West Hollywood
Richard Joseph Neutra was an Austrian-American architect. Living and building for most of his career in Southern California, he came to be considered a prominent and important modernist architect. His most notable works include the Kaufmann Desert House, in Palm Springs, California.
The International Style or internationalism is a major architectural style that was developed in the 1920s and 1930s and was closely related to modernism and modernist architecture. It was first defined by Museum of Modern Art curators Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson in 1932, based on works of architecture from the 1920s. The terms rationalist architecture and modern movement are often used interchangeably with International Style, although the former is mostly used in the English-speaking world to specifically refer to the Italian rationalism, or even the International Style that developed in Europe as a whole.
Modern architecture, also called modernist architecture, was an architectural movement and style that was prominent in the 20th century, between the earlier Art Deco and later postmodern movements. Modern architecture was based upon new and innovative technologies of construction ; the principle functionalism ; an embrace of minimalism; and a rejection of ornament.
Rudolph Michael Schindler was an Austrian-born American architect whose most important works were built in or near Los Angeles during the early to mid-twentieth century.
Irving John Gill, was an American architect, known professionally as Irving J. Gill. He did most of his work in Southern California, especially in San Diego and Los Angeles. He is considered a pioneer of the modern movement in architecture. Twelve of his buildings throughout Southern California are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and many others are designated as historic by local governments.
Coop Himmelb(l)au is an architecture, urban planning, design and art firm founded in 1968 by Wolf D. Prix, Helmut Swiczinsky and Michael Holzer in Vienna, Austria.
Storefront for Art and Architecture is an independent, non-profit art and architecture organization located in SoHo, Manhattan in New York City. The organization is committed to the advancement of innovative positions in architecture, art and design.
Gregory Samuel Ain was an American architect active in the mid-20th century. Working primarily in the Los Angeles area, Ain is best known for bringing elements of modern architecture to lower- and medium-cost housing. He addressed "the common architectural problems of common people".
The Lovell Beach House is located on the Balboa Peninsula in Newport Beach, California. The building was completed in 1926 and is now recognized as one of the most important works by architect Rudolf Schindler, second only to the Schindler House, built four years earlier for his family as a show house and studio. Both of these early houses by Schindler are considered landmarks of early modern architecture in America.
The Society for the Activation of Social Space through Art and Sound (SASSAS) is a non profit organization that serves to promote the creation, presentation, and recognition of experimental art and sound events in the greater Los Angeles area. SASSAS members are interested in how experimental art, architecture and music interact.
The Samuel Freeman House is a Frank Lloyd Wright house in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, California built in 1923. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. The house is also listed as California Historical Landmark #1011 and as Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument #247.
The MAK – Museum of Applied Arts is an arts and crafts museum located at Stubenring 5 in Vienna's 1st district Innere Stadt. Besides its traditional orientation towards arts and crafts and design, the museum especially focuses on architecture and contemporary art. The museum has been at its current location since 1871. Since 2004 the building is illuminated in the evenings by the permanent outdoor installation "MAKlite" of American artist James Turrell. In 2015 the MAK became the first museum to use bitcoin to acquire art, when it purchased the screensaver "Event listeners" of van den Dorpel. With over 300,000 objects displayed online, the MAK presents the largest online collection within the Austrian Federal Museums. The audio guide to this museum is provided as a web-based app.
Galka Scheyer was a German-American painter, art dealer, art collector, and teacher. She was the founder of the "Blue Four," an artists' group that consisted of Lyonel Feininger, Wassily Kandinsky, Paul Klee and Alexej von Jawlensky.
Peter Noever is an Austrian designer and curator–at–large of art, architecture and media. From 1986 to 2011 he was the artistic director and CEO of MAK—Austrian Museum of Applied Arts and Contemporary Art in Vienna.
Hollywood Heights is a neighborhood in the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, bounded by the Hollywood Bowl on the north, Highland Avenue on the east, Outpost Estates on the west, and Franklin Avenue on the south. It includes a number of notable historic homes and buildings and has been home to numerous people in the film and music industries, dating back to the silent film era.
Pauline Gibling Schindler was an American composer, educator, editor, and arts promoter, especially influential in supporting modern art in Southern California. Her husband was architect Rudolph Schindler.
Glen Seator (1956-2002) was an American visual artist and conceptual sculptor. He lived in Brooklyn, NY and San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.
Jack Allen Charney was an American mid-century architect who designed a number of significant buildings in various cities across California, including Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, San Francisco and Long Beach. His designs include the 32-story Sierra Towers in West Hollywood, from 1965.
The Pit is a land art project by Peter Noever in Breitenbrunn which has existed since the early 1970s and in 2019 was placed under monument protection by the Austrian Federal Office BDA.
The MAK Center for Art and Architecture is an art museum and cultural center headquartered in the Schindler House in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is affiliated with the Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna (MAK). The Center is situated in three architectural landmarks, designed by Austrian-American architect R.M. Schindler. The center operates a residency program and exhibition space at the Mackey Apartments and runs residencies and a study center at the Fitzpatrick-Leland House.
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