R. M. Schindler (http://www.pushpullbar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1774&highlight=schindler)

Schindler's House and Studio is considered an inspiring masterpiece and one of his most important works. It was conceived by the end of 1921 and built between February and June of 1922. It is extraordinary because it seems like it was designed just today, by the best. Schindler's concept, details, use of light both natural and artificial, humanity in the warmth of materials and integration between landscape, architecture and construction demonstrated he was a century ahead of all other architects.

The use of materials like the polished, continuous concrete slabs used for bathroom and kitchen counters in combination with wood and exposed simple plumbing fixtures make it look as a house built today. Most impressive is that you can see it has received very little maintenance if any at all. I can not think of any other modern architect that can come even close to Schindler's success in this test of time.

When he started this house, he had just left Frank Lloyd Wright's office, where he was managing the US operations while Wright built the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo. He worked with Wright from 1918 to 1921. He was sent to LA to oversee the construction of Wright's Hollyhock house in 1920 and left Wright when Hollyhock was completed.

In Schindler's work I see a larger influence of his teacher Alfred Loos than of Wright. He built the Kings Road house and Studio with engineer Clyde Burgess Chace. Chace worked with architect Irving Gill in LA. Gill used the tilt slab concrete method as a means of constructing walls, which influenced Schindler's building technique. The house is also known as the Schindler-Chace house.

references:
Schindler's House brochure introduction by Linda Theung
Rudolf Michael Schindler (1887–1953)-Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_Schindler)

Photos taken 03-30-08 with a DMC-TZ3

Schindler House
835 North Kings Road
West Hollywood(LA), California
323-651-1510
323-651-2340 fax

email: office @makcenter.org
www.makcenter.org

Visiting Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 11am-6pm
Admission: $7/ $6 students & seniors, free for children under 12

Parking on street available or at the Public Garage on the northeast corner of Kings Rd. at Santa Monica Blvd.

This link (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=107844996540341401076.00043830ffa366fe13aff) shows a suggested tour of LA including the house location.

A PDF plan and the Google kmz location file are attached.

What House? Is there a house here? You only see a wall of green from outside, definitely not your typical LA house.

I have been pondering for a while some alternatives using dwarf bamboo as a privacy wall in my own house. When I arrived I was humbled and impressed that Schindler had already done this almost 100 years ago.

On the right side he created a corner detail with the taller regular bamboo, marking the driveway entrance. On the left there is a small clear path to a narrow pedestrian entrance.

The bamboo wall surrounds the property providing privacy to this day. A walkway leads to the entrance marked by a rooftop wood terrace. Landscape is totally integrated with this house.

You catch a glimpse of the front garden while you go through the entrance walkway.

The entrance is marked by the rooftop terrace. There is a similar terrace in the opposite side of the house(right side as seen from the street).

The terrace above the entrance is accessed from an exterior staircase inside the white block on the left of the first photo. Access to this terrace was closed as well as access to the house. You have to go in through the right side driveway to a store located in what used to be the garage to buy tickets in the Mak Center.

From the driveway there is another entrance hall with a small stair that leads to the rooftop terrace.

Rooftop terrace and view to the garden. This part of the garden leads directly to the main bedroom and is shielded by privacy walls created by the vegetation.

The entrance hall has a corner glass with a view to the front garden as well as connections to the main bedroom and dining area.

View entering the main bedroom space. View from bedroom to the sliding doors that open to the front patio garden. Light panels enclose the storage area and bathroom area. Most impressive are the multiple layers of skylights within a seemingly traditional wood roof structure. Light is brought into the space from multiple controlled openings making it vibrant and illuminated. If you look at the exterior of the house you would think that it is almost a solid concrete block with minimal openings that would make the space dark. The opposite is true.

The bathroom materials and details speak for themselves. Notice the location of the window slot just centered with the lavatory. Two small skylights provide direct natural light above the lavatory.

From the hall you also enter the dining area. This area shares the main fireplace with the living area in the opposite side of the fireplace wall. A similar bronze fireplace detail is repeated in the living area.

Details in this area.

The kitchen area.

The Living space has a glass wall to the back garden and light panel sliding doors. The fireplace is shared with the Dining area. The concrete wall with vertical slots faces the front garden. Check out the electric light fixtures hidden inside the lower wood beam.

The main entrance hall leads to either the Living Area or to the Office area.

View while entering the Office Area with the glass windows looking to the back garden. The wall near the entrance with colored panels integrates the desk.

Original Schindler desk and seats.

Sliding doors opening from the office to the garden and corner detail of panel walls.

The entrance/office bathroom details are extraordinary. Continuous concrete countertop that also forms the shower. The simple exposed plumbing that shares the piping for the lavatory and the shower head. The lighting details and skylight above the lavatory.

The piping for the lavatory fixture and shower head is shared. The skylight detail provides indirect natural light above the lavatory. The toilet is provided privacy by the light panels and door.

More hallway details.

Skylight detail. Check out the electric lighting hidden inside the lower beam.

Walls from outside the house.

View from the back garden to the kitchen/hallway side.

View from the back garden to the living/office spaces.

View from the back garden to the office area glass corner.

Back patio and sunken garden.

Outside walls from the front patio that leads to the dining or bedroom.

Top and bottom details of the lightweight panel sliding doors.

One last comment about Wright and Schindler. This is a FLW quote talking about Schindler:

"The buildings that he has recently built in Los Angeles are well designed, but badly executed. I suspect him of trying to give his clients too much for their money. I should say that was his extreme fault in these circumstances of endeavoring to build buildings" - Wright

I consider the above Wright quote to be one of his more dreadful ones. Wright lost many points on my scale with this one. Wright, as many others, declares good architecture to depend on money. He misspent many times way over the customer's budget. Schindler on the other hand demonstrated that good design does not just depend on the money. He demonstrated that the best architecture could be done with a limited budget. This required a lot more talent and knowledge, and good will. We need to value architecture as a profession, not based on the money. We can see that the test of time brings us back the jewels ignored by the critics of it's time like Schindler's house.

Schindler left Wright because he was underpaid and overworked. Wright carried further the architectural slavery system that he learned from Sullivan. We need to help change this attitude in the future, it affects all and has only brought us a lack of recognition as professionals.

Thank you for this thread. Schindler is my favourite architect.
The house is just like a traditional Japanese house...

Thank you franjayo. I've always liked the look of this house, though have only seen it in books. Your comprehensive post gave me a far better appreciation of the detail.....

Franjayo, you´ve done a great job, really !!!
Thank you for share this impressive photographic tour.
Schindler was one of the forgotten great masters of the West Coast.

brilliant set of photos, a great resource!

Interesting FLW quote too, I have to agree with your comment.

Thank you; stunning- beautiful landscape in sync with the house as well

franjayo,

Thank you for adding another thorough and well-documented thread to our database!

I was in LA a couple years ago and was also lucky enough to pay a visit to this remarkable piece of modern architectural history. That said, your photos do a fantastic job of telling the story - the approach to the building, the garden shots, the interior daylighting quality, and the details.

I'm not sure if it was mentioned earlier in the thread but Habitat 825 by LOHA is directly adjacent to the Schindler House. It was under construction while I was there. You can see it in some of the last photos in franjayo's thread.

Here are some other shots...

These diagrams (from the LOHA website) show the relationships between the two structures...

www.loharchitects.com (http://www.loharchitects.com/)