Architect · United States · 1887-1953
Rudolph Schindler Biography, Buildings and Best Books
Austrian-American architect (1887-1953) whose Kings Road House and Lovell Beach House helped invent modern architecture in Southern California.
Photo: unknown photographer, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Biography
Rudolph Michael Schindler (1887-1953) was an Austrian-born American architect and one of the founders of modern architecture in Southern California. Trained in Vienna and shaped by his years with Frank Lloyd Wright, he built a series of experimental houses in Los Angeles, including his own Kings Road House and the Lovell Beach House in Newport Beach, that combined concrete, timber and canvas with an open, indoor-outdoor way of living.
Vienna, Wagner and Loos
Schindler was born in Vienna in 1887 and studied engineering at the Technical University and architecture at the Academy of Fine Arts under Otto Wagner. He was also close to Adolf Loos, who encouraged young architects to go to America. In 1914 he took a job in Chicago, and in 1918 he joined Frank Lloyd Wright’s studio.
Wright and Los Angeles
Wright sent Schindler to Los Angeles in 1920 to supervise the construction of the Hollyhock House for Aline Barnsdall. He stayed in California and in 1921 opened his own practice. His first and most radical work, the Kings Road House in West Hollywood (1922), was a shared home for two couples, built of tilt-up concrete panels, redwood and canvas around open-air courtyards and rooftop sleeping baskets.
The Lovell Beach House
For the health writer Philip Lovell, Schindler designed the Lovell Beach House in Newport Beach (1926), a house lifted on five concrete frames above the sand. It is often counted among the first modern houses in the United States. Lovell then commissioned his more famous Health House from Richard Neutra, who had briefly shared the Kings Road House with the Schindlers, and the friendship between the two architects ended.
Houses of the 1930s and 1940s
Through the 1930s and 1940s Schindler built dozens of houses and apartments in Los Angeles, including the How House (1925), the Wolfe House on Catalina Island, the Buck House (1934), the Mackey Apartments (1939) and the Bethlehem Baptist Church, developing what he called “space architecture”. He died in Los Angeles in 1953. The Kings Road House is now the MAK Center for Art and Architecture.
R. M. Schindler
Judith Sheine, a leading Schindler scholar, presents his buildings and his theory of space architecture in a richly illustrated 304-page monograph.
View on AmazonLooking for a shorter introduction? Schindler (Basic Art) (96 pages).
Timeline
- 1887Born on 10 September in Vienna.
- 1914Moves to Chicago.
- 1918Joins Frank Lloyd Wright’s studio.
- 1920Moves to Los Angeles to supervise Wright’s Hollyhock House.
- 1922Completes the Kings Road House in West Hollywood.
- 1925Completes the How House in Los Angeles.
- 1926Completes the Lovell Beach House in Newport Beach.
- 1934Completes the Buck House in Los Angeles.
- 1939Completes the Mackey Apartments.
- 1953Dies on 22 August in Los Angeles.
Best Books on Rudolph Schindler
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is Rudolph Schindler known for?
Rudolph Schindler is known as one of the pioneers of modern architecture in Southern California, above all for his own Kings Road House in West Hollywood and the Lovell Beach House in Newport Beach, both built in the 1920s.
What are Rudolph Schindler’s most famous buildings?
His best-known works include the Kings Road House (Schindler House), the Lovell Beach House, the How House, the Buck House and the Mackey Apartments in Los Angeles.
What is the best book on Rudolph Schindler?
Judith Sheine’s R. M. Schindler (Phaidon) is the most complete monograph. TASCHEN’s Schindler by James Steele is a short, affordable introduction.
What is Rudolph Schindler’s architectural style?
Schindler’s work belongs to early modernism, but it is less rigid than the International Style. He combined concrete and timber, interlocking volumes and indoor-outdoor living, an approach he called “space architecture”.
Where can I see Rudolph Schindler’s architecture?
The Kings Road House in West Hollywood is open to the public as the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, and the Mackey Apartments host the MAK Center’s residency programme. His private houses, including the Lovell Beach House, can be seen from the street.
