We visited theKings Road house in West Hollywood, Californiaby architect Rudolph Schindler in order to geta glimpse of the roots of Modernism. It is now the headquartersof the MAK Center for Art and Architecture, which is a contemporary, experimental, multi-disciplinary organization.Designed for himself and his wife Pauline and for their friends Clyde and Marian Chace,the house is considered by many to bethe first Modernist house in California andsome architectural historians consider it the first Modernist house in theUnited States.
The Austrian-bornSchindler wrote his own manifesto in 1912 asserting that the modern architect’sjob was to take control of “space, climate, light and mood." After emigrating to Los Angeles and workingin Frank Lloyd Wright’s office to help with the building of the Hollyhock house,Schindler decided to set out on his own. He began with this, his own house, builtin 1922.
Schindler’s “honestuse of materials,” integration of interior and exteriorspaces, and open floor plan all mark a move away from historical stylesand toward thebeginnings of a modernarchitecture. The Schindler House made useof new ways of living as well as new materials. It was arranged communally to be shared by two families with atotal integration of indoor and outdoor living. [Think of the house as a very early precursor to thesharing economy and Airbnb!]
(Floor plan courtesy, MAK Center,Friends of the Schindler House, gift of Mrs. Richard Neutra.)The courtyards, shown on the plan as patios,were meant to be outdoorliving rooms totake
advantage of the temperate climate, and each included afireplace and adjacent garden. Exterior rooms were articulated by levelchanges, and privacy was achieved by means of bamboo and other plantings.
Sleeping porcheson the roof, which resemble modernist pergolas and whichSchindler called "baskets,"added to the evocative Southern California mystique.
New materialsincluded the use of precast concrete.Panels were made in 4 foot sections that could be hoisted into place byone or two workers. Invented by Schindler. this tilt slabsystem was a low cost way of using concrete inresidential construction and a way to give the house a sense of permanence. The
concrete formed aninterior “cave” and was fused to the more delicate windows and translucentdoors.
The Schindlerhouse illustrates the influence of Frank Lloyd Wright as well as of Japanese architecture. (Wright had recently completed the Imperial Hotel inTokyo.) Wright loved the simplicity and emphasis on natural materials of traditionalJapanese homes and Schindler translated these ideasinto
delicateredwoodwindows, exposed redwood beams and translucent, movable panels. Light is brought into each room by way ofcorner windows, clerestory windows, and translucent sliding panels that open tothe courtyards.
The Japaneseview that we are part of the flow of nature and not separate from it finds echoes in theharmony between inside and outsidespaces and the emphasis onindoor-outdoor living.The opennessof the building plan, the connections between inside and outside, andthe emphasis on natural materials all influenced the development ofModernism in residential design. The house isopen Wednesday through Sunday, 11 am to 6 pm; admission is $10/ $7 for students and seniors. See Makcenter.org for more information.
To browse a collection of Modern plans click here.
