Rudolph M. Schindler
b. Vienna, 1887;
d. Los Angeles, 1953. I

Rudolph M. Schindler, a first-generation architect of Modern Architecture (Modernist) who immigrated early to the USA, where he worked for a time with famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright. His career outside Europe led to lack of recognition but his reputation was rescued by the writings of David Gebhard and Esther McCoy. They consider Schindler the equal of RIETVELD and the followers of De Stijl. He was educated in Vienna, at the Imperial Technical Institute (1906-11) and the Academy of Arts under Otto Wagner (1909-13), graduating with dual degrees in architecture and engineering. He immigrated to the USA in June 1914 and worked at first in Chicago; this was followed by a significant period with Frank Lloyd Wright (1916-23). He was in independent practice in Hollywood, Los Angeles, from 1921 until his death; Richard Neutra collaborated with him from 1925. Schindler’s early buildings were executed whilst working for others, Hans Mayr and Theodor Mayer (Vienna) and Ottenheimer, Stern & Reichert (Chicago). The experience with Frank Lloyd Wright was not entirely satisfactory but led to Schinder’s detailing and supervising a number of remarkable projects for Miss Barnsdall and others. Schindler also engineered the foundations of the Imperial Hotel, Tokyo, which withstood the earthquake (1923). His first key building is the Schindler & Clyde Chase Duplex (1921-2), which was the joint home of the Schindler and Neutra families 1925-31. The working arrangement with Neutra was flexible and clients were shared, hence the contrasting two commissions for the Lovell family, Schindler’s Beach House (1926) in reinforced concrete at Newport Beach and Neutra’s smooth steel-framed Health House (1929). The striking difference between the two designers is in the use of materials; Schindler’s early works were largely reinforced concrete, the difficulty in obtaining adequate workmanship leading to construction with studwork and ply, a cheap vernacular technique in Southern California. Neither concrete, nor ply, nor rendered framing has aged well, and many of Schindler’s buildings need conserving. The principal lesson to be learnt from his imaginative designs is the three-dimensional creation of space regardless of material or technical shortcomings. Schindler achieved a vast production of 330 buildings and projects over 40 years.

List of major buildings / works:
Houses: Schindler & Clyde Chase Duplex, Hollywood, 1921-2;
Beach House for Dr Lovell, Newport Beach, 1925-6;
Oliver House, Los Angeles, 1933; Walker House, Los Angeles, 1935-6;
Lechner House, Studio City, 1948;
Tischler House, Bel Air, 1949-50.
Apartments: Pueblo Ribera Court, La Jolla, 1923;
Manola Court, Los Angeles, 1926-40;
Bubeshko Apartments, Los Angeles, 1938-41;
Laurelwood Apartments, Studio City, 1948.
Offices and shops: Albert Martin Department Store, Los Angeles (with S. A. Marx), 1939-40;
Medical Arts Building, Studio City, 1945.
Designs: League of Nations (with Neutra), 1926;
Translucent House for Miss Barnsdall, 1927;
Lockheed, 27 airplane Interiors, 1938.
Works accredited to Schindler while working with Frank Lloyd Wright:
Concrete Monolyth Home (project), 1919;
Directors House, Olive Hill, Los Angeles, Hollyhock House and Oleanders for Miss Barnsdall, 1920.

Bibliography
Rudolph Schindler, Collected Papers, Los Angeles, 1948.
Reyner Banham, “Rudolph Schindler: A pioneer without tears”, Architectural Design, Dec, 1967.
Reyner Banham, “The Least Appreciated: Rudolph Schindler”, Architects’ Journal, 19 Feb. 1969.
David Gebhard, Schindler, London and New York, 1971.