Rudolph M. Schindler

Abstract

R. M. Schindler (b. 1887–d. 1953) was born in Vienna, Austria, and received architecture degrees from the Vienna Polytechnic University (Technische Hochschule) in 1911 and the Academy of Fine Arts (Akademie der bildenden Kunste) in 1913. While influenced by the Viennese architects Otto Wagner and Adolf Loos, Schindler was exposed to the work of the American architect Frank Lloyd Wright through his Wasmuth portfolio and was inspired to go to the United States in March 1914, shortly before the outbreak of World War I. In the United States, he found work in February 1918 with Wright, who sent him to Southern California in December 1920 to work on a project for his client, Aline Barnsdall. Schindler began his independent practice there, designing and building his own house and studio in 1921–1922. He had intended to return to Vienna, however, due to the difficult postwar economic conditions in Europe, he settled for the rest of his life in Southern California, with its mild climate, promising economic future, and openness to experimentation. Throughout his career Schindler wrote articles on architectural theory, designed over 500 projects—more than 150 of which were built, almost entirely in Southern California—and acted as his own contractor on the vast majority of his commissions. He has been identified as the first modern architect in Southern California, introducing innovative ideas and construction techniques, along with his contemporary and fellow Viennese architect Richard Neutra, who came to Southern California at Schindler’s invitation in January 1925. Schindler distinguished his own individual approach to architecture from that of the so-called International Style, proclaiming that architecture should be about “space” rather than focusing on any particular style or material. Throughout his career, Schindler experimented with a wide variety of materials and building techniques, resulting in buildings that, while they looked very different, retained their focus on a consistent set of spatial principles along with specificity to their site, climate, and client. In part due to his unorthodox approach to modern architecture, while his early projects were published with some frequency, the later works were published increasingly less and Schindler did not receive the large commissions for which he had hoped. After his death, with the postmodern reevaluation of the direction of architecture starting in the mid-1960s, Schindler’s work began to receive renewed critical attention, with books and exhibits devoted to his career, and recognition continues to grow in the present day.