It feels a bit extraordinary stepping into Schindler House, MAK Center on the lush North Kings Road in West Hollywood. The house was built in 1922 by the esteemed modern architect R.M. Schindler (1887-1953) who was born in Vienna where he studied under architects Otto Wagner and Adolf Loos. Schindler came to Chicago in 1914 and began to work for Wright in 1918. He was sent to Los Angeles and built his practice – a house designed as live-work space for two couples with a shared kitchen and an apartment for guests. Regularly hosting artists, musicians, poets, writers and actors, Schindler and his wife Pauline turned their home into a centre for avant-garde art. Although the couple separated, they continued to live on the same location but avoiding to see each other.

Despite Pauline’s resentment of Schindler as a person, she admired his work and was his biggest promoter. Pauline wrote over 14,000 letters, organised events and even though she had no graphic design education, she had a great interest in typography and created funky posters which we think probably could still work today. After all, there might be some truth in the expression of “Behind every successful man, there is a woman”.

Schindler’s work focused on the integration of interior space and exterior space using complex interlocking volumes and strongly articulated sections, I like the idea of having fireplaces both indoors and outdoors making every space livable. Schindler never mentioned it, but I can’t help to scent a bit of oriental inspiration with the sliding doors, outdoor living spaces and bamboo trees. Schindler designed over 400 projects, 150 of which were built during his career. These consisted largely of low-cost single family houses for progressive clients. The materials and vocabulary of Schindler’s work changed during the span of his career whilst his principles of design and spatial characteristics were consistent even as his spatial ideas evolved in his late work, including the translucent houses of the mid-1940s to early-1950s.

Today, the Schindler house is an architectural and cultural landmark with the non-for-profit MAK Center for progressive art and architecture. However, as an interior fanatic, I think it is a shame that all the original furniture except for the office is tucked away in a storage.

Photos of Schindler House/Mak Center in West Hollywood

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