MOCA showcases R.M. Schindler’s work

  Photos from Museum of Contemporary Art A retrospective of
Robert Schindler’s architecture is on display at
the Museum of Contemporary Art.

By Yoona Cho
Daily Bruin Contributor

In light of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s
much-discussed, controversial million-dollar advertisement
campaign, their newest retrospective of Rudolph Schindler’s
architecture is not surprising. Apropos even.

The nature of Schindler’s work, which will be on display
at MOCA through June 3, raises some of the same issues as the
museum’s ad campaign ““ that architecture can be viewed
as an everyday kind of art, in the same manner that the ad campaign
is pervasive in day-to-day life.

According to background information provided in the exhibit,
Rudolph Michael Schindler (1887-1953) studied architecture and
design in Vienna under Otto Wagner and Adolph Leas in the early
1900s before moving to Los Angeles in 1920 to work in the offices
of Frank Lloyd Wright.

What looks to be a Bauhaus-like aesthetic appears in
Schindler’s work, particularly in his early phase, marked by
sharp geometry, stark rectangular and linear regimentation,
parallel rigidity and repetition characteristic of the German
architectural style. His designs on display possess a quality of
sparseness and utility, an eschewing of superfluity that reveals an
interest he had in making his buildings sensible rather than
decorative.

  Photos from Museum of Contemporary Art Rudolph
Schindler realizes that it is important to integrate the
landscape of a building site into his architectural designs. His
designs are on display at MOCA. Interestingly, despite the
regimented repetition of right angles, Schindler’s designs do
not come off as harsh or unpleasant. Rather, his artistry is
evident in the way he is able to transform the otherwise enclosing
angles of rectangles into something that is open and
expressive.

An example of this technique, which museum visitors can see
first hand, is in one of Schindler’s signature designs, the
linear lattice. In this lattice the slats to do not cross but they
create the same kind of pseudo-covering effect as a traditional
lattice.

Many of his designs on view contain this element of uncrossing
latticework, whether it is on the roof or on the side of a
building. This lattice technique effects an openness in the
architecture, creating a symbiosis between outside space, building
structure and inside space, making the structure seem more spacious
and open.

Schindler’s obvious interest in uniting inside and outside
spaces is evident in his use of windows and light. This is notable
in a photograph on display from his design of the Translucent
House, which depicts a room that is designed to be inundated by
sunlight during the day, so much so that it looks almost
translucent.

As R.M. Schindler lived and adapted to California, so did his
designs. His 1940s and ’50s designs reflect what can perhaps
be dubbed the “California influence,” characterized by
an increasing expressionism and individuality. These later designs
sport more curves and skewed angles than their predecessors and are
less predictable.

More obviously, Schindler began adapting his designs to
incorporate the landscape of the building site and moreover, to
adapt to the landscape so that the landscape itself became
functional. In this way, he made form functional, bypassing the
diametrically opposed architectural arguments that claim that
either form should precede function or function should precede
form.

This is perhaps the art of Schindler’s designs. An
interesting transition piece is the Mildred Siathall Residence
Studio (1938-39), a home built into the side of a hill in
Silverlake, Calif., in a step design. The building looks like
stairs for a giant.

Design-wise, the structure of the home still reflects the
qualities of sharp geometry, repetition and regimentation. It also
incorporates the landscape rather than leveling it, indicating a
transition to an increasing interplay and reciprocity between
building and landscape, form and function. Sometimes the
surrounding land seems to almost flow into the building
organically.

The exhibition itself is well-designed, complete with display
boards for easy viewing and reading, small-scale models of projects
in landscapes (albeit unvegetated), photographs, drawings,
photographs of drawings, as well as the pièce de
résistance, a full-scale replica of a Schindler-designed beach
house.

Along the exiting hallway of the R.M. Schindler exhibit is a
quotation from Schindler himself expressing his desire to adapt his
designs to the requirements of California life. Indeed, this
demonstrates how his works are a kind of living art.

A trip to the Mildred Siathall project on Griffith Park
Boulevard in Silverlake, or the Adolph Tischler residence in
Westwood, which he designed, will prove as much. The existence of
these and other architectural works within the community at large
contribute to the richness of culture because they are an integral
part of everyday life.

MUSEUM: “The Architecture of R.M.
Schindler” will be on display at the Museum of Contemporary
Art, 250 South Grand Ave. in downtown L.A., through June 3.
Admission is $6 for adults, $4 for students with ID. For more
information and museum hours call (213) 626-6222.