Available From UC Press

Today, R. M. Schindler’s Kings Road House is celebrated as an icon of early modern architecture, but this wasn’t the case when it was finished in 1922. Though Schindler and his wife Pauline recognized its genius early on, its radical appearance was—and remains—incomprehensible to many. Lavishly illustrated with forty-five new photographs, this book is an incisive examination of the house, placing it in the context of the architect’s career and clarifying its influence on modern architecture and its practitioners. Little-known aspects of Schindler’s life, his relationship with his mentors, and the development of his unique theories about space enrich the narrative.

Robert Sweeney focuses on the construction of the house and the people who lived, worked, and performed there, demonstrating the building’s significance in the social history of Southern California. He includes new research on Schindler’s educational and personal background in Vienna and a discussion of the critical influence of Pauline Schindler in formulating the social underpinnings of the house. Judith Sheine’s essay places the house in the context of Schindler’s career, in which it established the basis of the spatial development of his work. She also examines the influence of the house on the work of numerous architects from Frank Lloyd Wright to Frank Gehry.

Robert Sweeney, an independent historian, is President, Friends of Schindler House. He is the author of Wright in Hollywood and Casa del Herrero. Judith Sheine, a practicing architect, is Professor and Chair, Department of Architecture, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She is the author of R. M. Schindler and R. M. Schindler: Works and Projects.

"This book establishes R.M. Schindler’s Kings Road House amongst the icons of modernist housing—as crucial as Le Corbusier, Walter Gropius, Mies van der Rohe, or Frank Lloyd Wright to the story of twentieth-century residential design. Weaving together an impressive blend of primary sources, Sweeney and Sheine illuminate heretofore unknown or neglected stories regarding Schindler’s life, his relationship with his mentors—most notably, Wright himself—and the development of his unique theories about space. These essays will interest both scholars and practitioners of architecture as well as readers wishing to learn more about the development of architectural modernism in general.”—J. Philip Gruen, School of Design and Construction, Washington State University.