The Architecture of R.M. Schindler

“The spirit of Schindler warms the works of all of us who were touched by his life.”

—Frank O. Gehry

“He is the most important architect in California of his day and deserves highly the attention given to him at last by his hometown, Vienna.”

—Philip Johnson

With such masterworks as the Schindler-Chace House and the Lovell Beach House in California, the Vienna-born modernist R. M. Schindler (1887–1953) is recognized as one of the most innovative architects of the 20th century. Nearly 50 years after his death, admiration for his breathtakingly original houses and apartment buildings is at an all-time peak.
Containing many never-published drawings and photographs and spanning Schindler’s early years in Vienna, his apprenticeship with Frank Lloyd Wright, and his bold contributions to West Coast modernism, this book—which accompanies the first major Schindler retrospective—offers the most comprehensive view of his genius to date.

Elizabeth A.T. Smith, curator of the Schindler exhibition, is James W. Alsdorf Chief Curator at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago.

Robert Sweeney is president of the Friends of the Schindler House.

Richard Guy Wilson chairs the Department of Architectural History at the University of Virginia.

Kurt G. F. Helfrich is a curator at the University Art Museum at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Michael Darling is assistant curator of the Schindler exhibition.