Ms. Burke and I were able to spend a wonderful week in Los Angeles recently. I had the pleasure of bringing her to the Schindler House in West Hollywood.
Schindler was rethinking the whole possibility of living after coming out of the stodgy, late 1800s. His home expresses this beautifully, if unphotographably. He was thinking of a home for two families- where each would have shared space and also private space in both the interior and the exterior.
Sleeping happened in exterior rooftop balconies. Ms. Burke pointed out Schindler was really trying to get as close to nature as was possible. Walls are concrete- with small long glass panes imbedded on sides that might require privacy, but huge open spaces to protected lawns. The rest is unfinished redwood, lager panels of glass, and panels of a inexpensive pressed fiberboard.
The 2 bathrooms are among my favorite spaces in the world. Full of low indirect light and cast concrete with exposed diagrammatic plumbing, these spaces are intensely calming and pleasing.
The home is run by the MAK and can be easily visited. The staff is smart and knowledgeable.
Exterior Showing the rooftop sleeping balcony. Photo from galinsky.com
photo by Jonathan Smith
Photo from aftercorbu.com
photo by Stacy Laviolette