SCHINDLER
David Gebhard and Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Jr. [preface]
David Gebhard and Henry-Russell Hitchcock, Jr. [preface]: SCHINDLER. New York: A Studio Book/Viking Press, [1972]. First U. S. edition. Small quarto. Full blue cloth stamped in gold. Photo illustrated dust jacket. 216 pp. 159 illustrations. Interior unmarked and clean. Out-of-print. Heavily inked jacket faintly rubbed, otherwise a fine copy in a fine dust jacket.
5.75 x 8.25 perfect-bound book with 216 pages profusely illustrated with 159 black and white examples of Schindler’s architecture, interiors, furniture and more. Includes some photography by Julius Shulman. The late Professor Gebhard's seminal biography, first issued in 1971, remains the only full-length account of Schindler's prolific yet oddly unfulfilled career. The book offers astute formal analysis of the architect's buildings, set within the architectural and cultural context that created them. Preface by Henry-Russell Hitchcock.
"Each of my buildings deal with a different architectural problem, the existence of which has been forgotten in this period of Rational Mechanization. The question of whether a house is really a house is more important to me, than the fact that it is made of steel, glass, putty or hot air." - R. M. Schindler
Hailing from Vienna, Rudolph Michael Schindler (1887-1953), like his colleague Richard Neutra, emigrated to the US and applied his International Style techniques to the movement that would come to be known as California Modernism. Influenced by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright and taking cues from spatial notions found in cubism, he developed a singular style characterized by geometrical shapes, bold lines, and association of materials such as wood and concrete, as seen in his own Hollywood home (built in 1921-22) and the house he designed for P.M. Lovell in Newport Beach (1923-24).
Today, Schindler is finally being regarded as an outstanding exponent of the Californian modernist style. His marginalized historical status traditionally has resulted from the architects' refusal to mimic the streamlined image of the popular modern architecture of the times. In 1932, when Philip Johnson and Henry-Russell Hitchcock organized the exhibition The International Style, they failed in invite Schindler. His prodigious output until his death in 1953, helped him eventually escape the shadow of his compatriot Richard Neutra. Schindler designed over 500 buildings, more than 150 of which, mostly family residences, were actually built. His own residence in Kings Road, Hollywood (1922), and the beach house he designed for Philip Lovell (1926), has a lasting influence on the development of modern architecture in California.
David S. Gebhard (1927 – 1996) was a leading architectural historian, particularly known for his books on the architecture and architects of California. He was a long-time faculty member at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and was dedicated to the preservation of Santa Barbara architecture.
Gebhard was born and raised in Minnesota; he received his Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota in 1958. He served, for six years, as director of the Roswell Museum and Art Center in New Mexico, before moving to UC Santa Barbara in 1961. As a teacher he inspired many students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. In addition to his long teaching career, he served as director of the University Art Museum for twenty years, building a small gallery into a significant accredited university museum. In this position, he initiated the Architectural Drawings Collection, now one of the leading West Coast repositories for architectural materials. With Robert Winter he co-authored guides to architecture in northern and southern California.
Gebhard was also active in service to his community, serving for many years on the Santa Barbara County Architectural Board of Review. He was active in the Society of Architectural Historians, and served a term as its president in the 1980s.
The David Gebhard Memorial Lecture Series is an annual event sponsored by Pasadena Heritage, an architectural preservation organization in Pasadena, California. [Wikipedia]