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Finding Aid for the R. M. (Rudolph M.) Schindler papers, 1904-1954 0000100
0000100  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Access
  • Custodial History note
  • Preferred Citation
  • Biographical/Historical note
  • Scope and Content note
  • Related Archival Materials
  • Rights

  • Title: R. M. Schindler papers
    Identifier/Call Number: 0000100
    Contributing Institution: Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 175.0 Linear feet (58 boxes, 36 flat file drawers, 2 oversize*** drawing2)
    Date (bulk): Bulk, 1916-1953
    Date (inclusive): 1904-1954
    Location note: Boxes 1 - 52/ADC - regular 36 Flat Files Drawers/ADC - flat files James Howe Residence Drawing/ ADC - oversize*** top of range 12 Kallis House plan drawing in frame - oversize*** top of range 12 Frame from Kings Rd house rendering behind range 20 8 Furniture - Mosher Chair (1968.3) Light wood, brown upholster on seat (30 x 23 in) Buffet (1969.66) redwood was part of build-in units) Skolnik Chair (1998.90.1) plywood, pigment, fabric (28 x 16 x 20 in) Dinning Table with 2 leaves (1998.91.a-.d) wood top base covered in carpeting (59 3/8 x 41 5/8 x 27 in) Lamp reproduction (1998.92) nickel coated aluminum standing floor lamp (54 in) Box chair reproduction (1998.93) redwood, blue canvas (29 x 29 x 22 in) Children's Box Chair (1998.94) oak ( 21 x 15 x 14 1/2in) Unit Chair (1998.95) wood, metal, fabric (28 x 36 x 33 1/2 in)
    creator: Schindler, R. M., (Rudolph M. ), 1887-1953 -- Archives

    Access

    Open for use by qualified researchers.

    Custodial History note

    Gift of Mark Schindler, 1968. Additional materials gifted by Mrs. Wineld Park Blum in 1999 and Kathryn Smith and Randall Kennon, 2007.

    Preferred Citation

    R. M. Schindler papers, Architecture and Design Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.

    Biographical/Historical note

    Rudolph Michael Schindler (1887-1953) was born in Vienna, Austria. Schindler trained in Vienna at the Technische Hochschule, from which he graduated in 1911 and at the Akademie der bildenden Kunsteunder where he studied under Otto Wagner. He also came under the influence of Adolf Loos and his informal salons in Vienna.
    Schindler emigrated to the U.S. in 1914. He worked for the Chicago firm of Ottenheimer, Stern and Reichert. Between 1917-1921, he worked with Frank Lloyd Wright, first in Chicago and Taliesin, then in Los Angeles where he moved in 1920 to help supervise the Barnsdall Hollyhock house.
    In Los Angeles he set up his own architectural practice, working briefly with the engineer, Claude Chase (1921-1923), and as a partner with Richard Neutra in The Architecture Group for Industry and Commerce (AGIC) (1926-1927). In his lifetime he completed about 150 buildings, most of them in Los Angeles. His uncanny ability to design three-dimensional spaces (he called himself a “space architect”) sets him apart from most other modern architects. His house, which he designed and built on Kings Road in Los Angeles in 1921-1922, is considered by some historians to be the “first modern house.”

    Scope and Content note

    The R. M. Schindler papers contain the work of the Viennese-born American architect, Rudolph Michael Schindler (1887-1953), primarily from his time in California.
    The papers comprise 175 linear feet (52 boxes, 37 flat file drawers) and include personal papers, correspondance and specifications, product literature and publications, manuscript writings, photographs and architectural drawings. Most of materials are in English, however there is some significant correspondence in German. The collection includes original photographs and negatives taken by Schindler of his buildings, travels, the work of other architects (especially Frank Lloyd Wright) and of his family and friends. His drawings and photographs by Schindler and others document most of his circa 450 architectural and design projects, including work by the Architectural Group for Industry and Commerce, a short-lived collaboration between Schindler, architect Richard Neutra, and the planner Carol Aronovici, active 1926-1927. The bulk of the Schindler collection was acquired in 1967 from Schindler's son.
    The archive is arranged in four series: Personal Papers, Professional Papers, Office Records, and Project records.

    Related Archival Materials

    Designs by Frank Lloyd Wright, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (Collection 101)
    David Gebhard papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara (Collection 136)
    Esther McCoy research papers, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California Santa Barbara (Collection 104)
    Esther McCoy papers, 1920-1989, bulk 1920-1989. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
    Frank Lloyd Wright correspondence with R. M. Schindler, 1914-1929, bulk 1918-1922, Getty Research Institute, Research Library, Accession no. 960076.
    Historic American Building Survey records, Architecture and Design Collection. Art, Design & Architecture Museum; University of California, Santa Barbara.
    Richard Neutra Papers, Special Collections, University of California, Los Angeles.

    Rights

    R. M. Schindler's copyrights transferred to the UC Regents by Mark Schindler. Other third-party rights not fully researched. Contact the repository for conditions governing use.

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Neutra, Richard Joseph, 1892-1970
    Schindler, Mark
    Schindler, R. M., (Rudolph M. ), 1887-1953
    Wright, Lloyd, 1890-1978
    Architect-designed furniture -- United States -- 20th century
    Architects -- California
    Architectural drawings
    Architectural photographs
    Architecture -- California
    Architecture, Modern -- 20th century -- California
    Los Angeles (Calif.) Buildings, structures, etc.
    Modern movement (Architecture) -- California
    Negatives
    Prefabricated houses -- United States
    Reprographic copies
    Specifications
    Transparencies