Ushering in the one-hundred-year anniversary of the landmark Schindler House, the MAK Center for Art and Architecture presents Schindler House: 100 Years in the Making. The four-month exhibition and programming series celebrates the pivotal first century of the landmark modern house in Los Angeles by Austrian-American architect R.M. Schindler.
Designed and built by 1922, the house began as a radical proposition for a modern collective dwelling— a campsite enclosed by concrete, glass, canvas, and redwood. Originally constructed for Schindler, his wife Pauline, and their friends Clyde and Marian Chace, the Schindler House has existed in a constant state of flux since its initial instantiation, having been painted, carpeted, curtained, dismantled, reconstructed, excavated, and reimagined by its inhabitants and admirers. The exhibition emphasizes acts of making, unmaking, and remaking that have constituted the house and its mythos over the last century.
With a collaborative selection of reproduced historical materials assembled in vitrines by conceptual artist Kathi Hofer, the exhibition guides visitors through a gentle timeline of the Schindler House, from its inception on an empty plot of land to subsequent years of preservation and institutionalization. Alongside archival materials are contemporary contributions by artists and practitioners including: Carmen Argote, Fiona Connor, Julian Hoeber, stephanie mei huang, Andrea Lenardin Madden, Renée Petropoulos, Gala Porras-Kim, Stephen Prina, Jakob Sellaoui and Peter Shire. With an emphasis on process over finality, the exhibition incorporates a rotating vitrine which accommodates the display and interpretation of new materials that emerge during the run of the show.
Schindler House: 100 Years in the Making is complemented by a summer-long calendar of performances, lectures, events and parties. Schindler House: 100 Years in the Making is co-curated by MAK Center Director Jia Yi Gu, and historians Gary Riichirō Fox and Sarah Hearne, with support from the curatorial team Allie Smith, Ann Basu, Stratton Coffman and Tristan Espinoza.
Exhibition Views
Exhibition Guide
The exhibition guide to Schindler House: 100 Years in the Making features thematic essays and historical highlights by MAK Center Director Jia Yi Gu with architectural historians Sarah Hearne and Gary Riichirō Fox.
Schindler House: 100 Years in the Making is co-curated by MAK Center Director Jia Yi Gu, and historians Gary Riichirō Fox and Sarah Hearne, with support from the curatorial team Allie Smith, Ann Basu, Stratton Coffman and Tristan Espinoza.
Public Programs
The exhibition is complemented by summer-long calendar of programs including parties and performances, panel discussions, lectures series, in-person curator-led tours, and asynchronous projects including the Schindler House Companion Tours. All receptions, lectures, and performances are free and open to the public.
OPENING WEEKEND
PERFORMANCES
LECTURE SERIES
CURATORIAL WALKTHROUGHS
SPECIAL EVENTS
Thank You
The MAK Center is grateful to the following institutions, funders, and sponsors for their support of the Schindler House centennial celebration.
Institutional
California Arts Council
City of West Hollywood,
Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts
Los Angeles County Arts & Culture.
Design Sponsor
West Elm
Executive Sponsors
Austrian Consulate General of Los Angeles
Bestor Architecture
Escher Gunewardena
Kikori Whiskey
Montalba Architects
Taiwan Academy of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Los Angeles
WTARCH
Yola Metzcal
MAK Center is supported by its Centennial Council and Patron Program.