“From Houses to the American dream” is my most recent co-operation with the UCSB architectural and design collections. Students work directly on museum objects in a specialized facility. This is the very first class of its kind at UCSB. The outcome is a book and online catalog hosted by UCSB museum about midcentury Californian architecture, written by the students.
RM Schindler: Lovell Beach House,
Balboa Peninsula, Newport. CA.
Exhibition model by Stefanos Polyzoides
Catalog entry by student. Lecturer: DC Baciu
The architectural model of the Lovell Beach House, built by Stefanos Polyzoides for his retrospective of RM Schindler in the 1980s, rests on a mirror. This creative design surprises the viewer’s eyes by integrating multiple viewpoints into one perspective; and it also draws attention to, and accentuates the interplay between wooden slat construction and concrete pillars. Schindler used concrete to build this home much before this building material was used for small residential constructions like the Lovell beach house. Only a decade earlier, Le Corbusier had patented his Dom-Ino system; and the Villa Savoye, built two years later, featured slender, round-shaped pillars quite different from the ones used by Schindler. Schindler’s aesthetics of concrete and wood were rather unique at the time, and it might be this special signature that made the curators at New York’s MoMA not choose this house as part of their International Style exhibition. Nevertheless, many historians and aficionados—among which I can name myself, feel today that this home is their favorite among Schindler’s designs. The living room on the upper floor maximized the amount of natural light that was allowed in, and the material aesthetics and location make this architectural masterpiece a dream come true.
Text and image: Dan C. Baciu ©