Category Archives: Growing up Modern

Growing up Modern, part 3 of 3

rm rudolph schindler tischler house steve wallet architect
Fig 1 Tischler house front and north side
rm rudolph schindler tischler living
Fig 2 The house while it still had all the furniture made by my Dad and attached to the walls. Very spacious and minimal room.
NOTE: Upper 2/3 of alsynite roof has been covered up by Adolph Schindler by the time of this photo.
adolph tischler duo silverware
Fig 3 Duo place setting designed by Adolph Tischler and manufactured in black vinyl and stainless steel.
adolph tischler nth silverware
Fig 4 Nth table setting designed by Adolph Tischler and produced in stainless steel.
adolph tischler ADRA silverware
Fig 5 ADRA place setting designed by Adolph Tischler and produced in sterling silver and rosewood
adolph tischler hammered bowl w cover
Fig 6 Covered serving platter in hammered aluminum with rosewood handles. Designed and made by Adolph Tischler.
adolph tischler brass candlestick
Fig 7 Hammered brass candle holder designed and made by Adolph Tischler
adolph tischler silverware set 2
Fig 8 Sterling silver table setting designed and made by Adolph Tischler

My childhood in the Tischler’s Schindler house

Please also see my interview with  Adolph Tischler, Diane’s father. It will help you understand the house and his history with it.

Steve Wallet: Many people find Schindler’s buildings, particularly his later buildings like your house (Fig 1), to be unpleasantly strange. Do you understand that view, or has the house always looked beautiful to you? Has living in the house affected your view of other non-mainstream, unconventional art and architecture?

Diane Garver: I never found the house unpleasantly strange, different but it is what I knew and was used to. I found normal houses strange, dark, flat, exposed to the streets and the public. My friends didn’t know it was raining unless the sky had opened up. When I moved in with people who liked to move furniture around in the house I was utterly conflicted.

Continue reading Growing up Modern, part 3 of 3

Growing up Modern, part 2 of 3

tischler family on couch
Fig 1 The living room with the original gloss black painted walls and aluminum trim between the panels. Fireplace is complete but this is a temporary furniture setup, probably late 1952.
NOTE Walls were later painted beige by Adolph Tischler.
rm rudolph schindler adolph tischler floor plan 2
Fig 2 Living level floor plan
Arrows with numbers indicate positions where photos were taken
rm rudolph schindler tischler house stairs steve wallet architect
Fig 3 View from the front showing two stories of entry stairs from street to the living level
rm rudolph schindler tischler house front from north steve wallet architect
Fig 4 View of front from north
“Studio” room is one floor above the garage/studio and one floor below the living level. It is entered over a short bridge from the exterior flight of stairs shown in Fig 3
rm rudolph schindler tischler house bedroom door detail steve wallet architect
Fig 5 View from loft out the exterior door, from the southern bedroom.
Open folding doors between the two back bedrooms are visible in lower right corner. The loft ladder hardware, built from wood scraps, is visible at top center and right corner
rm rudolph schindler tischler house kitchen-living montage steve wallet architect
Fig 6 View from the dining area towards the kitchen, entry and living room
adolph tischler house corral discs
Fig 7 The circles were coral, almost cantaloupe orange, striking against the blue ceiling panels. The panels were totally open then, all blue for many years. The disks were there at the beginning as I recall and since I can remember standing on the table with my sister and pushing them to swing and try and collide they must have been up for at least 7 years. I would guess that pic might be from about 1955. Walls were black and the fireplace seems so shinny and new.
Disks were designed and built by Adolph Tischler, to provide shade to the interior.
diane tischler (garver) in front of framing 1949
Fig 8 Me standing near the framed house but I can’t for sure say where I am, in the back I am sure because I recognize the neighbor’s house through the framing. Probably circa 1949. (I was a great help)
In front of the south wall, at the rear of the house. The angled ceiling opening at the two rear bedrooms, visible in Fig 5, can also be seen here at the top, middle of the photo.
rm schindler tischler house dining steve wallet architect
Fig 9 View from living to dining. Furnace is under a shelf added by Adolph Tischler
NOTE
The high glass above the blue-green painting lets light and space into the master bedroom. The play of light in this space makes this glass look like a mirror that reflects the front living room windows.

My childhood in the Tischlers’ Schindler house

Please also see my interview with  Adolph Tischler, Diane’s father. It will help you understand the house and his history with it.

Steve Wallet: Anything you didn’t like about the house? Continue reading Growing up Modern, part 2 of 3

Growing up Modern, part 1 of 3

tischler house family in yard 1951
Fig 1 Me, my grandparents and mom.This shows that they weren’t totally insane, there was some child protection around the edge of the yard.It is totally open now. 1951

NOTES
.Fiberglass roof is entirely open at this time, plywood to screen top 2/3 of alsynite hasn’t yet been installed by Tischler
. Low sill on window at dining room, requested by Mrs. Tischler over Schindler’s objections, is visible to the left. This was later covered up by Tischler to match Schindler’s design. See Talking to Mr. Tischler, part 3
rm rudolph schindler adolph tischler floor plan steve wallet architect post 1 6-25-2013
Fig 2 Living level floor plan
Arrows with numbers indicate positions where photos were taken
tischler family by fireplace 1951
Fig 3 Me, my Mom and sister, Dad’s father and step mother. Time is early 1951, as you can see the fireplace is not there yet, some of the ceiling structure is hanging.
NOTE
Fiberglass roof is completely exposed.
diane tischler (garver) and dog 1952
Fig 4 Me and the yard in approx. 1952 looking at the north end of the yard w/ dog house and swing set way in corner. Now there are huge eucalyptus trees here and you would never know a wall and house are even there.
I assume that Adolph Tischler was the family photographer and that’s why he isn’t in any of these photographs. That must be his shadow at the bottom of this photo.
rm schindler tischler house loft steve wallet architect
Fig 5 View up to loft from bedroom closest to yard. Through open door is hallway and living room
Wood ladder drops down to access loft, it is rotated to a horizontal position when stored.
Folding doors between bedrooms are on the left of this photo, shown in the open position. They slide on the horizontal beam to the left of the ladder .
tischler grandparents in back yard
Fig 6 The yard again before landscaping. Now this is the back of the yard that has bamboo that hides any view of a wall or another home.

My childhood in the Tischlers’ Schindler house

Many, many thanks to Diane Garver, daughter of Adolph Tischler. Like her father, she generously shared her story of her life in their Schindler house.

Special thanks for Diane’s wonderful photographs of her family in their house. All her photographs are copyright Diane Garver, all rights reserved. They are used here with her kind permission.

This interview was conducted by email, starting 11/10/2012

Please also see my interview with  Adolph Tischler, Diane’s father. It will help you understand the house and his history with it.

Steve Wallet: What is your job/career/passion(s)?

Diane Garver: I now am working part time in a home office for an 85 year old. My introduction to this man came through his wife who I met at the park pool water aerobics class. I had heard her talking about Westwood and so finally asked her where she had lived. It turns out she and her husband lived 8 houses up Cashmere from our (Schindler) house. I never met them in LA, their children were younger, but it really is a small world.

My passions for the last part of my life are building friendships, living with others and WATER AEROBICS.

The house and you on a personal level

I grew up in a suburban tract house and all my friends lived in tract houses. What was it like to grow up in your house? Were you or your friends aware of it as different? Was that fun or strange or both? Continue reading Growing up Modern, part 1 of 3