Category Archives: Oliver House

RM Schindler’s Oliver House and its Site, part 2 of 5

Taking advantage of the site-for drama

Architect language alert: Architects call the location or lot where a house is placed the “site”. A house is “sited” and we talk about where and how the house is placed on the site as its “siting”.

Like the fronts of so many of Schindler’s houses, the Oliver House is very dramatic (Figure 1). Much of that drama is created from the way the house is placed on its sloping lot.

Continue reading RM Schindler’s Oliver House and its Site, part 2 of 5

RM Schindler’s Oliver House – Introduction, part 1 of 5

It all started at the corner

I am fascinated by the front corner of the Oliver House. What makes it so dramatic and interesting? It looks so simple, yet there is something about it I can’t quite figure out. After a lot of thinking and analysis, I’m still not sure I know what’s happening at this corner, but I do have some things to say about it.

Continue reading RM Schindler’s Oliver House – Introduction, part 1 of 5