Once the system was designed, Schindler played with it.
I have selected 3 Schindler Frame houses as examples, to show how the idea was actually built. I look at them in a cross-section through the living room, the area where Schindler creates the most complex spaces.
Daugherty House, 1945-1946
This is the Schindler Frame house that most closely matches the prototype (figs 1). Here, all the roofs are flat (fig 3), where in other Schindler Frame houses he combined flat with sloping roofs. The large living room (fig 2), 16’ x 20’, has a tall +-10’ ceiling/roof (the construction drawings do not have height dimensions). This house illustrates how the Schindler Frame would be applied to rooms where the tongue and groove roof spans more than its 10’ maximum. Beams are used to break up longer spans.
Throughout his career, one of Schindler’s main interests was shaping interior space. He did this not just in plan (the size and arrangement of rooms), but most importantly in the vertical dimension. His spaces have different heights, sloped and flat ceilings, and lots of glass that opens to views and light. Frustrated with the cost and limits of standard construction, the construction system he used on his earlier Plaster Skin designs, he developed the Schindler Frame to allow him the greatest flexibility in shaping spaces. 1
“…giving the space architect complete freedom to shape rooms.” 2
Lately I have been looking at Schindler’s later buildings. They (fig 1) are different from his earlier buildings (fig 2) that I have written about.1 The earlier houses, described by Schindler as Plaster Skin houses, are smooth masses with little detail and dynamic exteriors. His later homes, described by Schindler as Schindler Frame buildings, are thinner, with roof overhangs, exposed structure and intricate interiors. His later buildings can be more difficult to like and understand-particularly from the outside. They lack the dynamic, modern Plaster Skin exteriors. To some people they look strange, cobbled together, as if they were not even built by an architect at all. Continue reading Schindler Frame – Introduction, part 1 of 3→
san diego design, cartoons, architecture, furniture
Schindler Frame applied
living room, the area where Schindler creates the most complex spaces.
large living room (fig 2), 16’ x 20’, has a tall +-10’ ceiling/roof (the construction drawings do not have height dimensions). This house illustrates how the Schindler Frame would be applied to rooms where the tongue and groove roof spans more than its 10’ maximum. Beams 
are used to break up longer spans.
