haiku for the *documentary* "Schindler's Houses" by Heinz Emigholz

Germans with lenses

can we film your Schindler house?

no sprechen English...

The Schindler debauchery has hit a new low: A DVD of Schindler structures (and little else). This is an odd little 90-minute video. Although I called it a documentary, it isn't, really, although it does document 40 of Schindler's works. After an opening scene of a Los Angeles corner with a hidden Schindler and a bizarre self-stroking opening statement by the director, the doc is simply slightly angled lingering fixed video (the camera is fixed; no panning, no camera movement) of the outsides and, blissfully in some cases, the insides of various Schindler works as they were in 2006. No words. No music. No information. No historical photos. There are the ambient sounds of the locations (a car driving by, a dog barking, wind chimes), but literally nothing else.

Yet it's a brilliant way to portray architecture. Emigholz knows just how long to leave the camera on a particular spot to allow the eye to wander about a focal point and savor and enjoy. I wish he had been able to needle his way inside more of the houses (I was hopeful but alas disappointed concerning the Lovell Beach House...), but those he was able to get inside and film are worthwhile. Architects often talk of blurring the distinction between indoors and outdoors. Schindler blurred the lines not just with outdoor-indoor space, but with the architecture itself, pulling the outer walls and design elements into the house.

Ultimately, this video is only for those of us helplessly inflicted with Schindleritis.

A sample of the video on the Youtubes.

Mr. Emigholz also has other videos, including one of Loos, a major influence on R.M. Schindler.

counter offer...

After receiving a(n apparent) counter bid from the Kitchen Craft folks of $30,000 compared to the presumed $15,000 required for IKEA cabinets, we sullied up to IKEA last weekend to take a closer look at their cabinets and a get a firmer quote. In the past, when I've looked at IKEA cabs online, they had a design program, but it required a PC (i.e., no Mac version). When we went to the store to talk to a sales associate last weekend, we found out that IKEA now has a browser plug-in with PC and Mac versions. Yay!  After plugging in an approximate realization of our kitchen (and finding that you can have 6-inch toe heights (yay!) and stainless steel kick plates (double yay!), we were quite pleased at the final cost: $5,000. We figure an extra $1,500 to $2,000 for installation. (Note that this is only for the kitchen and not the bathrooms and cabs in the living room).

The bride also found a quartz counter-top that IKEA sells that is the best we've seen so far, a pleasant fusion between the two countertops we've flirted with: whiter, grayer-bluer, with mini-mirrors. Nice!

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that IKEA sells samples of its countertops. That's problematic when trying to pick out other stuff (like backsplash tile). Furthermore, the buy-by-the-square-foot countertops are not available online (to check out specs and whatnot). That makes things a wee bit challenging.

As it turns out, there's a wee bit of uncertainty about the Kitchen Craft estimate (lots of weeing going on...). The cover letter from the Kitchen Craft folks says 30K, but the bid, as entered into the spreadsheet, says 23K (and the builder swears he put it in right). In case yer not good at math, that's a 7K difference. And instead of a 100% premium over IKEA, Kitchen Craft could (just) be a 50% premium. We need to get that figured out, because a 50% premium may be worth it to get custom features instead of circuit-bending IKEA's cabinets to work with our kitchen.

Wandering around IKEA, we gawked lovingly at this wall cabinets:

Wethinks these may go well above the east wall lower cabs in the laundry room. In fact, we're thinking that room (that wall) could double as a bar area.

We also gawked at these affordable scalable wine holders:

For the pantry?

mirror mirror on the wall...

The architects have spec'd mirrors for the house, and here they are:

for the powder:

for the master:

for the guest:

Oddly, they didn't specify mirrors for the ceiling in the master bedroom. We'll have to talk to them about that...  ;-)

They have the powder mirror floating a wee bit, and that's cool. And no issues with the mirror in the guest.

We have, however, been thinking a bit about the mirror in the master. There's nothing wrong with what the architects have for the master bathroom, and I think we'll ultimately go with it. I like how they have the light fixtures coming out of the mirror (suh-wheat!) and how the top o the mirror lines up with the top o the window on that wall. But we've flirted a wee bit with these shelved mirrors at IKEA:

What's cool about them is that the doors open and inside is the interior of a traditional medicine shelf. Having lived in a 100-year-old house, we had something similar, and it was quite handy compared to what we have now, simply the mirror. On the negative side is that it's not exactly the right size (the large version is about 39" by 38"), but it could work with two of them. I also wonder about how hardy they are (the fronts are pieces-of-glass mirrors; the one at the store has chipped corners...), especially with his and hers opening into each other ("You're going to brush your teeth? Fine. Then I'm going to freakin' floss!!!"  CRASH!!!). The cabinets stick out of the wall 5.5".

Linear-looking light kits can affix to the tops:

These suckers are not cheap. Each mirror-box runs $249 a piece, and the lights run $70 a piece for a total of $638. Wouldn't be doing this to save money, methinks...

Lost in Los Angeles: Misc. Masters

Dunsmuir Flats (1937) by Gregory Ain: Really, really like this building...

Unknown down the street from Schindler's Kings Road House:

Malin House (1960) by John Lautner:

One of the case study houses:

Watts Towers (1921 to 1954):

The Avenel Housing Project (1947) by Gregory Ain (and some others?):

Unknown.

Unknown.

dancing with architecture: seattle

Out (north)west to attend a water meeting. Happened upon the original Starbucks (so risqué in her youth!), accidentally found the chewing gum wall (in the pursuit of graffiti...), toured a green community re: storm water control (pervious concrete, raingardens), drank two lattes from the best coffee maker evah (Stumptown!!!), and admired a little googie (the Space Needle). On the water tour, the guide asked "Anyone know who designed the city library?" as we drove past its angular glass facade. "Rem Koolhaas" I yelped. Yep.