The Garage Project
In the name of Rudolf Schindler!
Inspiring an international roster of established and emerging artists and architects, the Pearl M. Mackey Apartments and Garages are still a component of the MAK Center identity.
Peter Noever started the MAK Center Schindler initiative with the first exhibition in the garages of the Mackey Apartments in 1996.
The Mackey Apartment is the vibrant base of the MAK Artists and Architects-in-Residence program, which is today one of the most sought-after scholarship programs internationally.
History
1939—1940 The Pearl M. Mackey Apartments are completed despite disputes between Schindler, Mackey and the building contractor. Schindler is investigated by the State Association of California Architects, who rule that his imprecise drawings were to blame for discrepancies between the finished building and the originally approved plans. (Sheine, Judith,. R. M. Schindler. Phaidon Press 2001, p. 249)
1958—1994 The building changes hands several time after Pearl M. Mackey. Owners include Winnie M Mackey (1958–63), Bernice K. Pilipaitis and Anne B. Robitaille (1964–77), Jack E. Jackson (1978–83), Loren Kalin (1985), Melrose KLN Corporation (1986–87) and Waldo Fernandez (1988–94).
1994—1996 After Waldo Fernandez lists it for sale, the process of purchasing the building becomes part of the MAK Schindler Initiative found by MAK CEO and Artistic Director Peter Noever. This project involves both the Mackey Apartments and the R. M. Schindler House and Studio (1921/22); at the time, the latter property was operated by the Los Angeles non-profit organization FOSH (Friends of the Schindler House).
Two Austrian Ministers—Erhard Busek and Rudolf Scholten—aid the MAK in negotiations with their ministries, resulting in the purchase of the Mackey Apartments and official partnership with FOSH in 1995.
The MAK Center for Art and Architecture Los Angeles is founded at the Schindler House as a satellite of the MAK Vienna. Neither a “house museum” nor a memorial, the MAK Center acts as a think tank for contemporary artists and architects celebrating Schindler’s life’s work.
Film program “Garage Project II”
Curated by
John Baldessari
Heinrich Dunst
Peter Kogler
featuring
Judy Fiskin
Jill Miller
Tina Schulz
Nadim Vardag
Sonia Leimer
Claudia Kugler
Kurt Kren