His use of complex three-dimensional forms, "warm" materials, and striking colors, as well as his ability to work within tight budgets, however, have placed him as one of the mavericks of early twentieth century architecture.

Schindler also met his lifelong friend and rival Richard Neutra at the university in 1912, before completing his thesis project in 1913.

Their careers would parallel each other: both would go to Los Angeles through Chicago, be recognized as important early modernists creating new styles suited to the Californian climate, and sometimes, both would work for the same clients.

At one point, they and their wives shared a communal office and living structure that Schindler designed as his home and studio.

In Vienna, Schindler acquired experience in the firm of Hans Mayr and Theodore Mayer, working there from September 1911 to February 1914.

Schindler then moved to Chicago to work in the firm of Ottenheimer, Stern, and Reichert (OSR), accepting a cut in pay to be in that progressive American city, which was the home of Frank Lloyd Wright.

Chicago was more appealing to him, however, with less congestion and providing access to the architectural work of Henry Hobson Richardson, Louis Sullivan, and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Wright had little work at this stage, was still plagued by the destruction of Taliesin and the murder of his mistress earlier that year, and did not offer Schindler a job.

Wright was able to hire Schindler after obtaining the commission for the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, a major project that would keep the architect in Japan for several years.

As well as his architectural affairs, he was running Frank Lloyd Wright's businesses, such as the rental of the Oak Park houses.

Eventually, disputes over whose work was whose, escalated until Schindler released a flier for a series of talks with Richard Neutra, describing himself as having been, "in charge of the architectural office of Frank Lloyd Wright for two years during his absence".

The Kings Road house was designed as a studio and home for Schindler, his wife, and their friends Clyde and Marian DaCamara Chace.

Construction features included tilt up concrete panels cast on site, which contrasted with the more 'open' walls of redwood and glass.

As early and radical as they were for modernism, they may have been too different for recognition and Los Angeles was not a significant location on the architectural map.

His work is undergoing somewhat of a contemporary revaluation for its inventiveness, character, and formal qualities, which are making his designs familiar to a new generation of architects.

"I consider myself the first and still one of the few architects who consciously abandoned stylistic sculptural architecture in order to develop space as a medium of art.

"He has built quite a number of buildings in and around Los Angeles that seem to be admirable from the standpoint of design, and I have not heard of any of them falling down."