Frank Lloyd Wright

This is an interesting section, and I just came upon it by accident; well done on starting it up.

Anyway, I can’t draw or design but I have always noticed and admired interesting modern, organic architecture.

Years ago, I saw a documentary on Fallingwater and I was hooked. To think that something that amazing was dreamt up during the Depression/before WWII just blows my mind. (Trust me, I suspect that architects and students of design may find it almost clichéd that a layperson is blown away by Frank Lloyd Wright above all others, but bear with me)

So some questions for you folks:

1. Can we gather pictures of FLW’s masterpieces in this thread?
2. Have any of you gone to Taliesin West? Is it worth the trip?
3. I saw two magnificent homes in a small town in Michigan that are either designed by FLW or by one of his disciples. I couldn’t find out with Google. Anyone know the best way to find a list of all his creations and those of his students?
4. In terms of an excellent coffee table book, Alan Weintraub’s Frank Lloyd Wright The Houses looks good. Agree? Any other recommendations?
5. Who is/are the FLWs of today?

Thanks.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

-You just started the Frank Lloyd Wright thread!

-I haven't been to either Taliesin; the only Wright buildings I've seen up close so far are a large late-period house and small theatre here in Dallas, and a house that he designed in Wichita, Kansas.

There are folks here on Fchat who have seen many more of his works, and I imagine they will show up.

-Regarding direct FLW disciples and further descendants, I think there's a Taliesin Foundation or Taliesin Associated Architects still actively practicing...try googling that.

-There are many homes of the pre-1925 era here in Dallas that show very heavy FLW Prairie-period influence, and one that I know of is reputed to have come directly from a Wright-office "planbook" of the period...I'll get a pic of it and post.

-Wright is undoubtedly the most heavily documented and written-about architect ever; I don't remember seeing the Weintraub book in particular...if you like it, buy it. I've got "Frank Lloyd Wright: The Masterworks", Bruce Pfeiffer/David Larkin in view on my bookshelf now...it's a nice FLW coffee table book but just one of many.

-FLW's of today...in terms of just general architectural importance or as carriers of the Wright design legacy?

In terms of general importance, that's open to question; the particular example of an outstanding Wright-influenced architect that jumps to mind is Fay Jones in Arkansas...try googling him.

Wright's son Lloyd Wright also had a long and distinguished architectural career...check him out as well...his work shows Daddy Frank's influence in a big way.

 

Thanks Scott - appreciate the info.

I am really looking forward to checking out the names you mentioned as well as finding out who designed these two magnificent homes I saw (on Luce Road, in Alma, Michigan).

 

I'm a big FLW fan too. In response to your questions (well the only ones I have any relevant knowledge to):

3: Here is a pretty good list of John Lautner's (one of FLW's students) works (though from my own research I believe it is incomplete): http://www.johnlautner.net/

4. Taschen's book 'Wright' by Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer is a good cheap introduction to FLW's work, however it is very much only an introduction - it is light on detail and pictures.

5. Not entirely sure - however I would facetiously suggest that FLW is the FLW of today - one of his designs has recently been completed on Petre Island, New York (apparently causing some disquiet amongst followers of FLW - according to the magazine I read about it in). Here's some info on it: http://www.miketrinch.com/PageManager/Default.aspx/PageID=2006136&NF=1 I wonder how many other FLW designs were never built whilst he was alive, but may now be...

 

Here's one you'll like, by the son. Reputed to be the house of one of the prime suspects in the infamous Black Dahlia murder. http://www.unreellocations.com/locDisp.php?loc_id=58

For Dad's work, in the midwest, visit the S.J. Johnson headquarters. Don't sit in the three legged chairs.

Early modernist of interest- there is a house in Pittsburgh, attributed to either Gropius or Breuer, on the Chatham College campus. I will try to find an image of it.

FLW also designed a community of modestly priced homes near Pleasantville NY which make for an interesting neighborhood called Usonia.

 

You're welcome. Do you have postable pics of those houses?


Whart...the Usonian houses were really neat. Around 1990 there was a traveling Wright exhibit the Dallas Museum of Fine Arts for several months. All knds of FLW artifacts and history, and the high point was a full-scale reconstruction of a Usonian house.

 

Add me to the list of FLW fans. Two years ago I made a special trip just to see Falling Water. One word....Amazing!! Visited Kentuck Knob right down the road while there too.

I've also been to Talieson West in Scottsdale, the Darwin Martin complex and Graycliff around Buffalo.

There are more I'd like to see and will one of these days. I'll see if I can dig up some pics and get them posted.

John

 

I went to Taliesin West a few years ago. It is amazing that the house was built in the 30's it still looks very modern.
If you are in Phoenix it is worth the trip.
I am a mechanical engineer but I am a big fan of architecture, specially modern mexican architects like Luis Barragan, Sordo Madaleno y Legorreta.

 

Anybody have a pic of the living room he did with the water around the fireplace kinda like a moat?

 

I just returned an excellent book to the library, 'Frank Lloyd Wright: The Houses'. It had a wealth of pictures and info.

- Christopher

 

Here are a few pics. I can't seem to find any of Talieson West, they might have been pre-digital. If I find any I'll post them though. These are mostly Falling Water with a few of Ketuck Knob at the end.


John



Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Here are a few from the Darwin Martin complex and Graycliff. Both of these had been severely let go and were in the process of restoring. At the Martin Complex they were in the middle of buying back property that had been split and sold off. They are now in the process of recreating what was lost.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Thanks for the great info and links.

John - thanks for the great personal pics.

Scott - I will be in Alma sometime in May...will def try to take a couple of pictures of the houses without bothering/offending the residents.

I will also most probably be in Phoenix in June for a conference, so if at all possible, I will make a trip over to Taliesin West.

Came across this great website: http://www.delmars.com/wright/flwright.htm
Tons of great pics and info, including a link to an interesting computer animation of Usonia http://www.arch.columbia.edu/DDL/projects/usonia/usonia.html

 

Joe,

I got out and took some pics today; these are of the house that local legend claims was built from an FLW office planbook; s/n 5409 is in a couple of them.

This house is close to 100 yrs old...the whole street, Swiss Avenue, was developed pre-1920.
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Wow, a Wright thread! How cool is that?

Buffalo is close, so I drop by the Martin complex regularly and have to say that Graycliff is a complete disappointment.

Generally, I make time on every road trip to check out another Wright work. Earlier this month, it was the Turkel house in Detroit.

While I was in Florida, I dropped in on Florida Southern College in Lakeland to see Wright's work there. It was almost visual overload for me. More details can be found here: http://www.flsouthern.edu/fllwctr/construction.htm .

The most comprehensive list of Wright's work is arguably this book, The Architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright: A Complete Catalog by William Allin Storrer. Check out www.savewright.org , as well as the biography by Secrest.

 

Awesome – thanks for the pics Scott (5409 looking very fine as well). I think local legend may be correct!

Thanks for the links b-mak. Interesting to hear that Graycliff was a bit of a let down for you. I can’t wait to make a pilgrimage to Fallingwater (and the Martin House Complex, Taliesin, the Robie House, the Willets House etc…..!)

In a strange case of timing, PBS just ran a very well done show called “Frank Lloyd Wright's Buffalo”. I was getting ready to watch some hockey and then came across this excellent show and couldn’t stop watching. It is from 2006 so maybe a lot of you have seen it, but if you haven’t, check your local listings because it is definitely worth it (added bonus is it’s in HD so it looks amazing). They’re also selling the DVD.

It details FLW’s trip from Wisconsin to Chicago and then his trip to Buffalo for the Larkin Building. Of course it talks about the building of the Martin House Complex, its terrible fall from grace in the ‘60s and ‘80s, and then its renovation. I was really struck by how much Martin did for FLW over the years and how tragically it all ended for the Martin family after the stock market crash - really heartbreaking stuff.

 

Dropped in on the Robie House last year on the One Lap of America. (In fact, the story of how I had time to see the Robie House remains unprintable, at least for a little while.)

I keep Frank Lloyd Wright's Buffalo permanently on my PVR.

There is indeed a lot of heartbreaking stuff surrounding FLLW's Buffalo work. It was Darwin Martin's son who sold the lightscreens (window panes) out of the house. Some remain in museums and private collections, and others come up for auction from time to time. As well, the short-sightedness of the politicians who let the Larkin Building be destroyed is utterly disgraceful.

Be sure to pick up the Wright bio by Secrest.

 

Hello everyone,
First time poster here I’m pleasantly surprised to see there is a design forum here on Ferrari chat.

I am also a fan of FLW and consider him one of the most important architects of the past century. If you guys enjoy his work you might also enjoy looking at some of Richard Meier's work. He has a different philosophy than FWL in the sense that he does not try to blend his architecture with nature, but his work is still very good.
Here are some other architects which are doing interesting work today.
Daniel Libeskind
Santiago Calatrava
Zaha Hadid
Frank Gehry.

 

Thanks, and welcome to FChat.

 

When I visited the Martin complex a couple years back they were in the VERY spendy process of trying to buy back as many original furnishings as possible. Seems that a lot of them are out there, they just need the money!! It will be great to see it restored to it's original "estate" glory.

Graycliff was very disappointing from a condition state but the house certainly had potential. Again, I think it will be much more impressive when fully restored.

The stories have been one of the most fascinating parts of the visits.



.

 

On a past episode of Antiques Roadshow, there was a woman who had several original FLW drawings of the house her parents had commisioned but never built. Needless to say, but they were worth big money, probably more than the original house would have cost!

 

Welcome youngarch.

From the info you've provided, you are interested in architecture and cars, and are young. I hope you will contribute to this forum...at basic level, it's new and needs regulars to survive. The perspective of of a person at the beginning of a career and fresh from the unstagnant environment of architectural school would be good to have as a counterpoint to those who have been practicing for a long while and an out-to-pasture dinosaur such as myself...I don't include anyone else here in that last category.

Appreciation of FLW crosses all lines and is a common factor here...he was truly great.

Meier is one of the greats of our own time, and did a fine work here in Dallas, the Rachofsky house. It's one I've been intending to post on the Modern thread.

Libeskind and Gehry are very familiar, Calatrava is involved in the design of some proposed urban-scale work here, but on Hadid I draw a blank.

 

It is unbelivable how much $$$ genuine Wright artifacts command...stained and leaded glass especially, from what I've seen.

 

Zaha Hadid is an amazing architect. She was born in Baghdad, educated in Beirut and got her architectural training at the AA in London. Worked with Rem Koolhaas before starting her own firm. First burst on the stage by winning a competition to provide luxury apartments over Hong Kong in 1983 (never built). Among her points of departure the continuation of Russian Suprematist ideas - Malevich in particular. This has led to the design of numerous breakthrough buildings and the 2004 Pritzker Prize. See: http://www.designmuseum.org/design/zaha-hadid

Here are a few images quickly gleemed from the net...

Jon
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Now I've got gave Habib's full name, it does ring a bell...thanks for info, Jon.