Wright Chat

Wright stacked 2x4's in many Usonians - he was able to use extremely long pieces of lumber at a much cheaper price (try pricing 20 ft. long 2x12's)... carpenters would nail 1x2's on the sides to hold them together for construction purposes but I don't believe they were ever glued, i.e. laminated tog...

here are some pictures of the wall construction. Its my understanding that sea grass was collected in the fall on the shores of the Atlantic and used for packing - I think that these "bricks" of packing material were used to secure the terra cotta for shipping. Gates must have realized that he had a...

Although Tim did great things restoring the Balch House, his real passion was a house called "Trails End" built by William Gates in the '20's https://i905.photobucket.com/albums/ac251/outsideinphotos/trails%20end/history_zpsfnumr3tm.jpg Located not far from the Northwestern Terra Cotta plant in Terr...

Tim will be missed - one of the great fans of architecture and Wright and a wonderful man.

thank goodness they were not laid up dry - the steel would be completely rusted by now.
We found that all of the joints were "buttered" on the opposing surfaces.

at the Winn House, the blocks were each 3 inches thick with an air space between. In some cases (such as in the raised roof over the bathrooms) the walls consisted of a single wythe of block. We had to rebuild the walls because of poor flashing details and deterioration. The blocks were made by a lo...

kind of a snarky response, no?

occasionally you have to fess up to the fact that some buildings are difficult to repurpose for use as a house, no matter how "sensitive" the work. I would venture to say that this is one of them. At the same time, I'm certain we all feel nothing but extreme sympathy for the owners that undertook th...

you must be kidding Roderick - PLENTY of sticking going on

I don't think the illustration showing the textile block system is the same method used on the usonian automatics - they were comprised of a single wythe of 3-1/2 inch thick custom block - which of course is impossible to insulate. Furthermore, the chamfered edges are essentially an invitation for w...

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I once thought that Prince Charles was off base for his suggestion that England continue its practice of neoclassicism but after recent visits to London I've come to the conclusion that his statements were quite reasonable. Contemporary English Architects have created some absolutely dreadful buildi...

The art of the Third Reich was the government-approved art produced in Nazi Germany between 1933 and 1945. Upon becoming dictator in 1933, Adolf Hitler gave his personal artistic preference the force of law to a degree rarely known before. In the case of Germany, the model was to be classical Greek ...

I doubt if his "base" gives a *** about architecture. I have a feeling this is something concocted by our president to stick a needle in the eye of the "liberal socialists" who are concerned about our culture and the arts.