Virtual Summit, Pauline Saliga, Charnley: LHS vs FLW

[Roderick Grant]

Who wants to throw the first bomb?

[Paul Ringstrom]

Roderick,
I am not sure I am the rock thrower that you were looking for, but the connection that was made by Bryan between the Charnley House and the Guggenheim was interesting.

I think Wright was fascinated with light from above. Just off the top of my head I can add Unity Temple. VC Morris, many of the Prairie Houses that had skylights in the ceiling of their second floor living rooms, and the clerestory windows in his Usonians to that list.

There was a story I heard that Wright wanted the ceiling of the City National Bank to be skylights but the client wanted revenue generating office space above and Wright had to settle for what I would call Prairie clerestories in the upper wall of the bank space to provide that light from "above."

[SDR]

One wants to ask why Wright didn't include a skylight in his Oak Park drafting room. Perhaps the answer is that direct sunlight on the drafting board isn't conducive to good drawing ?




Insights I gained from this conversation include the idea that Wright's early house plans owe something to Richardson -- and that the interior environment of the Charnley house is really something to be savored.

I was also pleased to see the house consistently referred to by its client's name alone, by one of the parties.

SDR

[Macrodex]

Insights I gained from this conversation include the idea that Wright's early house plans owe something to Richardson

I could glean that he owed some of the colors Richardson used to his own work, and the entrance to the art gallery in San Francisco uses the same arch-style Richardson used in the Glessner house.



I've always liked Richardson's homes.

[SDR]

I've always been pleased that Wright found something of value in Richardson's work. Pioneers owe, and often pay, respect to others of their kind . . . ?

The elemental geometry of the Roman arch surely appealed to our Young Man; see for instance his studio fireplace, above.

H H Richardson left us too soon. Perhaps he had made his statement. It would have been interesting to see what he did next, however.

SDR

[Roderick Grant]

The building I would compare to Charnley is Heller; they are basically the same concept at different scales. The axial relationship between dining room, stair hall and living room in each is the same. Heller doesn't have a skylight, but it does feature a magnificent wall of art glass in the stairwell.