Help Put Wright's Call Building Model Back At Taliesin

SpringGreen · Post by **SpringGreen** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 11:52 am

DRN: I know I've read the Christmas/New Year's, too (but I can't remember where I've read it either). Tafel wrote that it was taken on FLW's birthday, but that's the trouble with Tafel - he was correct about 66% of the time, so you always miss the times he was wrong.

Although FLW must have had nicer heat in the house in 1924 than later, because they're all looking pretty comfortable for a WI winter night, which also makes me think June 8.

DRN · Post by **DRN** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 12:36 pm

If I remember correctly, the baby on floor in the photo is a Neutra. From a quick Googling, I found the Neutra's had three sons: Frank, Dion, and Raymond. Frank was born in 1924, Dion in 1926, and Raymond in 1939:

http://www.neutrahistory.org/home/who-l ... n-the-past

http://www.neutrahistory.org/home/who-l ... -1924-2006

Knowing in what month Frank Neutra was born might answer in what month the photo was taken, if we can hazard to guess the age of the baby.

Found the birthdate in Chat:
http://www.savewright.org/wright_chat/v ... 5b58886ab1

January 4, 1924.

To date the picture, does the baby appear to be 6 months old or 11 months old?

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 4:12 pm

This building has been high on my list to model for LandmarkModel.com. I need to master 3D printing as I think that's the only way it could be done effectively.

How were models made of plaster? IS a mold made and the plaster cast with some sort of reinforcement?

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 6:08 pm

Retype your last sentence, Matt, and I may be able to respond . . .

SDR

SpringGreen · Post by **SpringGreen** » Fri Oct 23, 2015 10:53 am

I asked others (parents & someone who asked a nurse) & their consensus was that Frank Neutra (the baby) looks closer to 6 months old in that photograph, rather than 11 months old.

So I think we can conclude that the photograph was taken on FLW's birthday in 1924.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Fri Oct 23, 2015 11:00 am

3D printing would be a good way to go, for a small model, I would think. But any repetitive form can be cast in pieces with a mold, and assembled. I still wonder to what extent molds were reused at Unity Temple, as Wright suggested; certainly detailed portions, if not whole facades . . . ?

SDR

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Fri Oct 23, 2015 11:38 am

Safe to say all the ornamental work at Unity Temple was cast from molds. Some early photos of the lower walls show the sort of layer-lines that come when cement is poured into a frame and allowed to dry before the next layer is poured. This process must have been a recurring process in Wright's work. I read somewhere that Price Tower took so long to build due to the time waiting for each layer to dry. Same with Guggenheim. Schindler did something interesting with this process in that he had a form that lifted and each layer was poured to a consistent thickness marked by a horizontal groove. So there was no erratic mottled layer lines, but a consistent groove-line that was part of the design.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Fri Oct 23, 2015 2:08 pm

Is McCoy the only author to have reproduced this drawing ?

It would appear that Schindler determined that "roofing" was a useful mold release -- or was he only interested in a texture ?

SDR

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 1:14 pm

There are no photos of Unity Temple ornamental work in molds, but there is that interesting photo of the building during construction in "The Early Work," i.e. the 1911 Ausge book, page 2.

SDR · Post by **SDR** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 2:30 pm

As in . . .

AusgefÃ¼hrte Bauten, p 2

AusgefÃ¼hrte Bauten, p 11

Matt · Post by **Matt** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 4:31 pm

Note the wave-like dry-lines of where the different layers of concrete were set downâ€¦at least I think that is what those things are. The last time I was at the buildingâ€¦15 years go or soâ€¦it seems the entire structure had been covered in some sort of stucco with a sandpaper texture. (Oddly enough, I went to Johnson Wax on the same trip and also saw some of the lily-pad columns coated with the same stucco).

Are there any surviving documents as to the construction of this and other buildings? Who did the concrete work? What was their formula? What was the calendar of construction?

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 5:19 pm

Below is my, work in progress, model of the Call Building.

DavidC · Post by **DavidC** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 5:29 pm

Hello, Jeff:

Your model is looking very good. Thanks for posting it. And, it's good to see you on here again.

David

Jeff Myers · Post by **Jeff Myers** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 6:03 pm

Thank you David.
I've been monitoring the site. I'm glad to be back.

Back to the subject, I hope to gather more info on the design. There are some areas of questioning that I can't tell.

Roderick Grant · Post by **Roderick Grant** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 6:08 pm

Jeff, what is your source for details?

Wright Chat

Help Put Wright's Call Building Model Back At Taliesin

Photo in Taliesin living room

Age of Frank Neutra