Favorite Unbuilt Design?

[Deke]

Just for the fun of it, let's take a poll on what unbuilt FLW design you'd most like to see constructed. I'll start the bidding by opening with my fav Prairie design, the great Booth house of 1909.

[Eric Saed]

What a great question!



In terms of what I could conceivably afford, I have always had an affection for the original cottage design for Dr. Arnold. I also have really liked Wainer project.



I would have liked to see more Erdman Prefabs built.



As far as large projects go, it would have been interesting to see "Alladin", the Gillin II house built.

[tonydeardorff]

Deke, I was just telling my wife not two nights ago that if I had the opportunity the Booth House would be my ultimate dream house. It is simply amazing looking.

[Ed Jarolin]

On the public side, the project for the Arizona State Capitol has been

a long time favorite. Quite unlike anything else unless one considers the

conceptual similarity to Beth Sholom; both under a translucent tent as it

were.

In the residential realm, the second V.C. Morris design (not the

pharaoh's beard) would have been spectacular.

[SDR]

. . .Maybe the little Usonian neighborhood that would have surrouded the Goetsch-Winkler. . .



And one certainly would have wanted to see San Marcos-in-the-Desert, entire -- with the two or three private residences designed at the same time.



SDR

[Roderick Grant]

The tiny house FLW designed for his sister Maginel is a true, pure masterpiece. It was transmogrified into the McCartney and Anthony Houses, but the original was superior in its simplicity.

[Mark Hertzberg]

People in Racine wish the unbuilt YWCA (1949-50) would be built here, as originally proposed. The Racine Heritage Museum talked to Taliesin Architects about adapting the plan for a proposed new facility several years ago, but the cost was too high (the new building never came to pass, anyway). The commission was from H.F. Johnson, Jr., who commissioned the SC Johnon buildings and Wingspread, among others.



Mark Hertzberg

[JimM]

I always found the Cutten house interesting. Designed about the same time as Taliesin (1912) and of similar materials. Like Taliesin, it was a bridge between the more formal (and stuccoed) prairies and the later works that experimented more with spatial, material and environmental elements.



And yes, the Booth House would be very important had it been built.

[rightwaswright]

McCormick Estate.



The rendering in the Wasmuth Portfolio is magnificent.

[Palli Davis Holubar]

I would have liked to see the 1928 design for the Rosenwald Laboratory School on the Hampton College campus. The courtyard with its alliteration of the high A-frame peaks on 3 sides and the symbolism of important modern design on a campus dedicated to craftsmanship and scholarship. Not to mention, it would have scandalized cousin Richard Lloyd Jones and its construction would have offered FLW the opportunity to dispell some of his own ignorant prejudice. Art can change lives... well, maybe the Richard Lloyd Jones Residence (1929) wouldn't have happened... life's a tradeoff... but I'd sooner have had FLW more humane on the race scorecard. Palli Davis Holubar

[Unbrook]

The Marilyn Monroe/Arthur Miller house design in Connecticut would get my vote. Not only does the celebrity factor enter into the decision, but

it is a wonderfully elegant floor plan.

[Reidy]

I ought to say the house for Ayn Rand just because I admire her so much and because it would have made a great story, but it really wasn't one of Wright's best. Perhaps this is because he (quite rightly) suspected that they wouldn't build. Instead I'll cast another vote for Mc Cormick, with mention also to Lusk, a proto-Usonian for Huron SD, and the Doheny Ranch development.



Peter

[DRN]

I'd like to see the 30/30/120 trianglular floor plan house offered to Clifton, Jankowski, and Gross in the 1950's constructed. Per my reading of the Monographs, this appears to be one of the few post WWII recurring house types that was not built. The fact that Wright offered it to three clients leads me to believe Wright thought it had merit and should be built.

When I was single, I thought it would make a good Bachelor pad;I still think it is a good design.

[guestnow]

The Baghdad projects taken as a whole.

[Mark Hertzberg]

Edgar Tafel quippd once that Wright and Wes Peters were leaving Baghdad, confident of having secured the commission, and Peters turned to Wright and said, "It's in the bag, Dad."



Mark Hertzberg