Wright Chat

David · Joined: 27 Sep 2016 Posts: 134 Location: Madrid, Spain

Hello again!

I'm back with a new set of renders of a never built FLLW design, the house for E.A. Smith:

More information about this project here:

http://www.hookedonthepast.com/smith-house/

I hope you like it!
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David Romero
www.hookedonthepast.com

Rood · Posted: Mon May 08, 2017 6:49 pm Post subject:

Incredible, David Absolutely incredible.

I'm just trying to get my head around how the house would appear from the inside, with those unbelievably tall and enormously steep roofs ... both in the living-dinning area, and in the bedrooms, too.

Now that my interest has been piqued by your wonderful images, I'll have to search for the existence of sections.

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 17334 Location: San Francisco

David, David, David . . .

Of course I like it ! What a great choice: a design we've probably all missed or ignored, until now ?

In Taschen II (p 104-5) editor Pfeiffer makes much of the rendered view, "occupying the complete sheet of paper." This 1938 (?) colored-pencil drawing is enough like the suite of impressive images representing the Lake Tahoe summer colony at Emerald Bay, of 1922 (Wright/Hitchcock), or mid-1923 (Sweeney; Pfeiffer), to have come from that seminal effort.

While the original rendering does suggest a pinkish hue to both wood and masonry -- in keeping, at least, with fresh-cut redwood -- the uniform pink of your model is a bit too uniform to be believable, in my view -- though that may have been an intentional choice on your part. Darkening or dulling the Desert Masonry just enough to distinguish it as a separate material would remove that objection -- do you think ?

I do hope that we'll see the interiors of this house, in due course. It's a very exciting addition to the catalog of images of Wright's unbuilt work, and once again we thank you.

Rood -- section drawings appear among the material David presents on his linked page. You're right; those sections are vital to understanding the entirety of this structure.

SDR

Roderick Grant · Joined: 29 Mar 2006 Posts: 9044

There's also the built Davis House which has been posted somewhere on FLWBC Chat. The bedroom wing isn't as spectacular, but the living room is.

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 17334 Location: San Francisco

In fact, the Davis house was in our sights just yesterday:

http://wrightchat.savewright.org/viewtopic.php?t=9143

More:

http://wrightchat.savewright.org/viewtopic.php?t=5827&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=45&sid=bdcc8868784828e67c6bdadab46a504d

I find this Piedmont Pines project considerably more exciting than the Davis "Fir Tree" house . . .

SDR

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 17334 Location: San Francisco

In aid of further study, here are images published in Taschen, "Frank Lloyd Wright 1917 -1942" and in A.D.A. EDITA, "Frank Lloyd Wright Monograph 1937-1941" (Vol. 6).

David · Joined: 27 Sep 2016 Posts: 134 Location: Madrid, Spain

Thank you!

SDR: I appreciate the suggestions to differentiate the materials, I had not noticed the little contrast they offer.

Rood: I still have to work inside.

One thing that strikes me is the fact that there are no perforations to illuminate that dramatic fireplace with natural light, such as they exist in Nakoma Country Club with those beautiful stained glass:

The interior ceiling of the bedrooms is also a bit disappointing, as it´s a flat ceiling which does not let you see that spectacular roof from the inside, (although it makes the rooms easier to heat, I suposse)

The drawings I have scanned can be seen here with enough resolution to read the texts:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/143771393@N04/
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David Romero
www.hookedonthepast.com

David · Joined: 27 Sep 2016 Posts: 134 Location: Madrid, Spain

SDR, thanks for the drawings, I did not know the first floor plan that you have linked. It presents what seems a more evolved design of the floor plan, with the hallway to access the bedrooms in the upper part of the drawing
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David Romero
www.hookedonthepast.com

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 17334 Location: San Francisco

Yes. It appears that the more coherent plan reflects what's seen in the section drawings. I'm sorry this plan wasn't available to you from the start.

Anybody want to hazard a guess about why the parallel walls to the first bedroom and the hall appear to be identical ? Perhaps what appears to be glazing is actually opaque ?

SDR

DRN · Joined: 10 Jul 2006 Posts: 3713 Location: Cherry Hill, NJ

Yet another incredible set of images from David....many thanks for creating these!

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 17334 Location: San Francisco

The landscaping is beyond what's found on most digital modeling, in my limited experience. Realistic conifers, rather than boring "Christmas trees" . . .

This has to be one of Wright's more extravagant designs, in terms of material-to-square-footage ratio. It certainly has the attic to end all attics , compared to every other Usonian !

S

Reidy · Joined: 07 Jan 2005 Posts: 1492 Location: Fremont CA

Seconding everybody's admiration. Do we have the address of the lot? I wonder if Oakland was as wild as that even in 1922. It's up in the hills, so it could have been.

David · Joined: 27 Sep 2016 Posts: 134 Location: Madrid, Spain

SDR · Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 17334 Location: San Francisco

It should be remembered that the presentation of a house by either an architect or a realtor might exclude portions of the surrounding context, including "distracting" neighboring buildings.

Here are historic photos of the Oakland/Berkeley hills; dates are given.

Tom · Posted: Tue May 09, 2017 8:34 pm Post subject:

My guess regarding almost identical parallel walls of Master Bed and Exterior Wall of hallway is that the Master Bed wall is a clerestory/perf run.
Maybe same for exterior wall too?
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