Wright Chat

On a visit to Johnson's glass house in New Canaan, Frank Lloyd Wright walked in, took of his hat, put his hat back on, took it off again, put it on again, and said: "I don't know whether to take my hat off or put it on."

Wright's spaces are magical, and it's hard to imagine any other architect competing with him on that score. But other architects as diverse as Lutyens, MacIntosh, Tsien/Williams, Rapson or Hardenburgh have shown sensitivity to site, scale and materials on a par with the master. Aalto's Villa Mairia,...

I would not say that FLW steadfastly ignored views, but he would not compromise his designs to accommodate them. At Walker, for instance, the view is of one of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, yet there are built-in seats along the outside wall aimed at the fireplace, away from the view. ...

The Lewis House is a major masterpiece, a modest version of which was the original scheme offered to Dean Malcolm Willey. Willey couldn't afford the larger house, so FLW gave him another masterpiece.

Americans of the past: Bertram Grovesner Goodhue, Eliel Saarinen and Benjamin Thompson; Current: Will Bruder, Lorcan O'Herlihy and Steven Badanes; Outside USA of the past: Alvar Aalto, Frei Otto and Pierre Chareau; Current: Sverre Fehn, J

Johnson said anything that popped into his head whether it was sensient or not, just yammering for the sake of yammering. Nothing he said should be taken any more seriously than his architecture or his sponsorship of the likes of Stern, Graves or Gehry. Remember, this is the man who found Hitler to ...

Congratulations and good luck. Maya Moran, former owner of Tomek once said "Frank Lloyd Wright houses don't need owners; they need mothers." Treat Turkel like a beloved child. I agree and disagree with RJH. First, I have known Larry Brink for a long time; he is dedicated to "The Cause...

Visits to both make the similarity between Sturges and Sanders obvious, but also the difference. Whenever FLW started a line, the early expression was lyric (Sturges, Jacobs I, Jacobs II) followed by classic (Rosenbaum), and if taken too far, could devolve into baroque (Sanders), but thankfully neve...

The first hemicycle built was Jacobs II, which is one of the top ten designs of the late era. Of the Marden type, a curved south wall of glass in a rectilinear masonry house with a closed north wall, the best by far is Laurent in Rockford, IL. It has better proportions than Marden, Winn or Spencer. ...

I suppose the "Dorothy" and "Wizard" bit was just too obvious to pass up, but the writer didn't follow through convincingly. The fact of the Usonian Automatics is that Turkel is the only one built that is in bad shape, and that's due mostly to deferred or improper maintenance (Ad...

One minor adjustment: At the end of the enclosed yard, the wall is partially open. The battens are in place, but three boards are removed. The top board, almost all the way across, the second, not so much, and the bottom of the three slightly less. There is a published view of this, but I'm not sure...

While the complaints about the price of Heurtley may be justified, and about Gertz, thoroughly warrented, $3,750,000 for Lovness is definitely a good buy. If I had the money, I would jump on it in a trice. Very few of FLW's houses are as magnificently sited or perfectly realized.

I don't see it. I don't see Frank Lloyd Wright. I don't see Royal Berry Wills. Just a lot of expensive material tortured into a huge, grotesque mess that bears no resemblance to anything any good architect of the 20th Century had to offer. Some of the other designs by this firm, such as Winnick and ...

For a graver Graves design, see the new Target Wing appended to the Kenzo Tange appendix to the McKim, Mead & White original of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. I don't know what the interior looks like, but from the outside it looks appropriately Midwestern in its reserve. The splashy days of...

The Graves house looks like an overblown version of the regency style remodelled cottages of West Hollywood from the 60s. That both Wright and Graves (not to mention Jefferson) received the AIA Gold Medal just proves how capricious their standards are. Great architecture stands the test of time; Gra...