Wright Chat

Thanks, I see them now.

I assume there are trees of some sort in Wright's plan ?

SDR

The "after" pictures are not appearing on my screen.

Ha ! I never saw the seashells. Perfect analogy. . . I'll accept any definition that can be agreed upon -- or none. It doesn't matter a lot to me -- I just thought it would be nice to agree among ourselves if possible. Like any name, it's not as relevant or important as the work it refers to. . . SDR

I do think we should be allowed the fun of figuring out for ourselves what a Usonian house is (or isn't); in any event, Wright himself isn't a lot of help in the matter. I take The Natural House (1954) as a good enough place to start; it has two chapters devoted to the subject, "The Usonian Hou...

Right. Sorry. I'm just extending the analogy, and asking where the boundary that defines "Usonian" really ends. Are all of Wright's post-war houses Usonian, and if not, which ones are definitely not Usonian. Grant ? Friedman ? Price ?

SDR

http://www.google.com/search?client=saf ... 8&oe=UTF-8

Something's not right here. Minneapolis ?

So, are any of Wright's post-war houses NOT Usonians ? If so which ones ?

SDR

Sounds like you guys have a ball with your Usonian ! What a treat -- I'll be with you in spirit.

SDR

Who knows how to Google-map ? Do we have an address ? Storrer omits Little II from his geographic listing -- because it no longer exists, I suppose.

SDR

We may never come to complete agreement about what constitutes a Usonian house. Purists might argue that a true Usonian will have some of the three-ply board-and-sunk-batten "fabric" as part of its construction. Others might balk at anything but a flat roof (or roofs). By either of these c...

Traditional Japanese building design has been based, since at least the fourteenth century, on the size of the tatami rice-straw floor mat, which is a double square, 3 x 6 feet. The mats can thus be ganged into a pattern to fill a variety of spaces. Rooms are made in 4 1/2, 6, 8 10, 12, 15 and 18-ta...

Storrer doesn't mention Wayzata at all; Edgar Tafel mentions both. My atlas shows Wayzata on the north shore of Lake Minnetonka, perhaps 15 mi west of downtown Minneapolis; Deephaven is south of the lake by 1 1/2 miles or so. Hard to believe the house can be in both places. . .

SDR

Could be -- or even vice versa. My John Lloyd Wright book shows a Lincoln Logs box and set, dated 1920; the caption reads "After leaving his father's employment in 1918, [John] supported himself by designing toys, including this popular log cabin construction kit." Thanks for the hint ! Th...

In Terry Riley's MoMA book can be found (pp 188, 194) a site plan and elevations of Hollyhock House (dated 1920), and a ground plan of the Imperial Hotel (1921), which have either a square grid or (the elevations) vertical grid lines only. The Olive Hill drawings are by Schindler. Midway Gardens, A ...