If you could ask a question of FLLW, what would you ask?

[DRN]

You are at a FLWBC Conference, and between sessions you are approached by a neatly dressed thin man with a narrow tie and a crew cut...he has more than a passing resemblance to Rod Serling. He holds out a Cherokee Red cell phone and says, “Would you like to ask him a question?� You say “Him?� He says, “Yes, Frank Lloyd Wright.� You say “Ok, anything?� Rod says, “Anything, but be advised he has no knowledge of the world after April 9, 1959.� Rod says this is (your name) into the phone and hands it to you. At the other end, you hear a throat clear, and a mature man’s voice say, “Well, what is on your mind?�

What would you ask Mr. Wright?

[SDR]

So -- it would be pointless to ask him about anything that's occurred since his death ?

Well, that removes from the table a great number of interesting queries, doesn't it. Still, there's much else to discuss -- or to get his comments on, I should say.

I'm most interested in him as a designer. Perhaps it would be a chance for him, if he could muster it, to pass judgement on himself as a designer. What
did he accomplish that particularly pleased him in the making -- and/or after it was built ? What did he leave undone ? Where did he fit into the larger
scheme of Twentieth-century architecture ? What was his finest "I'll-show-them !" moment . . . ?

SDR

[Rood]

Yes, SDR, except Mr. Wright already answered that question. When Mike Wallace asked him what he thought was his best building, his best design, he said:

"The next one".

[SDR]

Heh. "Sorry, Mr Wright, but a one-word answer -- and a cliché at that -- won't cut it at the Pearly Gates . . . !"

SDR

[DavidC]

First I would ask, "In what ways do you forsee residential design changing going forward?"

If I had a follow-up I would ask, "Is Olga truly the best individual to entrust with your legacy - and all that you will be leaving behind?"


David

[Roderick Grant]

But SDR, FLW would expect St. Peter to come through to his side of the gate, so a cliché wouldn't matter.

[Roderick Grant]

A better situation would be if FLW were alive today to comment on the state of things. Would he eschew Beethoven in favor of hard rock or hip-hop? What would he say about Michael Graves, Zaha Hadid or Frank Gehry? Would he still have his bread toasted "on one side only, please"? What would Taliesin and T-West look like after an additional 59 years of his tinkering?

[SDR]

It's time to ask Dan why he chose to frame the question as he did. If we can speak to Mr Wright today, why would it be assumed -- or stipulated -- that he had (has) no knowledge of matters that occurred after his departure from the land of the living ?

I'm sure there's a reason; I'd like to know what it is. In any event, the pursuit is justified, certainly, and might lead to enlightenment, if only of what we think of Frank Lloyd Wright today.

SDR

[peterm]

Are you still convinced that an unprotected rowlock course is the best cap for a chimney or exterior parapet wall, especially in midwestern climates?

And:

How would you feel if someone decided to exhume your remains and move them from Spring Green to Scottsdale after your death and burial?

[SDR]

Now we're getting somewhere . . .

SDR

[JimM]

Did you use something similar to the exterior plaster color of Taliesin 1 anywhere else?

[jay]

Mr. Wright, if you (hypothetically) agreed to design a house which required you to omit a traditional fireplace, what approach might you take? Would you look to replace the "hearth" with some different kind of centerpiece in the great room?

(This question I was actually considering posting a thread on, to see what ideas the "chatters" might have....)

[SREcklund]

"Explain to me how you can call Wingspread 'the last prairie house' and Miniatura 'the first usonian'"

[Kelly Johnston]

"Mr. Wright, please list for us those projects that went out into the world from your studio 'without benefit of clergy'."

[DRN]

I thought of this scenario sometime ago when asked the age old question, “Who would you like to share a meal with, living or dead?�. The person who asked the question said she already knew the answer would be FLLW. I actually thought dinner with Wright would be a frustrating exercise as he would likely monopolize the conversation and just preach and proclaim. I thought of the Twilight Zoneish “ask the Master� phone as a means to be able to “get a word in� so to speak. The “in his lifetime� stipulation was in order to see what others might want to ask about Wright’s life and work, rather than simply delve into the wildly hypothetical of how he might view a world that succeeded his own....that has been done already on a myriad of topics.
I liked the question about where he wanted his remains to remain.

I thought I might ask him about his early days as an independent architect, when he was experimenting, and looking for his own grammar...What was the story of the Williams house? What was his inspiration, and why did he redesign the dormers so soon after the initial build?
How much did he collaborate with Cecil Corwin before Cecil’s departure for NY in the mid’90’s?
What was the spark that generated the two houses in Kankakee which seemed to bring him into his mature style?
I’d also like to compare notes with him about certain buildings and places in Rome...the city is eternal; we saw many of the same things 75 years apart. I don’t believe he would be dismissive of what he saw...Italy changed him.