Article: New visitor's center planned for Home & Studio

[Roderick Grant]

Hans, fix what needs to be fixed, but do it in an appropriate way. Our concern was the quality of the original plan, not that there was a plan. Your cancer analogy is flawed: If one has cancer, one gets chemo and radiation, not acupuncture or aspirin. Fixing the Home & Studio's problems seems to be to sideline the reason for the preservation of the house in favor of creating a (marginally) related entity entirely separate of the house.

By the way, if a major construction project is to be undertaken, make part of it the removal of the extension of the fence that wraps around Anna's House; it implies that the Victorian structure was part of the original plan, which could not be further from the truth.

I also take issue with your assumption that all we do is sit at our computers and type. Over the decades, even before the preservation movement had gained momentum, I worked on preservation and restoration projects on 3 FLW and 1 Schindler houses without remuneration. This site may be all you see of us, but we do get up from our desks once in a while.

[DavidC]

From the OAK PARK HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION - ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW GUIDELINES :

"The purpose for architectural review is to protect the unique visual qualities of a building and its site that
define their sense of history from inappropriate proposed alterations that will reduce that sense. The basic
principles of review are to determine that the following qualities of the building and site are compatible
with both the building in question and its neighborhood context:
1. Siting
2. Massing
3. Scale
4. Materials
5. Street rhythm"

The proposed buildings, as designed, would seem to be completely incompatible with its neighborhood context in all 5 qualities.


David

[outside in]

that's why Preservation Commission guidelines are considered by many to be outdated and inappropriate - lol - I'm sure these same guidelines would not allow any home designed by Wright after 1936 in the historic district of Oak Park

[jay]

Looking at the newest site plan, the "pavillion" suggests a nice, well-placed building that seems hard to make any complaints over. However, I question the "studio" portion, as it runs right up to the street in a manner that, due to its stylistic digression, would probably "feel" improper in its contextual placement. Offsetting it a bit farther back from the curb might help? Tuck it in, no?

The site map also suggests that this maximized-rectangular motif is, in plan, at odds with the proportions and shaped "softness" of the buildings that surround it... Questions of style aside, can this plan be further enhanced to "fit" better? I'd think yes, particularly with the proposed "studio" placement and size.

[DavidC]

Frank Lloyd Wright Trust plans Learning Center expansion


David