'Usonia' for sale at Lowes

[DavidC]

Frank Lloyd Wright USONIA


David

[outside in]

this is pretty cheesy - really FLW Foundation?

[SDR]

Hmm. That link takes me to "Indoor Distressed/Overdyed Bohemian/Eclectic Area Rug" made in Turkey, at Lowe's. No mention of Wright or the Foundation. What am I missing ?

Huh. A third try goes to a different Lowe's page, this time saying NO RESULTS FOUND FOR "usonia"

Stranger and stranger . . .

S

[DavidC]

Link still works for me.

Try this one to see if it takes you to listing for a 36" vanity.


David

[SDR]

Thanks, David---that works for me.

The brown stain seems an odd choice for a piece made of cherry. (And offering the furniture in only one color choice seems self-defeating, doesn't it ? Wright did not use cherry---of any color---as far as I know.) Stains help unify mis-matched wood, so staining would permit the use of some sap-wood, the lighter-colored part of the tree beneath the bark. A clear finish would necessitate using the better grade of material.

The storage tray is said to be "Taliesin West Red" in color. As Bill Schwarz recently commented to me, there must be many shades of red paint found at the Taliesins. In his time there, in the 'sixties, he says that he never heard the term Cherokee Red used; the term was Taliesin Red.

S

[SDR]

One now wonders if "Usonia" is a term that the Foundation has licensed to Lowe's (or its parent, whoever that is), or if they plan to deploy it at will, in various ways, in the future. Or, do they not own the word, and merely suggested it in the present circumstance . . .?

S

[DRN]

The Lowe’s listings for the USONIA bathroom pieces have the following note:

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT and USONIA are trademarks of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation used by permission. All rights reserved.

It would appear the FLLW Foundation has licensed a series of products with no real connection with Wright other than naming. The lines are simple, but the objects don’t appear overtly Wrightian, and I doubt Wright would endorse the use of faux marble. Wright may have used cherry in the later years, but I think it is more associated with 1980’s-1990’s FLLW licensed clocks and barrel chairs.

This situation seems similar to the case of the series of faucets from a couple of years ago. A manufacturer is using FLLW branding for a modern design that may or may not have appealed to Wright’s tastes. The faucets do create “Fallingwater” when used, so that is something.

I suppose the Foundation needs revenue just like the rest of us.

[DRN]

This could be the solution to the Foundation's finances in perpetuity....
Think of it, Ford Mo Co could offer a FLLW series Lincoln SUV! The body is painted in one of the several Cherokee Reds that have been recorded, all selected from paint layer analysis of Wright's own '40 Continental. The dash board would have a genuine imitation tidewater cypress accent panel, possibly with a CGI generated laser etched perf (no two alike!). The upholstery would be genuine naugahyde embroidered with geometric patterns selected from the Schumacher fabric lines. Even the video ads could have a CGI of Wright saying "I like what they've done to my car."....ok, so Ricardo Montalban said that in 1980 about the Cordoba, but you get my point.

But wait there's more! What about the FLLW series from SubZero???! No stainless steel; only brushed brass or antiqued bronze finishes with your choice of redwood, cypress, or quarter sawn white oak veneer inserts. With the optional Froebel ice maker you can have not just ice cubes, but also spheres, cylinders, and cones!

[Roderick Grant]

Should that be "Lincoln SVU"? They could be blood red and include a date with the comely Mariska Hargitay.
Naugahyde? I thought the nauga went extinct long ago. If they've survived, they shouldn't be sacrificed for upholstery!
For playful ice 'forms' the tetrahedron would be better than spheres, cylinders or cones; tetrahedrons can be stacked.

[SDR]

Stacked ice tetrahedrons---to make "Wright-inspired" neo-Usonian® igloos, with Prairie-era stained "ice-screens" guaranteed to last fifteen minutes at temperatures between 32 and 38 degrees F.

S

[DavidC]

Through Lines Series


David

[DavidC]

USONIA by Greentouch, the Through Lines Collection - (0:59)

USONIA by Greentouch, the Through Lines series: From Sketch to Product - (0:18)


David

[outside in]

What baffles me is that the arrangement of vertical wood pieces is an attempt to replicate Wright's wooden screens, which he sometimes used to as a subtle separation between interior spaces as well as the back of chairs and other furniture prior to the '20's - i.e. prairie school. The use of the vertical wood pieces on the front of a vanity (with no apparent visual function) had nothing to do with USONIA - can anyone name a building after 1935 where the wooden screen was used????

[Reidy]

Fallingwater guest house, but you could say that such a lavish project isn't Usonian.

[SDR]

There are a few instances of screens made of vertical boards of various dimensions, often set on a bias, such as at Mathews and at the Wright/Green office in San Francisco, or exterior to the building, as at Arnold or Reisley, both near the carport. A few of these are flat planes of alternating wide and narrow elements (Arnold exterior, Tonkens interior), but most are pushing into the third dimension in a way that the architect wasn't yet doing in the early years.

But this begs John's question: none of these is like the Prairie-era screens and chairs he cites, made of small-section square spindles arrayed in a plane. Thus, the "Usonia" label is inapt on its face. And of course he's correct that there's no function to the Lowe's cabinet "spindles."

And does this mean that Lowe's or its parent now has exclusive commercial use of the term Usonia ?

S