Unitarian Meeting House benches

[Paul Ringstrom]

http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/6120343

somehow these managed to get to Germany.

[SDR]

Any idea why these were made to fold ? Or was that just an easy way to build them ?

The church could have provided emergency bedding with these in place. . .


SDR

[peterm]

i'm not sure, but it is easier to move them around with the fold. i have one of these, and that old doug fir 3/4" ply is very heavy. there are single chairs, double low (which sit on stairs), and a higher double. is there a triple pew?

[Palli Davis Holubar]

It's been a long time...but I remember being three abreast on benches.

[DavidC]

I recently picked up one of these - a "Low Bench". Here is some of the information I received about the benches along with my purchase:

"Design:

.....Because the auditorium narrows toward the front and has raised, step-like areas at each side, custom-designed seating is essential. Four different versions of the basic bench design are required to accommodate the unusual conditions.


Construction:

Component parts, sized to allow for full use of 4' x 8' sheets of plywood, were precut at Taliesin and assembled at the Meeting House by apprentices working under Wright's direction in 1951


Dimensions:

REGULAR BENCH--seat, 21" deep x 42" wide, the sharpness of the two front corners softened by a diagonal cut. Back, 16" high x 42" wide, with 2 1/2" taper from lower edge of top. Height, floor to top of seat 13 1/4". 11 1/4" riser, 1" runner, plus 3/4" thickness of plywood. Rear support, 5" wide strip below the seat the width of the bench.

LOW BENCH--same as "regular" in all dimensions except that legs are 4" high without the riser. Height, floor to top of seat, 5 3/4".

SINGLE--seat 21" square, except for diagonal cuts at the front corners. Distance between two "legs" is 10 1/2", plus recessed supporting board that goes almost to the floor.

EXTRA LONG--seat 21" deep x 90 1/4" wide. Back 14" high x 79 3/4" wide. Height same as for regular and single.


Use:

The benches have provided the primary seating for the congregation for over thirty years (when this text was written), proving to be very adaptable to the multiple and varied uses of the auditorium space. Because they were never permanently installed, the have been rearranged for weddings, reversed for activities centered in the Hearth Room at the rear, used facing the side for plays, grouped with individual tables (also designed by Wright) to provide for dinner seating, and used with a multiple-table arrangement for committee or group meetings."

Any idea why these were made to fold ?

Perhaps they were designed to fold purely for ease of multiple-use transportation?

It's been a long time...but I remember being three abreast on benches.

Having test sat in our bench with my wife, sitting three across in this size (42" width) would make for rather instant (and intimate) acquaintance. Could you have been sitting in the Extra Long (90 1/4" wide) version, perhaps?


David

[Rood]

Any idea why these were made to fold ? Or was that just an easy way to build them ? The church could have provided emergency bedding with these in place. . .SDR

"During a weekend early in August (1951), I drew up a seating plan for the church similar to that shown on the preliminary drawings and designed a two-person seating unit for it. Mr. Wright approved this seating plan and unit. The seating unit was based on the use of four-by-eight sheets of three-quarter-inch plywood. Each unit was four feet wide. The back rest was hinged to the seat and held in an upright position by chains attached at the ends of the back and seat. Thin seat and back cushions, covered with an inexpensive fabric, were to be attached to the plywood.

"I was quite pleased with the design of the seating unit. It made very economical use of the plywood. A truckload of plywood was taken to the mill where the pieces were cut out and a truckload of pieces was hauled away. The only waste was the sawdust created by the cutting. These units were assembled, finished, and upholstered by the crew working on the church."

Curtis Besinger: Working With Mr. Wright: What It Was Like Cambridge University Press. C. 1995, p 231

[SDR]

So . . . that doesn't necessarily answer my question. However, I have often mused that a hinge can be as easy and secure a way of fastening two panels together, as an other -- with the added benefit of accommodating an odd or unknown angle.

SDR

[Unbrook]

Another one of the benches sold in March at Wright 20 in Chicago. The preauction estimate was 1,000-1,500 and it sold for $2125.00. The uppholstery seemed to be in better shape on those--these seem to be rather threadbare

[Rood]

So . . . that doesn't necessarily answer my question. However, I have often mused that a hinge can be as easy and secure a way of fastening two panels together, as an other -- with the added benefit of accommodating an odd or unknown angle.SDR

Don't know, but it seems obvious that for an architect to take things in hand at his own expense, an architect nearly as "hard-up" as the congregation and builder (both flat broke), that he'd design furniture that would be relatively light, simple to build, and inexpensive. Anything other than ordinary hinges and chains would add considerable cost and excessive weight to the "pews". Anyone who has been in an ordinary church knows that the usual commercially designed and built pews are extraordinarily heavy ... and rather expensive. What congregation today would be satisfied with pews built from 4 x 8 sheets of plywood?

Which reminds: the pews of the First Christian Church in Phoenix ... built in the 70's from Mr. Wright's design ... are covered with the same carpet used on the floor.

[SDR]

I'm glad to hear that last. I like the idea of carpet as seating surface, and see it almost never. I wonder if the users are pleased by it . . .


S

[ozwrightfan]

If not I'm sure the church cat would enjoy using the pew as a scratching post.

[SDR]

There you go !

I suppose the surface would be an improvement on hardwood. I wonder if one would use carpet padding, or even more upholstery, under the carpet.

S

[MichaelFarley]

Hi, new here from Australia and do you think that we could get the bedding, quilt etc and space in Church?

[jmcnally]

Hi, new here from Australia and do you think that we could get the bedding, quilt etc and space in Church?

possibly, depending on intent

[peterm]

http://m.ebay.com/itm/AUTHENTIC-MID-CEN ... iid%253A25