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I came upon this declaration in a newsletter I receive from a group called Esoteric Tours. They conduct a variety of tours in SoCal, and are generally thought to be reputable.
Has any one here ever heard of Robert Stacy Judd or seen any of his buildings in SoCal? Has anyone ever heard of a previous reference to this claim of Stacy Judd's supposed influence on FLW? Was Wright even aware of this person and/or his work?
Aztec Hotel. Though really Mayan in decoration, this 1924 Robert Stacy Judd-designed gem in the San Gabriel Valley's crown is becoming the place again to get your kicks. Judd's buildings in Southern California were an important influence on Frank Lloyd Wright's Mayan houses.
Wright's first Mayan-looking building was the German Warehouse, ten years before the hotel. By 1924 he had worked it for what it was worth to him and was moving on.
The quote that begins this thread should be amended to read:
"...Judd's buildings in Southern California were an important contrast to Frank Lloyd Wright's Mayan houses."
Admittedly with only this building to see, Judd's work seems to represent "applied decoration" despite its casting while Wright's textile blocks and Usonian Automatic blocks achieve "integral ornamentation". Most importantly, the handwork scale of each block. Although the blocks create monumental effect, the patterning from the grid recalls the building process. The A.D. German Warehouse unit designs do not drape over the facade it is the facade. Judd's decoration, although integral, with its flowing lines and almost uniform bas relief depth, does not visually translate that way, even as it turns the corner. Wright understood there is a meaningful psychological confidence in the visual unity of structure and decoration that translates into trust- a deep seated, but under-recognized element of architectural appreciation.
A sidebar- the image Peter sends us to seems more akin to the false facades of Main Street storefronts or considering it's home, more specifically, Hollywood frontier town stages.
Judd built a lot of commercial structures (not familiar with any residential versions) using the same Aztec/Mayan blocks, such as a store on Hollywood Blvd at Las Palmas, remnants of a demolished structure that once stood on Santa Monica at Vista, another in Silverlake near Sunset ... on and on, all using the same exact blocks over and over again. Mostly they are boxes with decorated blocks. Architecturally, they are not very interesting, except by comparison to the thousands of bland commercial buildings that surround them.
Judd built a lot of commercial structures (not familiar with any residential versions) using the same Aztec/Mayan blocks, such as a store on Hollywood Blvd at Las Palmas, remnants of a demolished structure that once stood on Santa Monica at Vista, another in Silverlake near Sunset ... on and on, all using the same exact blocks over and over again. Mostly they are boxes with decorated blocks. Architecturally, they are not very interesting, except by comparison to the thousands of bland commercial buildings that surround them.
This is just another ridiculous claim about another architect influencing Frank Lloyd Wright. Meanwhile the architect that had enormous influence on Frank Lloyd Wright doesn't get the credit that he is due. Some even mis-attribute an important building to a Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright as a co-equals as if a young Frank Lloyd Wright were equal to Louis Sullivan at the peak of his career.
Paul Harding FAIA Restoration Architect for FLW's 1901 E. Arthur Davenport House, 1941 Lloyd Lewis House, 1952 Glore House | www.harding.com | LinkedIn
Neil Levine suggests that Wright's LA inspiration was the Babylon set from Intolerance, which stayed up for years a few blocks east of Hollyhock. This is at least somewhat within chronological possibility, though, again, the German Warehouse, a few years before he came to LA, is a problem.
