Issue 142 March 27th 2019

The Headlines

"Midwest Architecture Journeys" Pre-Order

Belt Publishing is offering a pre-order period for Midwest Architecture Journeys, edited by Zach Mortice, with an introduction by Alexandra Lange. The book will offically be released October 15, 2019.

"Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright may be the Midwest’s (and the nation’s) most famous architects, but the region has always been a fertile ground for builders master and amateur. Midwest Architecture Journeys takes readers on a trip to visit some of the region's most inventive buildings by architects such as Bertrand Goldberg, Bruce Goff, and Lillian Leenhouts. It also includes stops at less obvious but equally daring and defining sites, such as indigenous mounds, grain silos, parking lots, flea markets, and abandoned warehouses. Through dozens of essays written by architects, critics, and journalists, Midwest Architecture Journeys argues that what might seem flat is actually monumental, and what we assume to be boring is brimming with experimentation."

Reserve your copy here.

Is Wright Still Relevant?

Sixty years after his death in 1959, Frank Lloyd Wright remains one of America’s most revered architects. His career spanned seven decades and included iconic public buildings, as well as modest domestic dwellings. But does the Architect and his ideas still matter to us in the 21st Century?

Fred Unwin, who has served as volunteer docent at the Weltzheimer/Johnson House in Oberlin, Ohio, for the past sixteen years, will help address this question and share his knowledge about Wright and the Usonian house on Wednesday, April 3, 2019 at 7:00 p.m. in the Main Library Auditorium.

Designed in 1947 and completed in 1949, the Weltzheimer/Johnson House is the first Usonian house in Ohio. Wright’s Usonian concept first emerged during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Usonian homes typically featured an open living area with a fireplace, flat roofs and a lack of basements and attics. In these simplified homes, Wright offered a beautiful environment that Americans could both afford and enjoy.

The Weltzheimer family lived in their Oberlin home until 1963. In 1968, Art History Professor Ellen H. Johnson bought the house and began restoring the property. After her death in 1992, the house was given to Oberlin College, which opened it up for public tours. The new Open House season will begin on April 7, 2019.

Join Fred Unwin for this insightful Lakewood Historical Society program on April 3, 2019 at the Lakewood Main Library, 15425 Detroit Ave, Lakewood, OH. More here.

Teaching Gardens: The Sociology Of Plants

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation's The Whirling Arrow features an article that originally appeared in the spring 2018 issue of the Frank Lloyd Wright Quarterly magazine, “Out of the Ground” by Jennifer Gray, Curator of Drawings and Fine Arts Library, Columbia University.

During Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fellowship, he emphasized the idea of learning by doing, especially when it came to experiences and direct connections to the natural world. He wanted his students to be well-rounded individuals, who had an understanding and connection to nature and the environment. In this article Gray delves into how Wright’s students learned from nature, and how students continue to take lessons from nature today.

"In 1932, during the depths of the Great Depression, Frank Lloyd Wright founded a 'school of the soil,' the Taliesin Fellowship, on two hundred acres of farmland near Spring Green, Wisconsin, the ancestral valley of his family, the Lloyd Joneses. Wright was insistent that the curriculum not center on books and lectures, but rather prioritize hands-on experiences and direct connections to the natural world." Read the rest of Jennifer Gray's informative article here.

Developer Cancels High-Rise By Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple

Curbed Chicago has an update to a plan to build a 28-story apartment tower less than a half a block from Oak Park’s historic Lloyd Wright-designed Unity Temple. On Friday, the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy announced that it had received a letter from Golub & Company stating that the Chicago-based developer had decided to “terminate its efforts” to redevelop the parcel at 835 W. Lake Street.

When Golub first unveiled its proposal in November, residents, as well as advocacy organizations, were quick to raise concerns over the tower’s 299-foot height and its potential cast shadows on Unity Temple’s beautifully restored stained glass coffered ceiling.

“Professional architects with whom we consulted stated that if a structure more than 100 feet in height is built at 835 Lake Street, it will greatly increase shadowing both into the sanctuary and Unity House, and severely alter Wright’s design intention in those spaces,” said the Conservancy in a statement.

The cancellation of 835 W. Lake is a victory for preservationists pushing to have the 1908 Oak Park house of worship—and seven other notable Wright buildings—added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites. Read more here.

Delusions Of Glanzer: A Preservationist's Tale

Steve Sikora, co-owner of the Willey House in Minneapolis, MN, recounts the story of acquiring the Frank Lloyd Wright home from Harvey Glanzer, an interesting character by all accounts.

"These recollections of Harvey are a reflection of my own personal experience. I’ll admit they may not coincide with the views of others. The man burned every bridge he ever crossed, derailed every previous restoration effort at the Willey House, and left his collaborators, who usually did all the work, utterly discouraged. Harvey was fascinating, yet deeply flawed. If personalities have facets, Harvey’s was the Hope Diamond. Sadly, the occasional hints of sparkle he cast upon us did not always illuminate others. In no way should these words be the last on Mr. Glanzer, but my account will hopefully shed some light on the inner man and his self-definition as a preservationist. Also, how we, the Sikoras, came to own the Willey House, and the mutual respect we all developed for each other in those early years."

Read his article here.

Get Your Wright Plus Tickets Before The Price Increases!

Don't miss out on the latest round of low rates for Wright Plus Housewalk tickets! Prices increase April 1.

Experience world-class architecture in Frank Lloyd Wright's beautiful hometown of Oak Park during our internationally renowned spring architectural housewalk on Saturday, May 18, 9 am to 5 pm. Four homes make their Wright Plus debuts this year, including the Francis J. Woolley House (Frank Lloyd Wright, 1893). Don't miss this year's lineup! Current pricing ends this Sunday, March 31. Get your tickets and more info here.

Taliesin Next Presents "Andy Cruz: Architecture & Letterforms"

The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation is pleased to present Andy Cruz of the prolific design studio, House Industries, on April 15, 2019 at Taliesin West. Andy will share how architecture has inspired countless House Industries projects ranging from children’s building blocks to digital fonts that help the world communicate.

Andy Cruz is the founder and creative nerve center of House Industries, the design company known for their fonts and far-reaching collaborative work with Hermès, Jimmy Kimmel, Muji, Heath Ceramics, and The New Yorker. His work is in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian Institution’s Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, and the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation. Andy’s book, The Process is the Inspiration, co-authored with longtime conspirators, Rich Roat and Ken Barber, is an honest and personal look at how to turn curiosity into successful work. JJ Abrams wrote the book’s foreword.

Andy Cruz will explore the roll letter forms play in our modern visual landscape and the power they have to tap into a viewer’s emotions. Survey House’s process of crafting typefaces, furniture and objects with the estates of Charles and Ray Eames, Alexander Girard, and Richard Neutra. A House book signing will follow the lecture.

On April 15, 2019 the doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the 7:00 p.m. presentation. There will be an 8:00 p.m. Book Signing Reception at the Taliesin West Music Pavilion. $25 General Admission and Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation members receive a 20% discount ($20 tickets). Promo code for discount will be emailed to members. Get your tickets here.

The Robie House Open For Tours After A Meticulous Restoration

Blair Kamin of the Chicago Tribune has written an article detailing the meticulous restoration of the Robie House, Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie masterpiece.

"Robie House is again a full-fledged architectural symphony of structure, space, art and furnishings. It’s a vivid display of the way Wright’s architecture and design redirected the course of modern architecture. Everybody who loves architecture should see it. It’s the latest reminder of why Chicago is the indispensable city of American architecture and why there is no better place in the world to sample Wright’s genius."

Robie House, located at 5757 S. Woodlawn Ave., will reopen for tours Friday, March 29th. Tickets for the 50-minute interior guided tour are $20 per person, or $28 in combination with a 30-minute audio tour of the buildings that surround Robie House. The house’s upper floors are not accessible to people in wheelchairs. For more tour information visit this link and read the entire article here.

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