Issue 276 October 20th 2021

The Headlines

Neutra & Wright Lecture By Dr. Raymond R. Neutra

The Art, Design & Architecture Museum at the University of California, Santa Barbara is hosting Cheap and Thin: Richard Neutra & Frank Lloyd Wright, a lecture By Dr. Raymond R. Neutra.

In a grumpy moment before the 1932 MOMA "International Style" architecture exhibition, Frank Lloyd Wright characterized Richard Neutra's1929 Lovell Health House as "Cheap and Thin." Though meant as a criticism, Wright's phrase actually contained a kernel of truth. The Austro-American architect had immigrated to the United States in hopes of applying the methodology of Henry Ford to prefabricate schools, housing and clinics so as to be light and economical. Nonetheless, Neutra's work can be seen as a continuation and modification of Wright's Prairie House phase of work and the "eight points" that Wright laid out in his Wasmuth Portfolio as characterizing that phase of his work. Dr. Raymond Richard Neutra, the architect's youngest son, will illustrate this thesis, which derives from his Kindle book of the same title.

The online event is Thursday, October 21, 2021 - 5:30- 6:30 pm PT pm Via Zoom and is free and open to the public, but registration is required. RSVP and register here. This event is generously sponsored by Kitchell.

The Lasting Legacy Of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Beloved Home And School

Sam Cochran of Architectural Digest reminds us that at Taliesin, the spirit of the Frank Lloyd Wright both endures and evolves.

“He saw the built environment as a way to connect people and lives,” notes Stuart Graff, president and CEO of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Today the organization is looking to the past and future, endeavoring to, as Graff explains, “present Wright in ways that encourage people to take his ideas and act on them.” A comprehensive conservation plan for Taliesin is under way, with stabilization work to Wright’s bedroom, erected upon ashes, on the horizon. Among other ongoing projects is the restoration of the Hillside Theatre, in anticipation of live performances for the public. As Graff reflects, “The goal is not just to preserve the structures but preserve the values and ideas that underpin them, and the life that existed within them.”

The foundation is exploring new ways to welcome people on-site at Taliesin and at its sister Arizona campus, Taliesin West, partnering with universities on immersion programs and welcoming contemporary-art installations.

New brand partnerships are reimagining Wright’s interest in licensing projects, which date to the 1950s, when he collaborated with Schumacher on fabrics and Henredon on furniture. Earlier this summer, the foundation and Brizo announced a new collection of bath fixtures in the tradition of Wright that will be available this fall.

“Moving forward, the focus will be how to use Wright’s work to inspire a new generation of designers,” says Graff of the collaboration, which bears the spirit if not the signature of the architect himself. “Wright’s legacy is all about connection.”

Wright’s Frederick Bagley House Will Be Restored

ArchDaily reports the historic Frederick Bagley House will not only evade the wrecking ball but also be restored by its new preservation-minded owners.

Less than two months ago, the future of an 1894 Dutch Colonial-style home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright wasn’t looking all that bright after it hit the market for $1.3 million in the Chicago suburb of Hinsdale, Illinois. Recently, however, the historic Frederick Bagley House, described by the nonprofit Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy as a “unique and irreplaceable” early work of Wright, has found a very happy ending—or, more aptly, a new beginning.

The five-bedroom residence, which has been subject to alterations over the decades and did not enjoy legal protection from demolition or redevelopment, will not only evade the wrecking ball but also be restored by its new, preservation-minded owners. Buyers Safina Uberoi and Lukas Ruecker also own the National Historic Landmark-designated Tonkens House, a rare (and remarkably intact) concrete block Usonian Automatic home designed by Wright in the Cincinnati suburbs. That home was completed 60 years after the Bagley House in 1954.

“We are grateful for all the support and warm welcome we received from the Village of Hinsdale and its Historic Preservation Commission and are excited to take over as stewards from the sellers, who took care of the Bagley House for several decades,” said Uberoi and Ruecker in a celebratory announcement of the home’s sale released by the Conservancy. “Working on the Wright-designed Tonkens House in Cincinnati taught us that a successful restoration is a community effort, and we anticipate working closely with the Village of Hinsdale and the Conservancy over the next few years to do the same here.”

As Barbara Gordon, executive director of the Chicago-based Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy, told AD in July, the Bagley House is one of only two Wright-executed works with fully-rendered classical details, the other being the still-standing Blossom House (1893) in Chicago. It is also the only Wright-designed home in Hinsdale. Read the entire article here.

How To Fire Frank Lloyd Wright

MIT Press Reader has an article excerpted from Philippa Lewis’s book Stories from Architecture: Behind the Lines at Drawing Matter. It is the untold story of Edith Carlson's attempt to work with Frank Lloyd Wright to build a $5,500 house that never was. To read this interesting story click here.

Wright's "Westhope" Sells for $2.5 million

A couple of sources confirm that "Westhope," a Tulsa, Oklahoma home designed in the late 1920s by Frank Lloyd Wright for his cousin, Richard Lloyd Jones, has a new owner. Local commercial real estate developer Stuart Price recently bought the unique block and glass home, 3704 S. Birmingham Ave., from Bat, LLC, an Arkansas limited liability company, for $2.5 million, Tulsa County land records show. Read more here.

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