Issue 372  August 23rd 2023

WMAA And Fallingwater Collaborate On Exhibition

The Westmoreland Museum of American Art Thursday announced Frank Lloyd Wright’s Southwestern Pennsylvania, an exhibition co-organized with Fallingwater, a property entrusted to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy.

Accordingto the email release from WMAA, this innovative exhibition presents video animations and 3D models of never-built residential, commercial and civic projects that American architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed for southwestern Pennsylvania in the 1940s and 1950s.

The exhibition opens at The Westmoreland on Sunday, Oct. 15, and will remain on view through Sunday, Jan. 14.

Realistic animated films, created by Skyline Ink Animators + Illustrators, provide, for the first time, a virtual exploration of five unrealized Wright projects for southwestern Pennsylvania. These include a monumental reimagining of the Point (1947), a self-service garage for Kaufmann’s Department Store (1949), the Point View Residences designed for the Edgar J. Kaufmann Charitable Trust (1952), the Rhododendron Chapel (1952) and a gate lodge for the Fallingwater grounds (1941). Using three-dimensional rendering technology to choreograph camera paths and to shape lighting to produce the same type of visual effects used in the film industry, Skyline Ink’s resulting animations will be presented throughout the exhibition to provide a multimedia experience. A viewing theater set within the museum’s Cantilever Galleries will envelop visitors to show an expanded film of the three unrealized Pittsburgh designs.

To further engage the senses, the film will feature an accompanying musical score by Daniel May with Marty Ashby and produced by MCG Jazz. Viewers will take a journey into Wright’s creative mind, exploring architecture from an artistic perspective, with emphasis on his intended materials, textures, light and shadow.

"The legacy of Frank Lloyd Wright echoes through the architectural marvel of The Westmoreland's cantilever wing, a testament to his enduring influence on modern design, and we are delighted to be able to present this groundbreaking exhibition in that very space," remarked Silvia Filippini-Fantoni, the Richard M. Scaife director/CEO.

The animations of Wright’s unrealized projects featured in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Southwestern Pennsylvania will be further contextualized by 3D models, architectural drawings and historic photography to provide a multimedia exhibition experience for visitors to The Westmoreland. Additionally, the exhibition features the realized designs for Edgar Kaufmann’s private office in Pittsburgh; the Kaufmanns’ country house, Fallingwater, and Kentuck Knob, the house for I.N. and Bernardine Hagan, which will be represented by drawings, photographs and Wright-designed furnishings.

Click for more details: dailycourier.com  

Portland's Belluschi / Wright Connection

Ninety-two years ago, Pietro Belluschi was a young, unknown architect who conceived of an unadorned design for the Portland Art Museum. If constructed, the modern building would forever change the architecturally conservative city. But it wouldn’t be easy.

Museum trustees and donors pushed for an ornamental Georgian style. At a crucial time in 1931, Belluschi turned to the most famous architect in the world, Frank Lloyd Wright, for support of his building that would “favor the artwork to be exhibited rather than itself.”

Belluschi, who would later become Oregon’s most revered designer and one of its most highly awarded citizens as well as the dean of architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, explained he was guided by the direction and intensity of natural light to create a succession of visual experiences.

He asked the 64-year-old Wright: How do you go about trying to sell something that is not the old thing?

Wright, an iconoclast celebrated for using native materials to blend with the environment, responded from his Taliesin home and studio in Wisconsin, on July 6, 1931: “My dear Belluschi, I think your plan simple and sensible, and the exterior would mark an advance in culture for Portland.”

Wright’s stamp of approval and Belluschi’s handsome museum design vaulted the 31-year-old architect’s career. In turn, for decades, Belluschi’s Oregon buildings have drawn many young architects to Portland, and the region continues to benefit.

The ageless 1932 Portland Art Museum, which anchors the downtown South Park Blocks green space, is recognized as one of the 20th century’s most distinguished art exhibition buildings.

Across Southwest Park Avenue from the museum is the Oregon Historical Society (OHS), which held an event on Aug. 18, the 124th anniversary of Belluschi’s birth, focused on established architects helping emerging architects.

Guests heard presentations on “The Legacy of Architects on Other Architects — Inspiring and Mentoring” and toured the Pietro Belluschi Architectural Resource Center, a collaborative learning and meeting space within OHS’s research library.

The special collections library holds more than 20,000 drawings by Belluschi, the largest collection of his archives on the West Coast. Syracuse University in New York has a larger collection.

Safeguarding original drawings, reports, correspondence and visual media at libraries and other research institutions can preserve the architects’ vision and help historians track their career. Archives open to the public also allow property owners, neighborhood preservation groups and others to find accurate information beyond what’s on file at city building departments.

OHS’s research library has more than 550 collections related to the built environment, making it one of the largest archives of architecture, engineering, landscape and interior design in the Northwest, according to library director Shawna Gandy.

People can visit OHS’ newly renovated reading room Tuesday through Saturday or view digital copies of documents at digitalcollections.ohs.org. More online material is being added over time, said Gandy. Information is also online at the Oregon Encyclopedia, a resource maintained by OHS’s library staff.

Click for more details: oregonlive.com  

Behind-The-Scenes Tour: At Home With The Smiths

Step back in time to the groovy 1970s for an enchanting evening at the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Smith House. Experience the house as the Smiths and Wright intended, alive with the sights, sounds, and scents of a festive evening gathering of friends, new and old. The event promises to be a nostalgic journey through the art and lives of Melvyn and Sara Smith, the dedicated Detroit public school teachers who created this remarkable home.

As the sun begins to set, the house comes alive with an atmosphere inspired by the home’s heyday of entertaining—the vibrant and colorful 1970s. You will be welcomed with the music of the era from the Smiths’ own record collection, setting the mood for an unforgettable night.

The event offers a plethora of activities designed to engage and entertain in a relaxed, unscheduled way—just like the Smiths loved doing year-round. Historic tours take center stage, led by knowledgeable Center staff who bring the Smiths' story to life with a nifty mix of new historical research, heartwarming family anecdotes, and engaging tales of the house's architecture and design.

As you move from room to room, you will find archival materials carefully displayed, highlighting the couple's dedication to education and their passion for teaching. Personal mementos, vintage photographs, and handwritten letters tell the story of the Smiths’ journey and the impact they made on their community.

Pondside in the garden, you will find special activities and experiences. Light refreshments pay homage to the culinary trends of the '70s, featuring classic snacks that were Sara’s specialty. Browse vintage magazines, try your hand at dried flower arranging, or learn about the family’s thwarted plans for a Wright-inspired tea-and-jacuzzi pavilion—and have a chance to design your own garden folly! Lawn games from the period will be on hand to enjoy in the sculpture garden, bringing the laughter and camaraderie the Smiths adored sharing with friends and family back to the house.

The event celebrates the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and honors the lives and hospitality of Melvyn and Sara Smith. Spend as long as you like enjoying a unique “only-at-Cranbrook” evening At Home with the Smiths.

Wednesday, September 6, 2023 Thursday, September 7, 2023 Friday, September 8, 2023

$40 per person Timed Tickets (4:30pm, 5pm, 5:30pm, 6pm, 6:30pm, 7pm, 7:30pm) Parking is available in the Cranbrook House parking lot with restroom access at the Cranbrook House Gate House 380 Lone Pine Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304 Buses return from Smith House every 30 minutes

Click for more details: cranbrook.edu  

Why Dallas Keeps Failing Frank Lloyd Wright’s Kalita Humphreys Theater

“Do we want to save this or not?” That was the question posed by Dallas City Council member Paula Blackmon back in January, during a hearing on the latest master plan for the Kalita Humphreys Theater, the long neglected Frank Lloyd Wright landmark along Turtle Creek.

The answer always seems to be “yes,” but without the action required to back it up. For more than a decade the theater has done nothing but decay, despite a series of stopgap measures.

That January meeting spelled doom for the Dallas Theater Center’s $300 million dream of remaking the Kalita and its Dean Park surroundings, at least for the foreseeable future. The plan, developed by the New York architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro and a team of preservation and theater consultants, called for the restoration of the Kalita to its original condition and for the addition of four new buildings (a proscenium theater, a black-box theater, a multipurpose building and a five-story tower with education and rehearsal space), along with a pair of underground garages.

The plan was poorly received, to put it kindly. The City Council blanched at the cost, neighbors and park advocates opposed the incursion into Dean Park and preservationists worried that all the new building would overwhelm the Kalita. Frank Lloyd Wright’s grandson, architect Eric Wright, complained that the encroaching buildings would make the Kalita look “like a hood ornament in a used car lot.” An editorial in this paper was blunt in its assessment. “We look forward to the day when this great theater is restored to the vision of its architect,” it stated. “But we can get there on a budget taxpayers can afford without embracing a bigger, more expensive dream.”

Despite the objections, the plan had much to recommend it, in particular the restoration of the Kalita back to its 1959 glory, albeit with a few improvements to bring it up to contemporary standards. Over the years, the theater had been the victim of a series of ill-conceived alterations, among them the addition, in 1968, of a rehearsal space plopped indecorously above Wright’s lobby. That space would now return to its original function as a roof terrace. The plan would also make a long overdue connection to the adjacent Katy Trail, introduce a variety of amenities (a restaurant, a cafe) and green what are now surface parking lots.

The Dallas Theater Center has taken a whipping over the scope of the project — council member Adam Bazaldua, called it a “vanity project” at that January meeting — and while some of that criticism is warranted, the DTC is not the lone guilty party.

When the city renewed the DTC’s lease on the property in 2019, it required the organization to develop a new master plan as part of that agreement. A steering committee with representatives from a variety of interests (park advocates, community representatives, preservationists, members of the theater community, philanthropists, architects, developers, city officials) gave the planners a multi-point directive: restore the Kalita to its original condition, reduce surface parking and add green space, make better connection to the surrounding community, make connections to the Katy Trail and Dean Park, activate the site to attract daytime visitors and create additional theater spaces for the DTC and other arts groups.

So at least some of the added building was a response to those instructions. Adding new theater space was imperative, as the directive (rightly) entailed the removal of the 1968 addition to the Kalita and the demolition of the Heldt Building, a dilapidated, ugly and non-ADA compliant support structure that compromises views of the Frank Lloyd Wright building.

With the theater in dire condition, the OAC has budgeted $7.63 million for repairs from its 2024 bond request. The biggest line item in that request ($750,000) would go to the replacement of an HVAC system. Also on that budget is $650,000 for new seats and $75,000 to “remove or replace” broken fountains, victims of poor care by the city. To state the obvious, removal of Frank Lloyd Wright’s fountains is absolutely unacceptable.

In addition to the spending on the Kalita, the budget would put $975,000 toward repair of the universally reviled Heldt Building — the very definition of throwing good money after bad. Unconscionably, even with all that money spent, there still would not be even a temporary connection to the adjacent Katy Trail.

Though some of these repairs are necessary to stabilize the building, there is zero reason to believe that the fixes would be anything but temporary; that neglect and mismanagement will, before long, put the city back in the same position it finds itself in today, with a deteriorating landmark and no plan for its restoration.

Click for more details: dallasnews.com