Issue 458  April 9th 2025

Frank Lloyd Wright and Japan Revisited

Join the East-West Center for a book talk by University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa professor of architecture, Kevin Nute.

Saturday, April 26 7:00-8:00pm Central Imin International Conference Center at Jefferson Hall

Free with registration; space is limited. Seating is first come, first served.

Frank Lloyd Wright's Creative Debt to Japan

Frank Lloyd Wright and Japan Revisited: Traditional Japanese Culture as a Means to Modern American Architecture (London: World Scientific, 2025) expands on more than three decades of research by reexamining Wright’s interpretations of traditional Japanese forms in the context of otherness, appropriation, translation and myth. The book has just been shortlisted for a 2025 Architectural Book Award. Its predecessor, Frank Lloyd Wright and Japan (London: Chapman and Hall, 1993) won an International Architectural Monograph Award from the American Institute of Architects.

In his foreword to the new book, the contemporary Japanese architect, Kengo Kuma, writes: "This book has played an important part in the ongoing cultural exchange between Japan and the West. …. Personally, I learned a great deal about this exchange and its significance from the original edition of Frank Lloyd Wright and Japan. It stimulated my own interest in traditional Japanese buildings and gave me renewed confidence in my culture. Until then, traditional Japanese architecture seemed to me to have little relevance to the present or future. My own buildings changed as a result, and I began to participate in that great exchange myself. "

An internationally recognized authority on Wright’s relationship with Japan, Kevin Nute spent his early career in Japan and joined the University of Hawaiʻi in 2019. In addition to the East-West Center talk, he will be giving a series of invited lectures on the work this spring, at the Honolulu AIA, the Fallingwater Institute, the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust, and later this year, at the AIA in Japan, the French School of the Far East, Kyoto University, and the University of Tokyo.

Click for more details: eventbrite.com  

Tour Hollyhock House With Its Curator And Director

Enjoy an exclusive, private after-hours tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s iconic Hollyhock House in Los Angeles, California led by the house’s curator and director, who normally doesn't guide tours. Taking place at sunset (golden hour), this intimate experience—available only to Mastercard cardholders—offers a rare chance to explore the architectural masterpiece with a small group (10 guests max). Attendees will also receive a complimentary gift from the foundation.

Highlights: • Private, curator-led tour of Hollyhock House • Exclusive golden hour access with sunset views • Complimentary take-home gift • Limited to 10 guests per session

Details: • Dates: May 30 or June 27, 2025, at 4 PM • Location: Hollyhock House, Los Angeles • Duration: 1 hour • Price: $50 per person • Eligibility: Mastercard cardholders only • Transport: Public transit or rideshare recommended

Tickets are limited and can be purchased in pairs. Register here.

Click for more details: priceless.com  

How Frank Lloyd Wright Tamed The Arizona Heat

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright mastered climate-compatible home design decades before sustainability entered the national conversation, per a Bloomberg deep-dive published last month.

Why it matters: Phoenix summers are getting hotter and Wright's building techniques could help Arizonans keep cool without overrelying on AC.

The big picture: Wright, an OG snowbird who wintered in Arizona from 1929 to 1959, designed a dozen structures around the Valley, including his iconic Taliesin West estate in Scottsdale.

Zoom in: Architecture experts and historians told Bloomberg that Wright practiced "organic architecture," meaning he built structures to complement the surrounding landscape and mimic nature. Examples include:

Incorporating alternating patterns of light and shadow to create shade, which was inspired by Saguaro cactus pleats; Orienting his buildings to work with natural air flow to create cooling drafts; Building the David and Gladys Wright House on pillars so the living space caught the natural desert breeze; And creating exterior walls via massive slabs of cobbled desert rock to absorb heat and transfer it slowly indoors during cool desert nights.

The bottom line: While Wright's techniques can inspire sustainable design today, Fred Prozzillo, head of preservation for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, noted that sustainability was not Wright's goal.

"He was just a good architect who used solid building principles during a time when mechanical systems like air conditioning were not as conventional as they are today," he told Bloomberg.

Click for more details: axios.com