Issue 57 August 9th 2017

The Headlines

Milwaukee's Niedecken Co-stars in MAM's Frank Lloyd Wright Show

The Milwaukee Art Museum's "Frank Lloyd Wright: Buildings for the Prairie" exhibit puts the focus on Wright. But there is also a large collection of sketches and other works by Wright associate and Milwaukee's own George Mann Niedecken. The exhibit opened last Friday and runs through October 15, 2017, so don't miss it! Read more.

'Frank Lloyd Wright Carriages' Presentation Set at Wade House

Wade House Historic Site will celebrate the 150th birthday of famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright with “The Frank Lloyd Wright Carriages” by Vicki Nelson Bodoh, past president of the Carriage Association of America, from 7-8:30pm on Thursday, August 10, 2017. The event is one in a series of season-long exhibits, lectures, and educational activities focusing on Wright's life and work in Wisconsin. Bodoh will share the results of her two year-long study of Wright's horse-drawn carriages at Taliesin in Spring Green, and the connection she discovered between the architect and Sheboygan carriage collector Wesley W. Jung. Read more.

Unity Temple Among Preservation Award Winners

Landmarks Illinois has just unveiled the 2017 Driehaus Foundation Preservation Award winners, and the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Unity Temple in Oak Park won the "Award for Restoration". Every year the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation acknowledges preservation efforts and the architects, developers, and communities that work to renovate and restore architecturally and historically significant buildings throughout the state. Read more.

Celebrating Frank Lloyd Wright with Music

Taliesin Music Director Effi Casey informs us in the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation's The Whirling Arrow blog that young composer, Scott Gendel, was commissioned to write a piece specifically in honor of Wright’s 150th anniversary. There will be a world premiere of That Which is Near by Scott Gendel at two concerts at Taliesin’s historic Hillside Theater. Quoting Mr. Wright, "Never miss the idea that architecture and music belong together. They are practically one.”

The concerts are Sunday, August 6, 2017 at 2:30pm and Monday, August 7, 2017 at 7:30pm Learn more.

Take The Wright Ride

The Chicago Tribune has a piece on the 11th Annual Wright Ride on August 20, 2017. Club member Mike Stewart of Oak Park, Illinois, who is the marketing director of the Oak Park Regional Housing Center, said the ride was started to "bring attention to the Oak Park Cycle Club. We wanted to bring people to Oak Park and showcase the Frank Lloyd Wright architecture here and have fun." You can choose to take a leisurely 10-mile bike ride through Oak Park, or see seven suburbs as you traverse 68 miles. The ride is co-organized by the Oak Park Cycle Club and the Oak Park Regional Housing Center. Read more.

Tours of Auldbrass Gone In 5 minutes—Here’s Why.

Located just outside Yemassee, South Carolina is one of the lesser-known creations of legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright — at least it was until recently. Auldbrass Plantation, now owned by Hollywood movie producer Joel Silver, is the only Southern Plantation designed by Wright. Opening its doors to the public every two years as part of a fundraiser for the Beaufort County Open Land Trust, tickets to the 2017 Beaufort County Open Land Trust Plantation Tour sold out within five minutes, causing the Trust’s web site to crash and leaving many hopefuls empty handed. Follow the link to find out why. Read more.

What’s Architecturally Next For Crystal Bridges?

Patricia Failing of Art News has written about how Crystal Bridges' mission of showcasing “the American spirit” is also expanding resources devoted to American architecture. Noting that "in 2013 the museum acquired one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s middle-class Usonian homes, the 1954 Bachman-Wilson house. Originally located in Millstone, New Jersey, the dwelling was reconstructed at the museum in an idyllic setting modeled after its original site, and is open for tours. On the opposite side of the museum, the largest of Buckminster Fuller’s Fly Eye Domes is being installed, a structure he envisioned as “a beautiful, fully equipped, air-deliverable house that weighs and costs as much as a good automobile.” The museum acquired all of Fuller’s archives related to the dome’s development, and the documents will also be on view when the dome opens later this summer. These exemplars of a “search for a uniquely American architecture,” a museum statement reads, “firmly establish architecture as one of the primary pillars of Crystal Bridges’ mission.” Read more.

How Paint Color Underscores MoMA's Frank Lloyd Wright Show

What is one of the most important design details in a museum exhibit? Paint. In designing MoMA's recently opened show "Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive," the museum's curators worked with Farrow & Ball to create a color palette that would act as a visual guide, connecting certain displays that are most relevant to one another. Read more.

What the Bradley House tells us about Kankakee

Filmmaker Tom Desch, has finished his new documentary, "An American Home: Frank Lloyd Wright's B. Harley Bradley House", which reflects on the idea that the Frank Lloyd Wright house's story mirrors the community of Kankakee, Illinois itself. When the community has been vibrant, economically successful, the house has done very well. When the community has fallen on hard times, the house has often fallen on hard times as well. Read more.

Bruce Goff: Organic Architecture and Folk Art Fantasies

All month long, Curbed is highlighting postwar architecture, and in this piece presents Bruce Goff's organic style. Describing his own work as “buildings that reward you with interest,” Goff was self-taught and a singular force in modern American architecture. “He was somewhere between a utopian and a futurist, and embraced what was next, not what was now,” says Sofia Borges, an architect, writer, and curator. “It’s not about the status quo. There’s a totally other way you can live. It was really subversive for the time.” Read more.

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Coonley House Returns Once Again

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Coonley House is back on the market asking $1.599 million—a nearly $1.3 million drop from its introductory price tag from seven years ago. Maybe someone with deep pockets will purchase this architectural icon and start putting hte carved up estate back together again. Read more.

Frank Lloyd Wright: America's Quintessential Modernist

The Larchmont Chronicicle reminds us Frank Lloyd Wright became a bedrock of Modernism by developing the elements of his philosophy of American Architecture with the relationship between function and utility; and the use of sculptural, organic forms; and with modern materials and technology. He was wedded to natural materials, symbolism, site-specific design, and what he called spiritual integrity. Read more.

Have Drinks Once Again in a Historic Wright House

The Frank Lloyd Wright Trust is bringing happy hours to both the Robie House and Emil Bach House. Every Friday this October, the Frank Lloyd Wright Trust is bringing back their "After Hours" series to the Robie House. In addition, the group is also introducing a new happy hour event at the Emil Bach House in Rogers Park (Chicago) in September. Architecture buffs won’t want to miss this enjoyable opportunity to enjoy drinks, listen to live music, and snack on hors d’oeuvres in Wright's historic homes. Read more.

A New Day for Wright in Wisconsin

Mark Hertzberg's Wright in Racine reports that Wright in Wisconsin's board of directors recently voted unanimously to reorganize and spin-off the four American System-Built homes it owned in Milwaukee into a separate, self-standing organization. Read more.

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