Archinect - News

Concerns raised about changes, inside and out, planned for Frank Lloyd Wright's "Olfelt House"

2018-12-20T17:04:00-05:00

“I was like, ‘Yeah, sure it is,’ ” Eckley said. In his 35 years of reclaiming architectural antiques, he said, he’s had several homeowners who mistakenly claimed they lived in a Wright house. And anyway, who would want to gut one?

Me? I say have at it. Screw that architect.

Archinect reported on this house when it hit the market last year: Frank Lloyd Wright designed Olfelt home is now for sale at $1.3M

Irving Gill, Homer Laughlin and the Beginnings of Modern Architecture in Los Angeles

2018-04-02T18:26:00-04:00

Gill, for Christ's sake, get your hair cut.-FLW

If you think architecture has a dense web of characters and influences now, read So. Cal's arch historian John Crosse's account of the development of modernism in Los Angeles, going all the way to Adler & Sullivan's prestigious office in the Auditorium Building in Chicago.

Front elevation, George Steckel Residence, Normandie Ave. near 4th St., Los Angeles, 1910. Courtesy of UC-Santa Barbara Architecture and Design Collections, Irving Gill Archive.

"The evolution of modernism in Los Angeles architecture can arguably be traced back to the Auditorium Building offices of Adler & Sullivan in the early 1890s. The Auditorium Building was Adler & Sullivan's crowning achievement and met with rave reviews in the local and national press and trade journals as setting the bar for buildings of its typology upon its 1889-90 completion. The now famous partners and their chief draftsman Frank Lloyd Wright excitedly moved their offices into their masterpiece of engineering and interior design's tower ...

Frank Lloyd Wright's shabby models and how MoMA preserved them

2017-06-29T13:21:00-04:00

The majority of the models were far from pristine. Architectural maquettes are often only used to quickly communicate an idea; longevity of materials such as chipboard or Plexiglas is rarely a concern. So, when Moody set out to restore the 14 models in MoMA’s archive (the museum holds the three-dimensional works of Wright’s massive archive), she was faced with missing elements, acidified paper, warping, and discoloration, among other issues.

Exploring lesser-known parts of Wright’s 70-year-long career, MoMA's new exhibition, Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive (on view through October 1, 2017) presents projects for an experimental farm and a series of rural school buildings in the segregated South. Besides that, the show also focuses on Wright's models—often extensively modified by him and largely representative of the architect's thought process and the evolution of his ideas.“For him, they were presentation pieces meant to seduce the clients or put them at ease, especially if the designs were avant-garde or difficult to picture on paper,” says MoMA conservator Ellen Moody.

Analysis of the models also revealed the alterations performed by other stakeholders, including clients and conservators.

Model for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum (Image courtesy of The Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives MoMA Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University)

"A model of an early iteration of the Solomon...

New Jersey’s Oldest and Largest Frank Lloyd Wright House Listed for $2.2M

2016-07-07T12:36:00-04:00

Of the four houses Frank Lloyd Wright built in New Jersey, the first and largest was the 2,000-square-foot James B. Christie House, which dates to 1940. Wright built the home on seven acres of secluded woodland and employed his Usonian principles of simplicity and practically that connect to nature. After selling in 2014 to a private buyer for $1.7 million, the Christie House is now on the market for $2.2 million after receiving a new roof and heating system.

What's My Line? Frank Lloyd Wright, game show guest

2015-01-14T11:48:00-05:00

Panel- What you do has anything to do with law? FLW- Unfortunately yes.

Noted: Ladies of the panel don't usually get up to shake the mystery guest's hand but for Frank they do. Is that a sign how noble architect(ure) was?