Frank Lloyd Wright puts his foot down in 'a tribute to the pluck of a salesman'

2016-08-18T12:56:00-04:00

Thomas H. Truslow Jr., a general sales manager at Corning Glass Works, proposed a solution of flexible waterproof strips directly to Johnson executives, bypassing Wright. The architect seethed. “Are you then unfamiliar with the way of work with an architect,” he wrote in a typed letter on Nov. 10, 1948. He added an angry question mark in green ink. “The scheme is not the Johnson Company’s,” the typing continued. “It is the architect’s.”

The full, typed letter reads (with handwritten text in bold):

My dear Mr. Truslow: You have the cart before the horse. It is necessary to secure the architect's approval before going to the owner. Are you then unfamiliar with the way of work with an architect - ?

The scheme is not the Johnson's Company's. It is the architect's. Mine.

I shall be in New York at the Plaza Hotel on November 17th.

Sincerely yours,

Frank Lloyd Wright

Archinect - News

Frank Lloyd Wright puts his foot down in 'a tribute to the pluck of a salesman'