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Unity Temple: Frank Lloyd Wright's Modern Masterpiece is a new film by Lauren Levine that is narrated by Brad Pitt. Streaming October 30th to November 15th, the documentary will look deeply into Wright's first public commission in the early 1900s and the efforts to restore it 100 years later. From... View full entry
Frrank Lloyd Wright was never one to fret about meeting deadlines, sticking to budgets or roofs that leaked. So there is something fitting about the delayed, but altogether triumphant, restoration of Wright's Unity Temple, [...] the finest public building of Wright's Chicago years and home to one of the most beautiful rooms in America.
Instead of finishing on schedule last fall, the $25 million project is wrapping up just in time for the 150th anniversary of Wright's birthday, June 8.
— chicagotribune.com
"Success, it's often said, has many fathers, and so it is with here," Kamin writes. "A team of consultants led by Chicago's Harboe Architects has lavished exacting care on every aspect of this project, from the restoration of jewel-like art glass to the recreation of textured plaster walls." View full entry
this is the deluxe rehabilitation package, a stark contrast to the mostly emergency work that's been done through the years to keep the building grunting along. [...]
“It's one of Frank Lloyd Wright's greatest works, and it's a masterpiece of modern architecture ... It's a building that changed a lot of architects' ideas about what architecture could do.”
The $23 million comes from a variety of sources, including part of a $1.75M Getty grant to fix compromised concrete in "Important Modern Buildings", and $200K in federal funds for general repairs. Unity Temple is also one of ten FLW buildings recently nominated as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. View full entry
"Modern architecture is a defining artistic form of the 20th century at considerable risk, often due to the cutting-edge building materials that characterized the movement." -Deborah Marrow
In news that will surely make Prince Charles sigh with displeasure, the Getty Foundation announced it is awarding $1.75 million of grants to help preserve 14 structures in the modern style, including Frank Lloyd Wright’s Unity Temple, Walter Gropius’ residence ‘The Gropius House,’ and... View full entry
Soon after the September 2010 theft, leaders of the Unitarian Universalist church and the restoration foundation assembled a team of architects, Wright scholars and others to help design precise replicas of the letters and determine how to attach them to the structure.
After extensive research, replicas were crafted and installed in May. As shiny as experts believe the originals looked when the church was dedicated in 1909, the new letters look brighter than the stolen ones...
— featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com
