Features

RECALL :: Rare WPA-Era Zoo Guide Cover Artist Uncovered

THE STORY OF EDWARD KRIMSTON'S AWARD WINNING MODERNE MONKEY ILLUSTRATION

The internet is a pretty wonderful place. Months after I posted in August 2011 about finding a rare copy of the very first guide book published in 1936 for the newly-built Chicago Zoological Park in Brookfield, IL, I received an email from Leslie Magidsohn, the daughter of the cover's artist, Edward Krimston.

CONNECT :: New Look At Mr. Wright's Towering Masterpiece

AN INTERVIEW WITH MARK HERTZBERG, AUTHOR OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT'S SC JOHNSON RESEARCH TOWER

When it opened in 1950, Frank Lloyd Wright's SC Johnson Research Tower in Racine, Wisconsin, instantly became an icon of modern architecture. Rising like a giant sequoia on the prairie, The fifteen-story skyscraper is the only existing example of Wright's ambitious taproot design and a marvel of engineering. H. F. Johnson Jr., president of the SC Johnson & Son Company, commissioned Wright in 1943 to design a new research and development space that would foster inspiration and spark innovative new products for the company. Frank Lloyd Wright accepted the challenge and his remarkable vertical creation became the perfect consort for the streamlined Administration Building nearby. Although it received critical acclaim and stands as a monument of architectural ingenuity, it was ultimately closed by the SC Johnson Company 31 years after it opened, due to several factors of impracticality. It has been well-maintained, but closed to people and the public ever since.

Luckily, Frank Lloyd Wright's SC Johnson Research Tower, by author, professional photographer and blogger Mark Hertzberg is an unprecedented exploration of this enigmatic structure by America's most acclaimed architect. PrairieMod took the opportunity to interview Mr. Hertzberg about the building, the book and his experience writing it.