Rethinking Historic Preservation

Frank Lloyd Wright’s granddaughter, Elizabeth Wright Ingraham FAIA wrote in the afterward of Building a Legacy:

Preservation should take us into a productive future rather than attempt to hold on to the past as a model for the present. The difficultly with historic preservation has always been that people reject the present in favor of the past while attempting to replicate the past in an effort to improve the quality of life.

For us contributors to the PrairieMod blog, these words strike a chord. It’s a keen observation that motivates us to understand the principles FLLW espoused, yet reinterpret them in a way that's relevant to our 21st century lifestyles. While the preservation of Mr. Wright's structures is essential to our American culture and heritage, let's discover how their significance can inform the way in which we live today.