Wright-apalooza is slowly coming to an end this month, with just a couple more events before all the good stuff is over!
Last week I was able to make it out to the Chicago Architectural Foundation's lunchtime lecture with Mark Hertzberg (the man behind the Wright in Racine blog). The lecture focused on Mark's recent book, Frank Lloyd Wright's Hardy House. It was great to hear this author's insights into the history of such a uniquely built home, which is a bit different than most others that Wright built around the same period in his career. Also being a photographer, Mark had some splendid photos of the home throughout his presentation. You could really sense how excited and proud he was to be talking about this great house from his hometown of Racine, WI.
The following day, I headed back downtown to catch Virginia Terry Boyd's lecture about how FLW truly designed an American way of living. The lecture was pulled from the pages of her excellent book Frank Lloyd Wright and the House Beautiful, which accompanies the traveling exhibit of the same name. She offered some great explorations into the influence Wright has had on the way we all live life today by discussing three different ways he designed modern homes for a modern world. He created a new kind of space, utilized a modern aesthitic for a modern era, and strove to make his designs accessible to everyone in America.
One particular thing Proffessor Boyd mentioned really facsinated me....she said that Frank Lloyd Wright could deftly adapt and respond to social changes with his designs. We see this in the furniture and spaces he created over his long career. In the early 1900's he designed a multi-use art print table for a client who collected fine art and wanted to show and display these during certain occassions. This is in serious contrast to the multi-use "tv trays" he designed for another client in the 1950's, who was living a much more casual lifestyle than the client 50 years prior. However, at the heart of these two examples we find the same principles at work. The are just applied differently to respond in a pertinent way to the needs of the time. These examples also show how and why the PrairieMod Lifestyle is so applicable to today.
Well, three more events are left that you Frank Lloyd Wright fans won't want to miss:
Mar 31, 2007 at 2pm - Rock the House with Edward Lifson {host of Hello Beautiful} & Tim Samuelson, part of Breaking the Box lecture series at Unity Temple, $20 at the door
Apr 4, 2007 at 12:15pm - Victor Sidy, Dean of the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture will be presenting Building Architects, Re-thinking America for CAF's Lunchtime lecture that day. Free!
Apr 21, 2007 at 2pm - Fold the Corner with Sidney Robinson, part of Breaking the Box lecture series at Unity Temple, $20 at the door
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