Out of the 35 most visited Frank Lloyd Wright sites, The Marin County Civic Center in California comes in at #8. Having visited this amazing building, it's worth the trip! Read more about it here and find out what sites are #1 and #2.
Here's an article about homes "designed for life" which features 3 different significant homes by significant architects. While two of the featured homes are over-the-top Italian villas or Neo-Classical estates, the third is the down-to-earth Usonian gem: The Ronny and Roland Reisley House in Pleasantville, NY. Which one is really designed for life? Read it here.
Image via FT.com
The New York Times featured the new glass viewing boxes at the Sears Tower as part of an article discussing the new ways in which architects and engineers are using the transparent material. Read it here.
Treehugger.com reports on the efforts of Clos LaChance to donate 15% of their sales of a designated Endangered Species wine to the Hummingbird Society. Sounds like a win/win to me! Read more here and cheers!
Image via Treehugger and HummingbirdsLiberty on Flickr.com
This is really bizarre: Treehugger.com reports on the development of machines that act like carnivorous plants to power themselves. Clocks that eat flies, mechanical coffee tables that digest mice...it's only a matter of time before the cyborgs take over. Read about it here.
Image via Treehugger/New Scientist
Here's an article discussing the history of one of Geneva, Illinois' more colorful residents, Colonel George Fabyan. Secret codes, monkeys, mummys, and Frank Lloyd Wright architecture...this story has it all! Read about it here and visit the Fabyan Villa the next time you're in the Fox River Valley area.
Happy 4th of July! To help celebrate, the observation area in the Statue of Liberty's crown has been re-opened to the public. It's seen as a sign of US efforts to overcome fears of the past and begin a new era for America. Read about it here.
Apparently the Sears Tower in Chicago will be undergoing a green makeover including: solar panels to heat the buildings water, wind turbines and green roofs on the towers various levels, as well as replacing 16,000 windows and metal panels to save heating energy.
One of my favorite changes will be transforming the granite plaza that surrounds the tower with green space, new retail, and permeable pavement. Read more about renaming the Sears Tower here.
According to the July issue of Vanity Fair magazine, while filming Public Enemies, Johnny Depp became quite enamored with the "Second City's" excellent food, real people and great architecture! Read about it here.
My wife and I tried our best to make aspects of our recent wedding as handmade as possible, not only to save money, but to make it unique and personal as well. If you're getting married and would like a little handmade help, the check out this list of articles on etsy.com.
I'm looking forward to seeing the many iterations of the Guggenheim that never came to pass during my visit to NYC in August. In the meantime, this New York Times article and the accompanying slide show prove to be a titillating preview.
Photo: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation
What a moving experience it must have been to hear Henry Brant's “Orbits” for 80 trombones, soprano and organ in the rotunda of the Guggenheim! Read about it here.
Image copyright Robert Stolarik for The New York Times
Here's a link to an article in The Arizona Republic that discusses how difficult it is to pin down the elusive Frank Lloyd Wright--even by his own family members. Read it here.
In advance of the big NeoCon show herre in Chicago, the good people over at Gapersblock.com have posted an interview about design and architecture with Suzanne Trocmé, London-based design and architecture editor at large for Wallpaper Magazine. Read it here.
Image via Gapers Block
Seems there was some mysterious happenings in the ancestral graveyard on the grounds of Taliesin, Frank Lloyd Wright's estate in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The mystery? A headstone bearing the name of the murdered Mamah Borthwick Cheney that appeared suddenly one day, only to disappear just as quickly. Read all about it here.
Image copyright William Blankenburg
Kudos to our pal, Lee Diamond at Big Shoulders Realty who was written-up in today's Chicago Tribune for his unique Chicago neighborhood tours and Go Green approach towards showing real estate. Lee helped us find The Little Red House, so he knows Mod-minded clients and architecture. Check out Lee's next planned excursion at his website and if you're looking to buy or sell a home, give him a call!
Image copyright Big Shoulders Realty
During World War II, "Victory Gardens" were popular in the yards of many Americans as a way to both grow needed food and to reduce food demands on the war effort. Today, there is renewed interest in the eco-friendly act of growing food at home. According to a recent TreeHugger.com article, US seed sales are up 19% this year and the number of homes growing vegetables is up 40%. Read more here and let us know: What do you plant in your "Victory Garden"?
Image via TreeHugger.com
The New York Times blog has a great article on Situ Studio, the firm behind the cutting-edge models on display at the current Guggenheim Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit. Of particular note is their very cool "exploded" view of Wright's Usonian marvel, the First Herbert Jacobs House in Madison, WI. Read the article here.
Here's a link to a New York Magazine review of the Guggenheim exhibit "Frank Lloyd Wright: From Within Outward" that both praises and takes pot-shots at the subject. Read it here.
Blogger and bestselling writer Seth Godin makes mention of Wright and his ultimate office design (The S. C. Johnson Wax Building) in this online Time magazine post about work and the workplace. Check it out here.
Image via Wikipedia
The New York Times Auto section takes a look at The Gordon Strong Automobile Objective (1924-25), one of the unbuilt projects by Frank Lloyd Wright that is featured in the new Wright exhibit at the Guggenheim. Read about this amazing design here.
Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New Yorker magazine, explores the sometimes conflicted history of Wright's Guggenheim Museum and weighs-in on the current Wright exhibit. Read about it here.
Image via The New Yorker/Dennis Stock/Magnum
Jack Lenor Larsen is a world famous textile designer, author, collector,
traveler and a connoisseur of art and craft. He has designed textiles for such luminaries as Frank Lloyd Wright, Nixon's Air Force One and playwright Arthur Miller and
actress Marilyn Monroe. His work is noted for intersecting ideas of modernism, craft and technology at once and have been displayed in museums around the world. Read more about him and see his unique home here.
Image copyright Dana Shaw
I came across an article in the City Journal about how the image of the starving artist has been turned on its head as the digital revolution has created the phenomenon of "Big Design"– a new economic sector where creative outsiders are the new marketplace elite. Read about it here.
Image copyright Jill Malek
Much has been (and will be) written about the fan fare surrounding Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim, its golden anniversary and the upcoming Wright exhibit there. However, Newsweek takes a look at one of Wright's most important buildings from yesteryear that didn't get so lucky. Read it here.
Image copyright David M. Heald/SRGF
Here's a great article from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that interviews the long-time owners of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Bogk House. Read about it here.
Photo copyright PrairieMod
As fellow "Oak Parkers," did Frank Lloyd Wright and Ernest Hemingway ever cross paths? It turns out they did. Read about it here.
Images via Wikipedia
So the Sears Tower soon to be named Willis Tower has a new feature, a glass-bottom Skydeck. There's an article about it here.
Image copyright WGN
According to a recent article in the Independent online, more than 9,000 entries were submitted to design a proposed new students' building opposite the iconic Glasgow School of Art which was designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1898. Even "starchitects" Lord Foster and Zaha Hadid are interested. read more about it by following the link.
Image via the Independent
Here's some links to articles covering Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple being selected as one of the 11 Most Endangered Historic Sites in America:
Chicago Tribune, New York Times, USA Today
Also, here's a link to a video made by the National Trust discussing why Unity Temple matters.
Image via YouTube
A recent post on thenewsstar.com highlights the uniqueness of the Walter Burley Griffin-designed G.B. Cooley House in Monroe, LA and how a group of local preservationists are saving it. Also, check out this plucky group's Cooley House website to see some great photos and to read more about this very sweet house on the Bayou.
Image copyright The Cooley House Foundation
Eleanor Pachaud of the examiner.com reports on The Seattle Art Museum recently acquired a section of Louis Sullivan's 1893 elevator grate from the now demolished Chicago Stock Exchange. A special twist to the story? Pachaud is related to the famous Winslow Brothers who originally executed the Sullivan piece. Read more by following the link.
Image courtesy of the examiner.com
Today is the 39th annual Earth Day: grab your tote bags, reusable water bottles and CF light bulbs! It's easy to focus only on what you should do to be "Green" and overlook the no-nos. Here's a list put together by Treehugger.com on the things NOT to do on Earth Day (or any other day for that matter). Read it here.
Image copyright Treehugger.com
Aaron Green, that is. Apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright and Organic Architect in his own right, Aaron Green designed over 200 homes in his 60-year career. His Moss-Rosenbaum residence located in the D.C. area is currently for sale. Check out this article on Modern Capital.com for more details.
Image courtesy of Aaron Green Associates
John Muir was one of the most important naturalists our country has ever produced. Without his drive to save wild places, we would not have natural wonders like Yosemite or the giant redwoods in Muir Woods (which is named for him). Check out this list via TreeHugger.com of 10 cool things about Mr. Muir to learn more.
Anthony Flint reports on his experience visiting Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater (as well as Kentuck Knob) for The Boston Globe. His assessment? Find out by following the link.
Image copyright Anthony Flint/The Boston Globe
I received the newest Bulletin from the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy yesterday and it contained a fascinating article about Taliesin Fellow, Eugene Masselink's work for the Price family. Written by Scott W. Perkins, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions at Price Tower Arts Center, the article explores in great detail how Frank Lloyd Wright, the Prices and Masselink worked in tandem to create masterpieces like the Price Tower, the Price residences in Bartlesville, OK and Paradise Valley, AZ and the interiors that adorn them. Become a member of the Conservancy to get your copy of the Bulletin to read more.
Paradise Valley, AZ Price residence decorated door Image copyright PrairieMod™
When it comes to principles like open plans and the adoption of new technology, apparently a lot--at least according to socialmediatoday.com. Follow the link to read more about it (and then share the article on Facebook or Tweet it to your friends...)
Image copyright Flickr user mach3 via socialmediatoday.com
Ok, I have to admit that even though I have a deep seated fear of being stung, I've always thought that tending to a hive of honeybees would be very cool. Seems like I'm not alone in this fascination. I ran across this article about one amatuer beekeeper's adventure with these important pollinators. With the worldwide collapse of bee populations, bees need all the friends they can get! Read more here.
Image via Treehugger
Donald M. Aucutt's recent Prairie magazine (formally the Geo. W. Maher Quarterly) ran a piece on the Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts Gallery and their acquisition of a set of Maher windows form the now destroyed Winton House, formally of Wausau, WI. The gallery also has second group of windows from the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Little House II, formally of Wayzata, MN. Read about both houses and their remains by following the link.
Image copyright Bernard Goldberg Fine Arts
Spring has sprung in Chicago (finally!) and that means lots of great flowers in the garden. Here's a great post from design*sponge that looks at some really beautiful vases to hold those cut spring flowers. Read it here.
Image copyright design*sponge
Here's a link to an article exploring the history and recent restoration of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Bradley House in Kankakee, IL. Read more here.
Image via Chicago Sun Times
PrairieMod reader, Paul R. sent us a link to a series of house designs by architect Nick Noyes in conjunction with Houseplans.com that seem to have a Usonian-inspired lineage. Read more after the jump...
The iconic Empire State Building is a staple on the New York skyline ever since it was built in 1931. Over the years other buildings have surpassed it in size--making it seem a quaint reminder of a bygone era. Well, the Art Deco beauty is back in the headlines for being a new leader in energy efficiency. Treehugger.com recently posted on a
series of green renovations for the building that will reduce its energy usage by 40%. Read more about this green transformation by following the link.
Image via Treehugger.com
The Yale Daily News posted a question and answer session about Frank Lloyd Wright’s life, work and legacy with School of Architecture Dean Robert A.M. Stern ARC in honor of the 50th anniversary
of Wright’s death on April 9, 2009. Read it here.
Image by Al Revenna/courtesy of Wikipedia
TheLedger.com posted an article looking at the special place Florida Southern College held for its designer, Frank Lloyd Wright. 50 years after Wright's passing, the largest collection of buildings he designed for one site is gradually being restored. Read more here.
Photo copyright Scott Wheeler/The Ledger
Etsy.com recently featured the talents of greenware design, a two woman team that combines the talents of longtime friends, Irene McCollam and Leslie Geer. Their beautiful ceramic vessels are filled with arrangements of unique succulent plantings. These would make great easy-to-care-for gifts for anyone who is looking to "Bring The Outside In." See more here.
Image copyright greenware design
The Ledger.com recently featured an article summing up Frank Lloyd Wright's ideas and the impact they have had in the 50 years since his passing. Read about it here.
Image courtesy of The Ledger.com
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