NPR recently featured a piece by Edward Lifson on the architecture of John Lautner. Read and listen to more here.
Image via NPR.org
Now Hear This
Talking Sculpture And Sketching With Richard Serra
On the drive up to Milwaukee yesterday to catch the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum before it closed, I listened to an interesting interview with sculptor Richard Serra on Bob Edwards Weekend. The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City just opened a new exhibit titled Richard Serra Drawing: A Retrospective which showcases this often overlooked aspect of his creative output. Find out more here and about the Met exhibit here.
Image via bobedwardsradio.com
The Sound Of Sun Boxes
Get Your Lost Buildings Here
One of the best architecture-related DVDs I've ever gotten was "Lost Buildings," a special collaboration between NPR's "This American Life" and illustrator Chris Ware.
It tells the fascinating and touching story of Tim Samuelson (now the Cultural Historian for the City of Chicago), his passion for Louis Sullivan's architecture and his friendship with preservationist/photographer Richard Nickel.
The DVD comes packaged inside a stunning 100-page book, designed by Chris Ware, and filled with photos of the Louis Sullivan buildings mentioned in the story. Do yourself a favor and get a copy here.
Image via store.thisamericanlife.org
Unearthed Picasso's: Hot Or Not?
Heard a story on NPR this morning about the news that a French electrician recently revealed that he had 271 never-before-seen works of art by iconic painter Pablo Picasso, worth nearly $80 million,in his garage. Not surprisingly, the legitimacy of how he came to own them is being called into question. Litigation soon followed. Read more about it here.
Pritzker Prize(s) Announced
The Pritzker Architecture Prize usually goes to just one architect. But
this year, two Japanese partners are being honored — a woman, Kazuyo
Sejima, and a man, Ryue Nishizawa — who lead the firm SANAA. Read and hear more here.
Image via NPR.org
Going Gaga For Polaroid
Some brands don't fade away easily. Polaroid, the iconic name in photography, has gone bankrupt twice and stopped production on film. Yet, a consortium of former employees and a brand licensing firm have recruited pop singer Lady Gaga to bring Polaroid back. Read about it here.
Image copyright David Becker/Getty Images
Lost WPA Fresco Found!
A WPA-era fresco titled "Airmail" done originally for a Melrose Park, IL post office was thought to be lost to the ages. Well it has been found! It's in pretty rough shape right now, but the hope is that the funds can be raised to restore this beautiful and important piece of public art. Listen to a report on Chicago Public Radio here and read about the fresco here.
Image via the Melrose Park Public Library website
Channeling Mr. Wright
How do you follow-up on designing a new building for Frank Lloyd Wright's Florida Southern College campus? Listen here to Robert A. M. Stern, dean of the Yale School of Architecture, discuss how he approached the task of designing two dormitories at FSC.
Image via Robert A. M. Stern Architects
Guggenheim On NPR
Ennis On NPR
NPR Loves LEGOS
Here's a link to NPR's "All Things Considered" where they discuss the new Frank Lloyd Wright LEGO sets with creator Adam Reed Tucker. Listen to it here.
Dwell Magazine's Innovate It! Contest
Calling all designers, inventors, and people who are tired of lame everyday tools and utensils! Less than three weeks remain to send in your
submissions for Dwell's Innovate It! design competition. Via the Dwell Blog.
Break::The::Box Podcast: Paul Goldberger
Unity Temple Restoration Foundation has added a podcast player to their website. The first podcast is architecture critic, Paul Goldberger's lecture on the importance of Unity Temple. Take a listen here.
Image courtesy of UTRF
Heath Los Angeles, Almost Open!
Heath Ceramics will be opening their Los Angeles showroom in just a couple weeks and you can see the progress they've made right here. Also, get the rundown of what they've been up to here.
Image copyright Heath Ceramics
Wright Podcast
Here's a podcast by critic and New York Review of Books contributor Martin Filler, who speaks with
Deirdre Foley-Mendelssohn about Frank Lloyd Wright's uniquely American
architecture. Listen by following the link.
The Fate Of The Suburbs: New Urbanism?
NPR's Morning Edition ran a piece discussing the fate of suburban development and if "new urbanism" is an answer. Are ever creeping areas of development sustainable if they look like Oak Park, IL? Listen to the segment by following the link.
Image courtesy of Wikipedia
Selling Homes As Art
Photo copyright wright20.com
Going Green In Elmhurst
One of the things I love about Public Radio is the diverse amount of programming that it delivers on a daily basis. I had the distinct pleasure of catching a segment on yesterday's Chicago Public Radio's show, Worldview, which visited an amazing sustainable home in Elmhurst, Illinois that has me really excited!
So, Frank Lloyd Wright And Marcel Duchamp Walk Into A Meeting...
No, it isn't the beginning to a joke, this really happened! Much thanks to The New Modernist, Edward Lifson, who provided some photos and a link to a 7.5 hour recording of a meeting called "The Western Round Table on Modern Art" which took place in San Francisco in April, 1949. As Lifson points out on his blog:
The artists and critics opine on art in a changing culture, degeneracy, science, communication, the public, the critic, and other topics, including my favorite - the beautiful.
Check out the post on Edward's site and follow the link to download the entire recording to hear it for yourself. Beautiful!
Images courtesy of edwardlifson.com
The Brave Little Tailor
I caught a story on NPR's "All Things Considered" this evening on my way home from work that discussed the growing importance of preserving arts and crafts in our mass-market world for Generation XY.
NPR On Wright Campus
NPR recently ran a story on the efforts of Florida Southern College to restore it's Frank Loyd Wright designed campus. Home to the largest collections of Wright designed buildings for a single site, the structures have fallen on hard times and are in serious danger. As stated in the article:
In the years after they were completed, Florida Southern made
changes to the Wright buildings dictated by the college's needs and the
changing times. Air conditioning was added, and the old library was
converted into offices. The science building was modernized; now, big
ventilation ducts dominate the old roofline.
Baker said Florida Southern has tough decisions ahead about how much of Wright's original vision it can still accommodate. Baker has done similar work on other historic campuses, including The College of William & Mary and the University of Virginia.
Over time, Florida Southern's campus will be seen in the same light as Thomas Jefferson's design for the University of Virginia, Baker said.
"This will be considered one of our most precious sites," Baker said. "Frank Lloyd Wright was a genius who comes around maybe once in 500 years, a mind like that."
Follow the link to hear the segment, read the article and see some photos. Enjoy!
Photo copyright Florida Southern College
How Sushi Is Destroying The World
Does this seem like a far-fetched statement? Not really if you consider the fact that the Tuna fish (a major upper food chain predator) may go the way of the Do-Do bird due to crazy consumption and over-fishing to satisfy that insatiable global craving. A recent interview with author Sasha Issenberg on Chicago Public Radio's Worldview underscored this alarming situation. Mr. Issenberg has written a book called The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy on how the global demand for this over-fished resource is pushing the Tuna towards extinction. the interview was both surprising and a little sad...yet with many of these sorts of doomsday type eco stories, there's always a glimmer of hope that people can change and crises can be averted. We'll see.
Listen to the interview or read the book to form your own opinion. It might make you order the chicken salad instead.
World's First "Eco-City"
Chicago Public Radio's Worldview recently broadcast a very interesting show on building a totally "green" city in China. As stated on Worldview's website:
"The Shanghai Industrial Investment
Corporation plans to build the world's first "eco-city" from the ground
up. We'll talk with one of the people who are working on the city of
Dongtan; they plan to sustainably support half a million people."
The interview was very intriguing and of interest to anyone concerned with how our modern world can peaceably coexist with the natural world. It seems imperative that a similar sustainably-minded model be utilized in the United States. Check out this link to hear the entire interview and let us know your thoughts.
Photo courtesy of Worldview
Thinking Aloud With Henry Whiting
In between the two-part PrairieMod Podcast interview with Henry Whiting, owner of Teater's Knoll and recent author of a new book on the Frank Lloyd Wright designed artist's studio, we thought we'd post a link to this radio interview of Henry Whiting on a program called Thinking Aloud we came across. It's always interesting to hear Mr. Whiting discuss his wonderful home and his experience living with such an architectural gem. Enjoy and look for part 2 of our own interview with Mr. Whiting soon!
Photo copyright Henry Whiting
Chicago March Madness
For the end of March we're posting some links to an interesting take on bracket fever. The first link is to Sun-Times reporter Mike Thomas' article where he invited two noted Chicago historians (Tim Samuelson and Ann Durkin Keating) to chose thirty-two people, places or events, match them against each other and then pick the winner of each. It's the big dance through Chicago history!
The second link is to Chicago Public Radio's Eight Forty-Eight website, where you can listen to a special broadcast of Tim Samuelson and Ann Durkin Keating talking through several of their picks with host Steve Edwards. Will the Great Chicago Fire beat out the Skyscraper? Will Al Capone rub-out Michael Jordan? Is Frank Lloyd Wright more influential than Ludwig Mies van der Rohe? If only basketball was this exciting!
Image copyright Chicago Historical Society
Dwell Magazine Names Two Top Editors
Sam Grawe, Editor-in-Chief of Dwell, announced the appointment of two editors...Katrina Heron has been named Editor-at-Large and Michael Cannell has been named New York Editor.
Katrina Heron was Editor-in-Chief of Wired magazine from 1998 to 2001. Previously, she was a senior editor at The New Yorker and Vanity Fair magazines and an editor and writer at The New York Times. She's also co-author of Safe: The Race To Protect Ourselves In A Newly Dangerous World which explored the uses and misuses of new technologies. Katrina Heron is also a director of the wonderful Chez Panisse Foundation, working with founder Alice Waters to create food education for children and support sustainable agriculture.
Michael Cannell was editor of the House & Home section of The New York Times for more than six years. He had previously been a senior editor at Architecture magazine, and has written for The New Yorker, The New York Times magazine, Time, Newsweek, Metropolis and Sports Illustrated. Michael Cannell has also written a biography of I.M. Pei titled Mandarin of Modernsim.
The PrairieMod Squad looks forward to the great things that these two individuals will bring to Dwell Magazine!
Image and text courtesy of Dwell Magazine
How To Save The World: Plan B 2.0
One of the radio shows that I listen to from time to time is on Chicago Public Radio called Worldview. It frequently covers a range of global topics including political, social and environmental. I was able to catch part of today's show where host Jerome McDonnell was speaking to Lester Brown about his plan to save the world.
Now this sounds like a pretty audacious claim, but if you download Mr. Brown's free book, Plan B 2.0, Rescuing a Planet Under Stress and a Civilization in Trouble you'll see exactly what Lester's thoughts and ideas are. Some of the topics covered include:
• Using wind power and wind farms to supplement and replace an over dependence on oil
• Meeting Nature's Water Needs
• Farming in the City
• Ecolabeling: Voting With Our Wallets
Plus many more topics of interest. I would suggest if you have a little time over the holiday, download Mr. Brown's book and see how we need to put this Plan into action.
Image copyright Lester Brown
Radio Turkel
WDET, Detroit's public radio station did a piece on Wright's Turkel House, it's recent purchase and upcoming restoration. Click on this link. It will take you to a page for a show called, "Front Row Center." Choose "Sunday 8-27-06" for the show date and a Windows Media file will download. Skip ahead to 23:57 into the show to hear the Turkel piece. Enjoy!
The Sound of Chicago Architecture
One of our favorite Chicago Public Radio mainstays is "Hello Beautiful!" hosted by Edward Lifson. We thought it would be fun to post the link to a show from June 2005 that was all about the Sound of Architecture. Edward Lifson and Tim Samuelson, Cultural Historian for the City of Chicago, discuss different buildings and the sort of music that comes to mind when viewing them. Check it out, give a listen and enjoy!
Image courtesy of Chicago Public Radio.com
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
|
