PrairieMod

Tour of Beth Sholom Synagogue

Beth Sholom Synagogue is a structure I passed countless times growing up in Northeast Philadelphia. On a recent trip home, I scheduled a tour of this breathtaking and historic synagogue and took some photos. Not only is the building itself a marvel, but the visitors' center contains many original correspondence between Frank Lloyd Wright and Rabbi Mortimer J. Cohen; there's a great interactive feature that allows viewers to see this translucent building from inside and out at various times of day and year. Also, the moving 20-minute film (narrated by Leonard Nimoy) actually left me a little verklempt. My tour guide, who has been a member of the congregation for 35 years, is proof that worshipers take great pride in their synagogue and appreciate its architectural and spiritual significance.

The Inside Track On Inland Steel

The Chicago Architecture Foundation is offering a new tour of the Inland Steel Building, the first skyscraper built within the Chicago Loop after World War II. Explore the exterior and interior of this iconic 1958 modern masterpiece by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill and learn the stories of who commissioned the building, who designed it, and why it has attained such fame as a classic example of mid-century modernism. Get the details here.

Image via Wikipedia

See Seth's Cottage

Thanks to PMod reader, Steven S. for sending us a link to some fantastic photos of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Seth Peterson Cottage. See the photos here and if you're interested in renting the cottage for a stay, click here.

Image via boutique-homes.com

A Visit To America's Most Beautiful House

If you haven't made the pilgrimage to Western Pennsylvania yet to see Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater, then this article should convince you to start your travel plans. Read it here.

Image copyright Daniel Terdiman/CNET

Marin's Booming Tourism Business

Architecture and history buffs are bringing boffo business to Marin County, CA to tour their Frank Lloyd Wright-designed civic center. Read about it here.

Image via Wikipedia

Neutra In San Francisco

Here's a brief article about seeing Richard Neutra's work in San Francisco, with specific focus on his 1939-40 Kahn House. Read more here.

Image via Curbed SF

Stay At Sowden

Lloyd Wright's distinctive looking (and infamous) Sowden House in Los Angeles, CA is now available for rental for a mere $1995 a night (gulp!). Check out the details here and here.

Image via sowdenhouse.com

Carl Graffunder In Minneapolis

PrairieMod reader, John C., was kind enough to share his photos from a recent Minneapolis trip viewing the architectural gems of architect Carl Graffunder. See them all after the jump...

Get Ready To Tour A Saarinen

The Indianapolis Museum of Art is preparing the Eero Saarinen-designed Miller residence in Columbus, IN for public tours as early as summer 2011. Read more about it here.

Image via The Indianapolis Museum of Art

Suburban Explorations: Villa Park

I thought it would be fun to start exploring some of the nearby Chicago suburbs for some PrairieMod gems and share them with readers from time-to-time. Here's a quick tour of Villa Park, IL and some of the interesting sites to see. More after the jump...

Prairie School In Sioux City

Here's a link to a few great shots of the Woodbury County Courthouse in Sioux City, IA, which has the distinction of being one of the largest Prairie School buildings ever built. See the photos here.

Image copyright Mary Chind

Break::the::Box 2010: City Farm

Plan on attending the next very cool UTRF Break::the::Box event titled "City Farm :: Garden in a City" which will take place Friday, July 16, 2010 :: 2 pm. Find out more after the jump...

Scoville Park's Master Plan

The Oak Park, Illinois park district has revealed the master plan for the revitalized Scoville Park--home to the rebuilt Horse Show Fountain by sculptor Richard Bock and Frank Lloyd Wright. Read more here.

San Diego Delivers

We put the call out to San Diegans to send us a photo of the Alfonso Iannelli-designed upper-corner sculptures on the Golden West Hotel. Well, Sam Bryant pulled through and send us a few pics so that we could all get a better view at these interesting cubist sculptures. Thanks Sam! Read the original post here.

Images copyright Sam Bryant

Mason City's New Center

PrairieMod reader Mark H. sent me a link to the new Architectural Interpretive Center in Mason City, Iowa (which is under construction and is based on Walter Burley Griffin's interlocking squares design). The site also has links to Mason City's other architectural wonders, the Stockman House, the Park Inn Hotel and City National Bank and Rock Crest/Rock Glen. Read more here.

Image via Mason City Architectural Interpretive Center website

Another Springfield, Ohio Cultural Gem Saved

In addition to the Westcott House, Springfield, Ohio now has another preservation feather to stick in their cap. Their art deco post office from 1934 has been restored, including two WPA-era murals by Herman Wessel. Read more here.

Image via fedsmith.com

Raleigh's Hidden Treasure

Here's a link to a blog post with several photos of the Water Garden in Raleigh, NC. This relatively unknown wonder is extremely important to the region since it has acted as the home base for over 50 years for Raleigh's most important landscape architects, Richard Bell. Read and see more here.

Image via goodnightraleigh.com

A Look At Muirhead Farmhouse

Janet H. sent us a link to an Old House Journal article about the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed (and beautifully restored) Muirhead Farmhouse in Hampshire, IL. Read it here and then plan to stay a night or two in this fantastic Usonian by booking your reservation here.

Image via Old House Journal website

Pics Of Pickwick

Over the weekend I took a little trip up to Park Ridge, IL to check out the beautiful Pickwick Theater. With amazing Art Deco features inside and out by the artist/designer Alfonso Iannelli, the theater is an architectural gem and well worth a visit. Check out a photo tour after the jump...

Wright & Like 2010: Racine Wrap-Up

PrairieMod Squad members Eric and Erin were among the hundreds of people who had a fantastic time at Wright in Wisconsin's 2010 Wright & Like Tour, which took place in Racine and Kenosha. More after the jump...

J Wax In The Blogosphere

Many of us are suiting-up this weekend to go see the architectural highlights in Racine, Wisconsin as part of the Wright & Like Tour weekend. If you can't make it this weekend but still want to see the SC Johnson Wax Building, then sign-up for this tour on June 9th. Be advised--if they don't get enough interest it likely won't happen. More info here. Thanks to PrairieMod reader Steven S. for the link.

Image via Lynn Becker's blog, Architecture Chicago Plus

Architecture Up A River

Get your paddling arm ready! The Chicago Architecture Foundation and architect/kayak enthusiast Joel Berman will lead groups from North Avenue to the Loop and back, discussing how the city grew from a small, back-country outpost into one of the world’s most important crossroads in less than 100 years. Along the way, he’ll provide an overview of the many buildings designed by some of America's greatest architects. More info here.

A Look At Rosenbaum

Here's a link to an article celebrating Alabama's only Frank Lloyd Wright house, the beautifully restored (and open to the public) Rosenbaum House. Read more here.

Images via Wikipedia

The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

Restoration work on Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin D. Martin House is entering its final phase. I can't wait to see this Prairie School masterpiece returned to the height of its glory! Read more here.

Image: Sharon Cantillon/Buffalo News

Lloyd Wright: Architect Of Sun And Shadows

Architectural historian Dana Hutt will present a talk this Saturday titled "Lloyd Wright: Architect of Sunshine and Shadow," the last installment of this season's Sidney D. Gamble Lecture Series organized by the Gamble House in Pasadena. The Hutt event starts at 7:30 p.m. at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

A related tour of three Lloyd Wright homes in the Los Angeles area is planned for May 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The stops will be the Sowden house in Los Feliz and the Derby house in Glendale, both built in 1926, and the Gainsburg house in La Cañada Flintridge, built in 1946. More details here and here.

Little-Known Home Shines Again

Here's a link to an article praising the newly restored Frank Lloyd Wright-designed American System-Built bungalow in Milwaukee, WI. Read more here.

Image via onmilwaukee.com

Griffin Meeting In Anna

Mark your calendars for May 22, 2010. The eleventh annual meeting of the Walter Burley Griffin Society of America will take place in downstate Illinois among the rolling hills of the Shawnee National Forest, at Griffin’s major public building in America—the Stinson Memorial Library in Anna. More details here.

A Look At Hanna House

Frank Lloyd Wright's Hanna House (1936) in Palo Alto, CA is an elegant example of Wright's ability to manipulate space using complex geometric shapes as his guide. The six-sided hexagon pattern can be found throughout the house, giving it the nickname "Honeycomb House." Read more here.

Image copyright Karin Moriarty

Johnson Wax Architecture Pretty Slick

Here's an article about the significant architecture at the SC Johnson Wax Corporate Headquarters and the tours associated with it. Read it here.

Image via Wikipedia

"Dragon Rock" Gets Its Green Roof Back

Manitoga, Russel Wright’s National Historic Landmark home, studio and woodland garden, will celebrate re-installation of the iconic designer’s green roof on April 17. Thanks to a federal Save America’s Treasures grant, paired with NYS funding sponsored by Assemblywoman Sandy Galef, Senator Vincent Leibell, New York State Council on the Arts, the David L. Klein, Jr. Family Foundation and other private sources, and a major in-kind donation from Kemper System Inc, the historic “green roof” on the 20th century industrial designer’s Landmark home has been fully restored. Read more after the jump...

Picturing Taliesin

Mark Hertzberg of wrightinracine.com has followed-up on his recent Taliesin Centennial story with a compilation of images taken of Wright's Spring Green, Wisconsin home over the years. See them here.

Image copyright Mark Hertzberg

The Natural Harmony Of Taliesin West

The way in which Frank Lloyd Wright integrated and unified his buildings with the nature of their sites was one of facet of his architectural genius. His desert home of Taliesin West is a shining example of this harmonious union between structure and Nature. Read more about it here.

Beth Sholom Has The Wright Stuff

The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Beth Sholom synagogue in Elkins Park, PA has always had to exist in the shadow of the other great building finished in 1959, the Guggenheim museum. Well, it's time for this "mountain of light" to have the spotlight shown on it and shine. Read more about this amazing building here.

Shattering Glass Ceilings

The Virginia Center for Architecture opens a new exhibit titled "Glass Ceilings: Highlights from the International Archive of Women in Architecture" which highlights the work of pioneering women including Lilia Skala, Nobuko Nakahara, Lois Gottlieb, and Beverly Willis. More info here.

Robie's Year

2010 marks the 100th anniversary of Wright's Prairie School masterpiece, the Frederick C. Robie House, located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The Frank Lloyd Wright Preservation Trust is planning a slew of programs and events celebrating the building's milestone birthday and its restoration. Read an article about it all here and find out how to plan a visit here.

Image copyright Tim Long/via FLWPT

Guggenheim Online Time Line

Frank Lloyd Wright's triumphant final masterpiece, the Guggenheim Museum, took 16 years to come to life. In honor of the building's 50th anniversary, an online time line has been put together documenting the stages of its design and construction. Explore it here.

Image via guggenheim.org

Hollyhock's Amazing Art Glass Tour

The L.A. TImes reports that David Judson of the renowned Los Angeles glass workshop Judson StudiosHollyhock House will lead 25 visitors on a special 1½-hour lecture and tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's on Feb. 27 from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Judson will provide the historical background of the residence's art glass while pointing out other details. Reservations and the
 $20 donation are due by Feb. 20. Tickets will go fast, so make your reservations by clicking here.

Photo copyright Gabriel Cifarelli

Yoshiko Meets Gustav

I'm loving this Yoshiko Yamamoto (of The Arts & Crafts Press fame) limited edition, signed, and numbered block print of the Log House at Gustav Stickley's Craftsman Farms. Read more about it here.

Image copyright Yoshiko Yamamoto

Conservancy Chooses Cincinnati

Save the date! The 2010 Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy Annual Conference will be held Sept 22-26 in the often architecturally under-appreciated city of Cincinnati, Ohio. Read more here.

Out And About Wright 2010: Minneapolis Mid-Century Modern

The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy has announced their first Out and About Wright event for 2010 and it looks right up our alley! Billed as "Minneapolis Mid-Century Modern," the April 30-May 2 event will give participants the unique opportunity to tour Twin Cities architectural gems both public and private by Wright, Saarinen, Rapson, Howe and others. Follow the link to get the details and to order tickets.

Image courtesy FLWBC/copyright Steve Sikora

Jensen's Drawings For River Forest Parks

Recently, River Forest, IL residents voted down a proposed referendum that would have destroyed a park originally designed by Prairie School landscape architect Jens Jensen. There's also discussion about restoring it back to its intended design, adding to the town's cultural value, tourist interest and Prairie School cache. To keep the ideas flowing, here's some images and links from the Bentley Library Image Bank of the original drawings that Jensen created for the River Forest park system. See more after the jump...

A Special Night At Auldbrass

Experience a private tour, concert and dinner at Frank Lloyd Wright’s incomparable Auldbrass Plantation in Yemassee, South Carolina on Saturday, March 27, 2010. The Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy has received permission to make this amazing architectural wonder available for this special event. Find out more info here.

Image via Wikipedia

Eames House Sunset Tour

Want an exclusive tour of the Eames House at Sunset? Then get ready to enter into this very cool contest from the font-gurus at House Industries. Find out more after the jump...

Wright's House Beautiful

Interested in how the Arts & Crafts Movement impacted the ideas and living spaces of Frank Lloyd Wright? Find out more after the jump...

Kamin On Foster's Fortaleza

Blair Kamin, architecture critic for the Chicago Tribune, weighs-in on the new Lord Norman Foster-designed Fortaleza Hall at the SC Johnson Wax Co. headquarters in Racine, Wisconsin. Read about it here.

Image copyright Blair Kamin

Modern Michigan

Mostly known for its great outdoors, it turns out that Michigan is also rich with modern architecture. The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office is behind an effort to highlight Michigan's modern architecture and design heritage. It's raising $250,000 to help record oral histories of architects from the time; create driving tours; and research and catalogue important projects from around 1940 to 1970. The office is promoting the state's architecture through a website, with stories, photos and links to sites around the state. Read more about it here.

Florida's "Child Of The Sun"

The Florida Southern College campus in Lakeland, FL is an architectural treasure trove of Frank Lloyd Wright-designed buildings—in fact, the largest single concentration at one site. Read more about this Wright destination here.

Beautiful Boathouse Pavilion

Chicago Architecture maven, Lee Bey, provides some great info and even better photos of the 103-year-old Prairie School-era Humboldt Park Boathouse Pavilion. Read and see more here.

Image copyright Lee Bey

Help Save A Masterpiece By Seeing It

Currently wrapped in scaffolding as part of a massive restoration effort, Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple still shines as an important destination for anyone interested in Modern Architecture. Take advantage of the new tour hours recently announced by Unity Temple Restoration Foundation to visit this icon and be apart of saving it for future generations. See more here.

Image copyright UTRF

Enjoy The Winter Wonders At The Schwartz House

The owners of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Bernard Schwartz House in Two Rivers, Wisconsin let me know that they are currently running a Winter Special, where you can rent this beautiful Usonian house for only $195 per night, mid-week through March. Having visited this house and stayed the night, it's a great value for such an amazingly unique experience. Find out more details and book your stay here.

Image via the Schwartz House website