Wright in Public
Youive seen houses designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Now learn about two radically different kinds of buildings designed by Wright: the Blue Sky Mausoleum in Forest Lawn, and the Filling Station in a slide lecture by Patrick Mahoney. The illustrated lecture on New Building Types by Frank Lloyd Wrightis in the 1920s will take place on Saturday, March 25th 2006 at 10 a.m. at the LCo Building. The LCo building is located on Van Rensselaer & Exchange St. in downtown Buffalo. Admission is free for Graycliff members and volunteers; for the general public, admission is $5. Ample free parking is available.
Wright in Public: Lecture on Frank Lloyd Wright's Civic Architecture of the 1920s
Although best known for his designs of houses, during the 1920is Frank Lloyd Wright designed two radically new types of structures: the cemetery memorial and the gas station. Both structures were meant to be built in Buffalo, NY. But they were not constructed at the time. Now, with the recent completion of the Blue Sky Mausoleum in Forest Lawn, and the soon to-be-built Filling Station in downtown Buffalo, Patrick Mahoney will present a slide lecture that discusses the architectural significance of each. Patrick Mahoney is a practicing architect and the Vice President of the Graycliff Conservancy.
Image: Model of a gas station from an exhibit of the works of Frank Lloyd Wright at the Layton Art Gallery in Milwaukee, which toured the United States between 1930 and 1931.
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DannyBoy
Too bad we can't get any internationally known architects that are still alive to design buildings in buffalo
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John Marko
Too bad there is not some corporation that would want to re-create the Larkin Office Building and use it as their headquarters, or some institution that would recreate it for some other creative use.
If they are doing it with the gas station, mausoleum and the boat house, why not the Larkin?!
Think of the possibilities...
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John Marko
Too bad there is not some corporation that would want to re-create the Larkin Office Building and use it as their headquarters, or some institution that would recreate it for some other creative use.
If they are doing it with the gas station, mausoleum and the boat house, why not the Larkin?!
Think of the possibilities...
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bman
"TOO BAD" "TOO BAD" " TOO BAD" " TOO BAD"...the Buffalo Mantra.... and it just keeps on rolling along! Pathetic. Wonderful develpments and that's all people can say. Move out and live in Charolette, L.A., or Phoenix for a while...then come back. You'll see.
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livemusicgrl
I've always wanted the Larkin building reconstructed.
Bman - some time ago - after college when Raleign NC was the place to be because of all the job growth I went. Only lasted 5 months...the place (downtown especially) had no character....and no waterfront and no riverwalk and no natural wonders.
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DannyBoy
Get a grip bman. You freak out everytime someone critcizes any type of development. Maybe you belong in Phoenix but I don't.
The lecture is a great idea. I'm all for talking and thinking about our built environment.
Its ok, just ok, to build a gas station designed by FLW in the 1920s. But alot can be done with a little money. With the money that has been invested into this dead architect we could be seeking out today's FLW or tomorrow's. That, in my opinion, would truly be a major investment in Buffalo's future. And we would send the message that we are a modern, progressive and sophisticated place.
The Blue Sky Mosoleum might attract FLW enthusiasts and get good reviews locally but it gets bad press nationally and among art critics, it is percieved as a tourism gimic that reflects a lack of sophistication.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/09/06/arts/design/06wrig.html?ex=1252209600&en=8b510544acfc8622&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt
The Garuanty Building wasn't built as a tourist gimic, neither was The Darwin Martin House, or the Larkin Building. These were built because the patrons had money and a keen sense about american architecture and culture. Is the difference between FLW built-then and FLW built-now clear?
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STEEL
hey 2006! not 1920! you need to keep up on your BRO readiing. check this out.
http://www.buffalorising.com/city/archives/2006/01/have_you_ever_h.php
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Lou
Well, Ive said it before and I will say it again....that I dont think we have to choose.
I appreciate FLW. I appreciate his original buildings that have been restored and the new ones that are being proposed. I think Blue Sky was fine....and I think that the Boat House is going to make a really great addition to our waterfront and celebrate Buffalo as one of the oldest skulling clubs in the country.
As far as bringing back the Larkin Administration building...I think it would make a great home for the Buffalo Niagara Chamber of Commerce and the ECIDA. It would make quite an impression upon inviting companies to relocate to our city.
Sadly, we have a couple higher priority projects that we must focus on....like the Richardson, the Greystone, the Statler, the Trico (downtown), AM&A's to name a few.
My favorite architect is Callatrava and IM Pei...Ive seen some of their work and they are both modern and yet classical. This is the kind of modern architecture that fits well in Buffalo blending the gracefullness of the older buildings with the gracefullness of modern. The more of the older buildings we save and build...the better these modern buildings will fit and look.
So whether you like classical, georgian, tudor, gothic/romanesque, colonial, mission, art nuveau, beaux arts, art deco or bau haus....if its done with quality and detail, then its never going to be out of style.
Remember it was the elitists that once so no value in preservation at all...they favored urban renewal because they wanted entire neighborhood rebuilt with expressways and high rise towers on Corbusier's model. Now the elitists respect architecture but only if was built in that period. Imagine someone saying that you cant admire the beauty of a Van Gogh in your home because its not the original.....its the same elitist mentality.
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DannyBoy
I'm well aware of the Toshiko Mori project and it is a great example of selecting contempoary desigers even for sensitive sites. The standard that is being set with that Visitors' center should be applied to projects like the boathouse or the b-p art center. The selection process was key. Imagine if we would've built a resurrected design by FLW instead of getting an influential architect that is alive and well. Calatrava and Pei are great and there are many many other architects that can contribute to this city too. Mori is a start--I just hope that those same "elitists" that invited her to participate in the competition can do more of the same in the future.
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Past-Present-Future
Its not elitist to complement Mori on her design and criticize the B-P Museum. There is good modern art and there is mediocre....to poor. The B-P Museum is very obviously mediocre to poor!
And Im sorry if you think that it is elitist to appreciate quality design and quality architecture.
Go to Memphis Tennesee where they built an exact replica of the Acropolis in Athens a gorgeous piece of architecture that adds enormously to their city just as the Calatrava Museum in Milwaukee adds to their city.
But its exclusionary and elitist to say that the only kind of architecture that can be built is what you believe. I stand by my philosphy that all architecture from all periods are welcome as long as its top quality and world class.
All of the great works of architecture (built, unbuilt, demolished or re-interpreted or new&innovative) should be welcome in our city as long as they are or were top quality and world class. Something that the HealthNow and B-P cannot lay claim!
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DannyBoy
I think this rhetoric about inclusiveness vs. elitism is disguising something. Clearly there has been a push to make Buffalo a Frank Lloyd Wright town. This is NOT being inclusive. This is NOT part of some effort to create a "fair and balanced" architectural playing field. It IS based in a provincial sense of what the gold standard of good architecture is. I think people assume that if it was designed by FLW it must be good. Is the Blue Sky Mausoleum good? In my elitist opinion, NO! It looks cheap and boring--the design does nothing for me and the fact that the building has a quote by FLW on the side of it is a joke! Will toshiko Mori's design have a quote of hers carved into the side of her design? Of course not. It was purely a business gimmick by Forest Lawn to get people to pay loads of cash to place their corpse in a FLW design.
The reality is that major cities are generally not wasting their time and money resurrecting designs by dead architects. The most culturally aware and progressive cities large and small are either recruiting established names in architecture like Steven Holl, Daniel Libeskind or Zaha Hadid or they are seeking out new talent that can attract the attention of culturally aware tourists and business. The local media really needs to take a close look at small and large cities around the world and examine how they are advancing themselves culturally to the point where it attracts tourists from around the world. This might help use end this misguided FLW binge we are on.
Its fine to be exclusive, especially in a place where investment is scarce because we need to make our dollars go much further by making very smart decisions.
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