Couldn’t miss: “Frank Lloyd Wright – From Within Outward” at the Guggenheim, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of this renowned museum. What better way to mark the occasion but by celebrating its epoch-defining and legendary architect! The exhibition showcases the enormous impact he has had on modern architecture – what I like about this so independently-minded architect is this constant preoccupation of opening the inside to the outside, I guess that’s what he calls “organic”, always attempting to marry space design with the natural surroundings, a not-so-archaic notion that is (or should remain) very contemporary.
The message here is that he built “from the inside out”, contrary to the prevailing practice of centuries, building “from the outside in” – reminded me of the Hollyhock House in LA that he designed for oil-heiress Aline Barnsdall back in 1920 or so and which I visited recently. Featured amongst others is the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo, quite a landmark that he built about the same time, and that acquired such a standing amongst the Japanese for being one of the very few buildings that survived the 1921 earthquake; it was considered a good omen to get married at the Imperial Hotel! Did not survive however the demolition ball of “modern progress” as it was destroyed in 1968. Too bad!
On display, many “blueprints” and models of projects that were never built – a reminder that lots of effort and imagination go without being ever recognised and embodied into tangible testimonies! And yet with more than 500 projects that saw the light of day, out of 1100 that he pitched for, surely he must be considered as a successful architect! Remarkable as well, this man “practiced” for 72 years! http://www.guggenheim.org/new-york/exhibitions/on-view-now/frank-lloyd-wright
Fast forward 50 years, 100 years, to my daughter’s Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation End of the Year Show at Columbia University that same evening! A great happening where students exhibit their work of the year, individually or as groups; fascinating what they come up with, from feat of techniques – like these large, designed sheets of pure glass Laurence and her cohorts managed to fabricate – to computer exploration of materials leading to so far unknown forms and potential architectural concepts! While this is far away of what drove innovators like Frank Lloyd Wright a hundred years ago, I suspect the latter would approve of today’s young architects’ quest that technology allows...
Laurence graduated this week from that same school with a Master Degree – 3 years of hard work, to round up her creative sense, on top of an undergraduate degree in Industrial Design at Parsons. Extremely demanding; I admire her courage and dedication, and Eric’s patient support he provided all along...
