Does anyone out there know if Frank Lloyd Wright or the Fellowship designed any Railroad related building, particularly a Station or Depot? Any information would be appreciated.
GUB
Not that I’m aware of. However, if Mr. Wright ever did, NO equipment, loads, or furniture could be moved without his permission…
Tom
I see you are a fan. Have you read “The Fellowship” by Roger Friedland and Harold Zellman. I am about half way through. Not a bad read and very informative.
GUB
I don’t think so but check this out, plus many other sites:
http://www.franklloydwright.org/
Let’s hope he didn’t design anything!
(I’m a structural engineer, so my profession & Mr. Wright didin’t exactly share a real high opinion of each other)
GUB,
I wouldn’t necessarily say I’m a fan. But his work is interesting and I did see the Unitarian church in Oak Park(?) in-person a number of years ago. Falling water is only a couple of hours from here in western PA. There’s a house or two over in Oberlin that Mr. Wright designed, as well. (I am quite fond of some Arts & Crafts or Mission style furniture. We have a Stickley china cabinet that we bought 10 years ago that will be our one heirloom.)
I also saw a PBS documentary (American Experience series - always interesting) on Frank Lloyd Wright a couple of year ago and found it very intriguing. I will have to say that he was quite an arrogant man. The story about the couple who had Mr. Wright over for dinner - as a thank you for designing their house - after arriving at their home, he noticed that a chair he designed had been moved from its original location, proceeded to walk over and move the offensive chair back “where it was supposed to be”, just cracked me up.
As successful and famous as F.L. Wright became as an architect, sadly, he had a pretty troubled and unhappy life. Before seeing the program, I hadn’t realized that Mr. Wright had designed the Guggenheim Museum in NYC.
The one thing that I can say for sure is that, IMO, the older “Frank” is a LOT better architect than the newer “Frank” (Gehrey). I saw a documentary around Christmas about Frank Gehrey. The fact that they interviewed this therapist of 30 years said it all.
We have a Gehrey creation on campus here in town that I’m sure was an absolute nightmare for the construction company to erect. It’s funny how the Arts always seem to attract the “different” crowd. (Is that why we all meet here on the forum? [swg])
Tom
…then you must REALLY hate Frank Gehrey’s creations…
Tom
Thanks for the links. Very interesting. I’ll have to spend a bit of time going through them all. Thanks again.
GUB
I’m sure as an engineer it was very difficult to work with him, even builders would have a hard time with the decisions he would make. You certainly would not want to low ball when bidding one of his projects. I had read that those familier with his work would either decline bidding immediately or would build in contigencies into the price,He was very opinionated and I think most of the time he thought he knew better than the engineers. But you have to admire his work. He is afterall one of the greatest Architects ever.
GUB
Tom,
I’m jealous. I have never seen Falling Water. Does the Kaufman family still own it? I thought I read somewhere that it was owned by some Hollywood Types. The only FLW Building that I have spent anytime in is the Guggenhiem in NYC about a year ago. They were renovating the exterior and it was covered in scaffolding so it was disappointing from the outside. Inside was another matter.
I have a copy of the Documentary on VHS. It is very interesting. As far as him being aarogant the book I mentioned previously shows just how arragant he could be as well as how troubled his life was. Actually I was surprised at the darker side of him outlined in the book. It is a cood book if you get the chance to read it.
I have had one experience with a Frank Gehrey project near where I live. Of course I lost the bid, but I still maintain that I had the right price. We shall see when the dust settles and the accountants do the final tally. I know it’s going to be a nightmare. Thank gawd I didn’t get the job.
GUB
Bruce,
I don’t know who owns Falling Water now. I believe they did quite a bit of foundational work on it over the last few years because of the water running through the middle of it.
I checked the MS map program to see where Ingersoll, ONT was. You’re practically right across the lake from me! Although twice the drive time for me, at 6-1/2 hours, a drive to Falling Water isn’t totally farfetched for you from Ingersoll. It would make for a nice weekend visit…AND you could swing around and stop off at Horseshoe Curve (near Altoona) on the trip back! [:)][tup]
Bruce, let me know if you ever decide to do that. I would be more than glad to meet you over there. Chip (Spacemouse) also lives just west of Pittsburgh in Indiana, PA. I bet he’d come, too, if he could swing it.
Tom
Thanks Tom,
I’ll do that, but I think it will have to be next year as this year we are planning a trip to the San Fransisco area and I don’t think I could get the wife to agree to a weekend in PA. Her last experience there involved a cranky state trooper with no sence of humour.
I am also reading a book about Railroads in your state called “Railroads of Pennsylvania - Fragments of the Past in the Keystone State” by Lorett Treese and on the back cover is a painting of Horseshoe Curve. Since I got back into the hobby a couple of years back I have run across more than a few articles on Horseshoe Curve and it is on my list of must see RR Items.
Thanks again, Tom.
GUB
Fallingwater is owned by a conservation group (The Western Pennsylvania Conservancy) and is open for tours. Movie producer Joel Silver has owned at least two Wright properties (still owns one, in South Carolina), but he is the only “hollywood type” that I can think of who owns one.
I’ll have to check my books, but I cannot think of any railroad structures that Wright designed – though with 400 buildings credited to him, I might have forgotten one.
Any rail structures designed by members of the fellowship would have been built after the mid-1930s.
Company I was employed with had several buildings built by Frank L. Wright in Racine, Wi. I am not sure if they still offer tours or not. Since 9/11 things have changed greatly. While two of the buildings are used by the company as offices. The third building which was a home at one time, is now a conference center and used for meetings.
Buffao Ny. also has a house he designed, and he had a design for a gas station of all things that Buffalo has the plans for. Rumor has it they are going to build it per his design strictly as a tourist attraction.