Architecture and the American Century -

Chicago, Pittsburgh, New York

Renaissance Tours 10th - 23rd September, 2024

Reading List

General

·       Erik Larsen, (2003), Devil in the white city: Murder, Magic and the Madness at the Fair that Changed America, Bantam Books NY

A good semi-fictional novel setting the scene for Chicago in the late 1800’s, with a murder in there to solve.

·       Leland M. Roth and Amanda C. Roth Clark 2nd Edition, (2016) American Architecture: A History, Westview Press, Boulder CO

This is one of the big overviews… don’t buy this and bring it with you… too heavy!

 

Frank Lloyd Wright – overview

·       Meryle Secrest, (1998) Frank Lloyd Wright: A Biography, University of Chicago Press

The biography that gets the most recommendations, but it’s a long read.

·       Donald Hoffmann, (1995) Understanding Frank Lloyd Wright’s Architecture, Dover Publications, NY [Part 1, Part 2 ]

This one is all about how to read the architecture, something we’ll talk about a lot on the trip

“The Anatomy of Wrights Aesthetic inseparable from universal principals of form”, Richard MacCormack in AR, (February, 1968), online version  https://www.architectural-review.com/essays/the-anatomy-of-wrights-aesthetic-inseparable-from-universal-principles-of-form

·       Frank Lloyd Wright, (1908) “In the Cause of Architecture” in Architectural Record, Vol 23, No3 in Fredrick Gutheim (ed.), (1975) In the Cause of Architecture Frank Lloyd Wright: Essays by Frank Lloyd Wright for Architectural Record 1908-1952, Architectural Record Mc Graw Hill NY.

Something from Frank Himself. Gives you a sense of the type of language and over the top tone he used to impress.

·       Meegan M Thompson, (2013), Frank Lloyd Wright 21 Surprising Stories, Twenty Marketing Publishing (haven’t read this yet, but looks like a fun read and a bit of color to add some levity to all the serious stuff)

·       Barry Bergdoll and Jennifer Gray (2017) Frank Lloyd Wright: Unpacking the Archive, MoMA exhibition catalogue, MoMA Press, URL https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/1660

·       Ashley Paine, (2017) “Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the Archive”, 12 June – 1 October, 2017 at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, Fabrications, 27:3, 429-432 (Exhibition Review)

These two are links to the exhibition at MoMA in 2017 of FLW’s work and a review by a local academic (UQ) who wasn’t so impressed.

 

Chicago

Prairie School

·       Frank Lloyd Wright, “Louis Henry Sullivan: Beloved Master”, in H. Allen Brooks (ed.), (1975), Prairie School Architecture: Studies from ‘The Western Architect’ University of Toronto Press. Pp301-303

One of the rare moments FLW has praise for anyone but himself.

Birth of the Sky Scraper

·       Joanna Merwood-Salisbury, (2013) “The first Chicago School and the ideology of the Skyscraper”, in Peggy Deamer (ed) (2014) Architecture and Capitalism, Chapter 2 pp25-47

Joanna is a NZ academic with a lot of US expertise and she brings a great contextualising chapter on Chicago and the High Rise together here.

 

Unity Temple and Home Studio

·       https://franklloydwright.org/site/oak-park-home-studio/

·       https://franklloydwright.org/site/unity-temple/

Links to the foundation. A great resource and quick guide

Robbie House

·       Frank Lloyd Wright Trust (2019) Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Vision: Frederick C Robie House Conservation Management Plan, Supported by Getty Foundation,

https://www.getty.edu/foundation/pdfs/kim/robie_house_franklloydwright_cmp.pdf

This is a Conservation Management Plan and so a different take on this fantastic building.

·       Donald Hoffman, (1984) Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House: An Illustrated Story of an Architectural Masterpiece, Dover Publications NY

Still the best overview with drawings and history on the house I can find.

 

Farnsworth House

·       Maritz Vandenberg, (2005). Farnsworth House : Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Phaidon Press.

This is the one. Lord Colombo writes the intro and the drawings are the best.

·       Jacque Herzog and Pierre Mueron, (2016) “Ludwig Mies van der Rohe Farnsworth House” in Treacherous Transparencies, Actar D, pp 31-63

A bit of a crtical look at the Farnsworth, more theoretical around glass houses which is the rest of the book this comes from. Pierre and Jacque re principals of Herzog and DeMueron, one of Europe’s best architectural practices for many decades, so this is from one architect to another.

 Millenium Park

·       Mike Thomas (2024) “The Making of Millenium Park”, for Chicago Magazine (accessed 12/6/24) https://www.chicagomag.com/chicago-magazine/june-july-2024/the-making-of-millennium-park/

A review from the Chicago Magazine built out of quotes from people involved

 

All this to come.

Mies in America

Lake Shore Drive apartments

IIT Campus

Federal Plaza

Walking Tour

 

Pittsburgh

Falling Water

·       Donald Hoffman, (2nd edition 1998, first published 1975), Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water: The House and Its History, Dover Publications NY.

Another of the best single publications on this house. Comprehensive and with great images.

·       Robert Silman, (2000) “The Plan to Save Falling Water” in Scientific American

An engineers perspective on an architectural masterpiece, tells the story of the house, but also how to fix the problems.

·       Catherine W Zipf, (2021). Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater : American architecture in the Depression era. Routledge.

 

New York

  • Rem Koolhaas, (1978), Delirious New York: A Retroactive Manifesto, Monacelli Press, NY

 

Guggenheim, NY

https://www.guggenheim.org/

Ground Zero

West Side and Hudson yards

 

Philip Johnson and the Glass House

·       The Glass House Foundation, https://theglasshouse.org/learn/architecturaldrawings/

Link here to the National Trust Site for the Glass House and direct to the drawings of the house.

·       Suleman Anaya, 3rd May, 2024, “An Opaque Philip Johnson House Reopens after 15 years”, New York Times, Review, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/03/t-magazine/philip-johnson-brick-house.html

A recent review of goings on at the New Canaan Estate

Grace Farms

·       Belmont Freman, (2016) “Rural Visions”, in Places Journal, https://placesjournal.org/article/rural-visions-grace-farms-and-rural-studio/

A review of Grace Farms that puts it into a slightly unexpected context.

American Natural History Museum extension

·       https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/25/arts/design/gilder-center-natural-history-museum.html

A local NY critic has his say

 Little Island