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There is a Frank Lloyd Wright building in my small home town, a dentist office. I always thought it was a novelty as a child, saw it in the same light as a 'fun house', as a young man I thought it was just plain ugly and offensive to the landscape, now I hold a bit more respect for it but still see it as representative of a 'wrong turn' in architecture.
I couldn't believe how poorly constructed the Taliesin House near Spring Green was. Cold and drafty, only usable in the summer. Even now as they are attempting to repair it, one wonders if it could ever be substantial enough for a Wisconsin winter. Glass windows meeting floors that have one inch cracks and no insulation at all, and the floors go right outside, conducting cold right into the house. This would have to be totally rebuilt from the ground up, even the ground under.
I couldn't believe how poorly constructed the Taliesin House near Spring Green was. Cold and drafty, only usable in the summer. Even now as they are attempting to repair it, one wonders if it could ever be substantial enough for a Wisconsin winter. Glass windows meeting floors that have one inch cracks and no insulation at all, and the floors go right outside, conducting cold right into the house. This would have to be totally rebuilt from the ground up, even the ground under.
That said, it is really amazing.
It's natural that construction corners were cut. Wright was always close to being broke when he re-built Taliesin for the 3rd time. Design always trumped practicality; the owner of Fallingwater wanted a summer house that overlooked the beautiful little waterfall. In the end, the family could not use the waterfall, as the house took over the access to it. Wright always talked a lot about his homes 'blending in' with nature, but more often, nature ended up taking a back seat to the house.
Wright often did not consider all the practicalities of a home in his work, and he was very much a man of the late 1800's in his thinking. At least one client rebelled when he designed a master bedroom that only allowed twin beds in it, but Wright very seldom budged on things like that. Such designs were all the more odd, considering Wright's own married life, which produced both a lot of children and a lot of romantic scandal. I always doubted he would be happy in such a bedroom.
The same goes with home utilities. Early on, many clients had to force him to add modern developments, such as central heating, into his designs. Later on, he left all that up to his assistants, and during the re-building of Taliesen, those assistants were actually students, who were paying for the privilege of learning from Wright.
FLW was broke most of his life, selling art on the side to help pay his bills. Taliesen got foreclosed on at one point.
Interesting side note, one of his kids invented "Lincoln Logs"
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