How to experience Wright’s work across NYC and beyond
THIS year marks the 150th birthday of Frank Lloyd Wright, arguably the greatest architect America has ever produced. Around the country, Wright sites are celebrating his trailblazing creations and legacy.
Of his more than 400 buildings across the US, Wright is perhaps best known for his Prairie-style houses in the Midwest — but we have plenty to explore right here. This week, the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy’s annual conference is taking place at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). While the conference itself is sold out, the gathering’s symposia are open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis. On Thursday and Friday, architects, critics and historians will gather at MoMA to debate Wright’s work and influence. Visit SaveWright.
org for details and to RSVP for the free (and wonky!) events.
Consider wandering through MoMA’s fascinating exhibition, “Frank Lloyd Wright at 150: Unpacking the
Archive,” which delves into Wright’s drawings for projects both built and never realized and is open through Oct. 1. Wright had a strong utopian streak — he conceived of a suburban dream community called “Broadacre City” — which is explored there and in the show “Living in America: Frank Lloyd Wright, Harlem, and Modern
Housing” at Columbia’s Wallach Gallery, located on its new Mahattanville campus, until Dec. 17.
Of course, the best way to experience Wright is to visit his work. Luckily, the city is home not only to Staten Island’s Crimson Beech (see pages 37, 38 and above) but to Wright’s mature masterpiece, the Guggenheim. To enjoy it as Wright intended, go to the top and work your way down the spiral.
In the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s American wing, the living room of his Francis Little House from Wayzata, Minn., has been meticulously rebuilt. From wood paneling to leaded windows, nearly all the flourishes are Wright’s handiwork.
The most heralded element to emerge from Wright’s Broadacre City scheme was his Usonian house plan — a modular, single-story home featuring an open plan, heated floors and a carport (another Wright invention, it’s like a garage but not enclosed). Crimson Beech is a fine example, but you’ll have to travel to Pennsylvania’s Kentuck Knob or Arkansas’ Crystal Bridges Museum to tour a Usonian inside and out. For true fans with no geographic constraints, the conservancy keeps a list of all properties designed by the man himself on the market. They are currently seven, including the 1915-built Booth House in Glencoe, Ill., asking $1.7 million.