[Info-vax] Completely OT: Frank Lloyd Wright

[David Froble]

Dirk Munk wrote:
> David Froble wrote:
>> Dirk Munk wrote:
>>> Richard B. Gilbert wrote:
>>>> On 10/6/2012 6:58 PM, Dirk Munk wrote:
>>>>> Yesterday there was a news item on Dutch TV news (all day long!) 
>>>>> that a
>>>>> project developer in Phoenix wants to demolish a house designed and
>>>>> build by Frank Lloyd Wright. He built this house in 1952 for his son
>>>>> David. As you will know (I hope) Frank Lloyd Wright was one of the
>>>>> gratest architects that ever lived, not only in the U.S., but 
>>>>> anywhere.
>>>>> I'm a very big fan of his work, and it is incomprehensible to me
>>>>> that it
>>>>> would be allowed to demolish any building designed by him, let alone
>>>>> this house that is regarded to be one of his ten best designs. In
>>>>> Europe
>>>>> this would be a listed building and you couldn't even point your 
>>>>> finger
>>>>> at it without permission. Will you please help to stop this act of
>>>>> cultural barbarism and sign the petition on this website?
>>>>>
>>>>> http://www.change.org/petitions/city-of-phoenix-save-the-david-and-gladys-wright-house 
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> If you really want to preserve this house, buy it and the land it 
>>>> stands
>>>> on!
>>>
>>> On this side of the big pond we have laws to protect important 
>>> monuments.
>>>
>>>>
>>>> If you look deeply enough, you just might find that there are good
>>>> reasons for wanting to demolish the house!
>>>>
>>>  Like what please?
>>>
>>
>> Any decent Architect works for a living, doing many assignments,
>> possibly more than one at a time.  I haven't bothered to research the
>> specifics, but I can guess that FLW designed many structures.
> 
> Yes he did, from industrially produced kit houses to factories, houses 
> for the very rich and the Guggenheim museum.
> 
>> It's also
>> a good guess that not all were of the caliber that earned him his
>> recognition.  Some could even be rather sub-standard.
> 
> No, not to my knowledge. He did not like to make compromises in his 
> designs. All of his work has been documented, so you can check for 
> yourself.
> 
>> To now declare
>> every design he did an important work of art is rather ridiculous.
>>
> 
> Only if you assume he made designs that are sub-standard or can not be 
> distinguished from those from other architects.
> 
>> On the other hand, to a developer money isn't everything, it's the only
>> thing.
> 
> Indeed. Restoring this house to its former glory, making sympathetic 
> improvements to modernize it, and you might have a house that is very 
> attractive to buyers with a sense for architecture and culture, and who 
> are willing to pay a bonus for that.
> 

I have a slightly different sense for architecture.

My dream house would be a steel building, maybe 100 ft by 50 ft, 20-25 
ft in height, a loft in maybe 1/2 of the building, with money spent on 
the interior, not the exterior, room for my shop and toys, and a huge 
bifold door at one end, with my favorite aircraft sitting right in front 
of the door, and a taxiway to a runway outside.

Now that is hard to beat.

Well, if there was a duplicate in the Southern hemisphere and a jet 
included among the aircraft, that might beat it ....