That Far Corner: Frank Lloyd Wright in Los Angeles | Artbound | Season 9, Episode 1 | KCET
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- Опубліковано 28 вер 2024
- During his time spent in Southern California in the late 1910s and early 1920s, Frank Lloyd Wright accelerated the search for L.A.'s authentic architecture that was suitable to the city's culture and landscape. Writer/Director Chris Hawthorne, architecture critic for the Los Angeles Times, explores the houses the legendary architect built in Los Angeles. The documentary also delves into the critic's provocative theory that these homes were also a means of artistic catharsis for Wright, who was recovering from a violent tragic episode in his life.
Want to learn more? Watch more Artbound at bit.ly/3zc97G0
Want to learn more about Frank Lloyd Wright's Los Angeles architecture? Check out the following articles and more on kcet.org!
Preserving Frank Lloyd Wright's Place in Los Angeles Architectural History
www.kcet.org/s...
The Warp and the Weft: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Textile Block Houses Weave an Enduring Legacy
www.kcet.org/s...
Mapping Frank Lloyd Wright's California Landmarks
www.kcet.org/s...
Frank Lloyd Wright's Textile Block Houses and the Maya Revival
www.kcet.org/s...
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#Artbound #art #culture #LosAngeles #California #franklloydwright #architecture
Want to learn more about Frank Lloyd Wright's Los Angeles architecture? Check out articles and more on kcet.org!
Preserving Frank Lloyd Wright's Place in Los Angeles Architectural History
www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/preserving-frank-lloyd-wrights-place-in-los-angeles-architectural-history
The Warp and the Weft: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Textile Block Houses Weave an Enduring Legacy
www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/the-warp-and-the-weft-frank-lloyd-wrights-textile-block-houses-weave-an-enduring
Mapping Frank Lloyd Wright's California Landmarks
www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/mapping-frank-lloyd-wrights-california-landmarks
Frank Lloyd Wright's Textile Block Houses and the Maya Revival
www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/frank-lloyd-wrights-textile-block-houses-and-the-maya-revival
Wrightcraft: Minecraft Meets Frank Lloyd Wright
www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/wrightcraft-minecraft-meets-frank-lloyd-wright
FLW had an acute awareness of America's new establishment within the global playing field that ultimately enabled him to produce vanguard architecture although not without it's faults due to his being embroiled with conceptualisation. A trap all designers need to be wary of.
Thank You SO Much for this video. I'm an art fan but I've never gotten into architecture. This video on FLW really opened a new world of art for me. Thanks again !!!
*I desire to inhabit a Frank Lloyd Wright Creation!*
Maybe I should complete a *"GO FUND ME"* for this goal - ??? lol
😉
I'm still enjoying this -
Thank You!
@@bethbartlett5692 let me know if you need a house mate...
I am an architect, and was an apprentice at Taliesin about 30 years ago.. This is one of the better documentaries on Wright that I have ever seen. I especially appreciate the photos and articles on the Taliesin fire that I had not seen.. Very, very well done. Wright is one of the singular creative minds this country has produced, and i hope Mr. Hawthorne will make time to bring more films like this one into the world.
yes, indeed..very well done Video..good research..seious and methodical, house by house and the overall context ..the storyline..spinning a plausible Yarn backed by Facts..somebody should do a Movie on FLW..what an interesting life..lets get to it Martha Stewart..lol..I know shes a Big Fan of his also...lol
Omg epic, when I travel to Portugal I get amazed at how Intricate in the designs of the cobblestones. knowing it was individually done, my grandfather was a masonry good ones are hard to come by
There's something about Wright's creations that transcends mere architecture, I always view him as an artist first and foremost.
That's a good way to put it. I highly appreciate the aesthetics and artistry put into his buildings, but many of them are maintenance nightmares.
The documentary does not take into account that the houses were built to shield off the LA sun and heat , keeping the interior cool in summer in an era without electrical air conditioning.Wright succeeds in integrating this technical necessity into a unique Art Deko style so fitting in this city.If the building in doing so produces emotions as a side note then the Architekt has succeeded 100 %!
plan pitz Flw way ahead. He understood the Timeless Way of Building. 😉
But what is a building without emotions?
plan pitz
Very well said!
Except his flat roofs are very bad in rain and in the SW it rains very hard when it rains.
@@emsnewssupkis6453 I've always admired the practicality of using the roof as living space. Its so common in many tropical countries. If there's proper drainage what's the problem? Obviously everything has to be sealed. Is there anything else we need to be aware of?
I've been in many of Wright's Houses. A genius of design goes without saying. Less than a genius of longevity. Like fine art, his buildings can only withstand the tests of time with great care and maintenance. I believe they are art.
Sorry for being dense - what makes his buildings so unsustainable and needing so much maintenance? I don't understand what he did that causes such swift deterioration.
I find the Mallard and the Freeman homes actually soothing. I love how he’s allowed light to come through the walls, not just the windows. I think because of the grandeur and weight of the material it’s so easy to see it as violence and death, but I see it as a peaceful way to live with sadness.
Poetic, Thank You🌹
This was fantastic. I’ll never look at his work the same way again. Very well put together. Thank you!
I agree totally. So many experts weighing in on these odd houses, mausoleums, if you will. Very odd that nobody seems to want to live in them.
I also agree. I've never seen his work presented so well.
Same here. I’ll never look at FLW the same way again; how his life has bled through and blended in so expressively with his building.
They are a mix of ancient temples and tombs.
Vogel that is Wright.
This is why I want to be an architect. Many years after I'm gone, my legacy will be remembered in the form of flowing lines sharp curves and strong bold designs
And yet a dozen years later, he created the stunning, life affirming house, Fallingwater.
nowhere as impressive as the ennis house though.
@@notyourfriend-li7rq One can’t compare an artist’s creations thus , appreciating each piece as owning its personal and wonderful eventuality.
Wow. I hadn't made that connection. So interesting!
Which fits perfectly with this video’s thesis.
Fallingwater was also an abject failure. Unlivable
Personally, I like 'crypt like' architecture and somber motifs, and find these buildings mix a sense of grandeur and mystery with an intense peacefulness. None of these are what I think of when I imagine a dream house, and yet I'd be very drawn to these and I think I'd be very happy in it. Also, I do really love ancientry in general. I like that haunting feeling of timelessness. I'm actually more comfortable in such an atmosphere.
Whether one agrees with Hawthorne’s final conclusions or not, the analysis and recognition how historical perspectives and personal circumstance shape creativity is presented with deftness. Beautifully engaging documentary.
Which is considered art my friend, "it's provocative"!!!
Well stated. One of the best FLW documentaries but ends with the wrong conclusion. The piano teacher was right.
When I look at these, I see an architect grappling with the challenges of the material, first and foremost. His drive to challenge himself to build with concrete, his connection to ancient architecture, and the way he interpreted both, all connect to his emotional state. But I think it's a discredit to ignore the way these embrace the landscape, the majesty they convey. Like ancient monuments. They aren't hideous, they aren't uninhabitable, but they do seem like they've been there long before you, and will remain after... despite the reality of the materials.
I have to disagree with the specialist. I see this as a genius approach to bringing the past to the future. It is a joyous success of adapting the genius of the Mayan architecture with the future of American architecture. These houses aren't meant for the average family, these are the American castles that are a resolve of grief and a breakthrough to beauty of life. They are not brutal, they are sublime.
beautifully put- I agree I hear more brutal designs often dismissed as dystopian- I think they speak to the quality of human endurance and collective subconscious and like you mention, grief and strength
Completely agree
I was fortunate to live in and be a groundskeeper and "fixer" on a Wright property. Ours was built much later toward the end of his career. I spent a great deal of time reassembling stone walls. Masonry was a skill they valued of me on that property. The property I lived in was in the hot southwest. Large (textile) blocks and stones absorb heat when massed in walls. This serves to lower the interior temperature without needing A/C as much making for a comfortable space. You see he puts heavy wall on south and west exposure. The dominant sun is muted except where is diffused with overhangs and filters. By contrast he uses lots of floor to ceiling glass usually on east and north exposure especially later in more modern designs later in his career. Enjoyed this program!
Admin The Park APP Thank you for telling your story about it. It helps to understand how people can live in his houses. What about every day life? The light, the kitchen, the normalcies of life in the house. I know it’s been a while since you wrote this comment but I’m both fascinated and very curious.
Seems very tranquil to live there. I love the security & privacy they afford.
Lucky You :) Love That!
Wow lucky
I soent time at one of his last houses as well, the Penfield house, as a child and i def understand the huge windows.
I absolutely Love all of Frank Lloyd Wright's buildings they are mysterious and protective.
"She's, also, buried in Los Angeles." So well spoken!!!
Not well spoken at all. It should be "She's also buried in Los Angeles.
Agreed.
Love that! No worries on the Commas lol. Artistic license to a crazy dramatic awesome subject or just a typo lol but who cares. We get the awesome reference note 😍
@@TheresaPowers She's also buried, in Los Angeles. IMHO
@Annabel Lee just, use, one, after, every, word. Sorry, but you're wrong. There are rules about commas. She's also buried in Los Angeles.
A balanced and poetic presentation of a mystical and bold era...an era that is somehow as uncomfortable as the homes wright created in this time. The raw beauty, the life and death...the living ruins of the LA era are unparalleled expressions of human conditions that must be lived through and embraced to overcome.
These homes are not shadowed by violence or death. The Hollyhock house is very calming. Wright beautifully incorporates light and water in that home. Perhaps it’s a matter of perspective.
Oh reallY? Have you ever heard of the Black Dalia?
GMAMEC I think the L.A. concrete block homes are his attempt at bringing light and resolution to his own state of being. How so? He confines his design to the limitations of a concrete block system. Sure, at first it seems like an efficient and effective way to build. But I think it says way more about him, too. He was left with a cold world to deal with after the death of Ms. Cheney. That comes through in wanting to work with the cold material of concrete. Then, he must have also felt limited in his own life on how to fully have joy and love in his life. This I think comes through in his usage of a limiting system using a not-so-warm material. Look at the difference in Falling Water. That house is alive and warm, lovingly embracing it’s surroundings and the people that will live in it. The concrete block homes do feel morbid, and play off of a culture that would execute innocent people in a very gruesome fashion. I think that all made some kind of connection to him during that period of his life. I think it was inescapable for him to design like that, then. Maybe even therapeutic, in a sense, though not even realized as such by himself at the time. We are interconnected to all things around us, more than we know. Evidence of such is in FLW’s L.A. concrete block homes.
@@thefrontporch8594 The Hollyhock House had nothing to do with the Black Dahlia Murder, that's the John Sowden House which has that reputation and was built by his son, Lloyd Wright.
OK: when Frank moved to Arizona and did a much more hippie thing, his buildings there were lighter and more open, he loved the desert and the monsoon season and the saguaro in particular, he healed in some ways, during that time. (I was a child who lived not too far from some of his Camelback Mountain creations) while he was building these, we kids would go over to the construction sites to play. I eventually became a builder, too.
My complement to makers of this documentary. Deep knowledge of all influences and true insight into FLW as never told before. As a architect who was taught to respect FLW , the Master , as a student. I grew to see his designs as flawed. I never wanted to forgo the most important part of design (durability) for the sake of some ideology. I think beautiful features can be preserved in a form that can be easily maintained. That can be livable. Not burden the occupants with the architects own hang ups. Bring joy to people who experience the space. Make something timeless. Thanks 🐚
You will do well designing tract homes with flat roofs on zero lot lines.
Donde Fact, not at all !
I have been fortunate to design/ build several hundred million dollars worth in luxury residential and commercial.
I frown on Flat roofs personally. Prone to leak in the long run. Good luck with your flat roof track home though.
Wright was not only an architect, but also sculptor, artist and independent thinker, he built distinctive buildings for those that appreciated his work, such as I and many others. IMO he was a brilliant man.
I watch Frank Lloyd Wright documentaries everyday almost. His architectural and design genuis never fails to take my breath away 💜💜💜
This is the best documentary I have ever seen. Presenting both a California dream as a former Angelino and architect. I spent my childhood in Detroit California dreaming. Experienced the Los Angeles utopia and distipia. I went to graduate school in SoCal studying architecture and practiced for over a decade working on Disney to celebrities projects. The great recession and the California social and political issues such as homeless encampments sent me packing and I went for SoCal lite - Arizona. However now Arizona in the past decade has become much like Los Angeles. This documentary is so poetic and on point. This is the second time I watched and it brought me to tears this time years later. Great work! Very inspirational! Great theming of the Lost LA series.
FLW's houses speak to me on a deep level, I actually feel comfortable & cosy when I see these compositions, almost as if primal fear has a counterpart in "primal comfort" or something like that. I'd just LOVE to sit there, in a corner and exist, or read a book by all means. It's the repetetive relief, the fact, the eye has everywhere something to see without being fundementally surprised, a kind of security in that. If that makes any sense.
What is it about his work that gives us such feeling?!! Isnt it strange that these buildings stir something in us? Incredible.
@@fleaflicker1451 The main things that produce these feelings are that he designed pretty much everything on one sort of grid or another, and he was a master of proportion. Sometimes those grids were triangular or even circular or octagonal, not always rectilinear, and he pushed and pulled at them all over the place, often to the point that the casual eye simply couldn’t discern what the system was or where its lines were, but at core, they were always highly orderly systems regardless of the specific forms, and expressed in 3D and through every single element in the buildings. You can always trace them through on his drawings - and feel them when physically in his houses or even just looking at pictures. Of course, that grid is particularly literally expressed in this group of houses thanks to the concrete blocks. He also designed every single element in all of his buildings, including the light fixtures, so each was a particularly cohesive work.
His work in Japan influenced him tremendously, though, and he made great use of tatami mat proportions in particular in many of his buildings thereafter, also in 3D, not just in plan.
Those mats have particularly pleasing and calming proportions (which is a big part of why Japanese houses always feel so peaceful), and that element also permeated every aspect of his designs, right down to the stained glass windows, furniture, and even the light fixtures. The Robie House is probably the most understandable, human-scaled, and fully-developed expression of this specific device, but our minds are simply wired to prefer such proportions, at any scale, especially when carried into full 3D.
I’d have to sit down with a set of drawings and a scale to be sure that the tatami mat proportional scale is what’s operating in these particular houses, but it’s a reasonably good bet, although in early form.
@@wendyannh Wendy!!!! Thank you so much for breaking that down for me! You must be an architect, engineer or probably a professor since you did that so well. Ive been fascinated since I was a child seeing his work in books. There's the home with the waterfall, I would just stare, imagining its my treehouse. Maybe thats why his work is emotional to me? I go back to those times subliminally? I dont know but wow, still makes me pause anytime I see his work. Again THANK YOU! I hope you teach in some capacity, you are excellent at explaining something so complex without losing my pea brain. 🤓👍👏👏👏
@@wendyannh *Fantastic* comment, internet stranger. That is a perfect analysis, in my opinion, of what is soothing in these designs, even when done in such hard materials.
Omnihil, I couldn’t agree with you more about the feeling of “everywhere something to see without being surprised” or startled. It’s almost meditative or dreamlike in that way.
This show is so well produced and directed it needs an Emmy or something.
If I had that kind of money, I would definitely love to purchase and restore one of Wright’s LA homes. I find them to be beautiful. He was ahead of his time!
Life IS dark and macabre unless WE find the light.
Like these homes.
I love them.
I think they are beautiful and could be made very warm and inviting regardless of his mood and the cold materials he used to make them.
Yes it's, how are you doing Barbara?
FLW’s use of artistic and construction material design to encourage harmonic natural sight lines, flow and movement throughout the space in such incredibly complex micro/macro detail on every surface, texture, and angle is mind boggling. The amount of thought put into every single design element no matter how small is staggering when you consider they all fit together to form such a complex cohesive multidimensional and multifunctional puzzle that ultimately feels good and is over 100 years ahead of its time. It’s far beyond genius. The man was either a time traveller, an alien, or both. He possessed a poetic artistic material spacial environmental design intellect and deep understanding of how humans sense and feel our surroundings that was immeasurable.
Thank you for putting this all together.
I fantastic depiction
Great Job
The Sondern-Adler house in Kansas City, Missouri, is the only Frank Lloyd Wright House I have ever been privileged to personally experience. The home in which I was raised was built in 1953 and my father attempted to incorporate some of these "modern" architectural ideas. Not until many many decades later did I begin to see some of the good qualities, before I only saw what people called "The Jetsons House". At the time one of the most notable features was a long light switch with six to eight switches right inside the front door. At the touch of a switch without taking a step you could illuminate any part of the house. In an area where some homes didn't even yet have electricity, this was considered a marvel. I now wish I could go back into that house which has since been demolished in the name of "progress", and re experience it with new eyes after seeing this documentary. Thank you so much for this illuminating View!
This film gave me new perspectives into Wright's life. Having been raised in the Austin neighborhood of Chicago, we were admirers of Wright's creations in the neighboring suburb of Oak Park. I've enjoyed both indoor and narrated walking tours. Even here in Grand Rapids, MI, I've toured three of his homes - one a museum of sorts and two private homes. Although spectacular, the concensus is that they are "money pits" to maintain. Still, I love them!
Most homes still around from that era are, to be fair, money pits. It’s part and parcel of “antique“ home ownership. When you consider the electrical and plumbing that was standard at the time… a home of that age would’ve by now likely needed to be completely re-wired and re-plumbed three times over. Then there is the installation of HVAC systems in structures never designed to hold them, and air quality issues that simply weren’t a factor when built. That’s in addition to normal wear and tear, settling, etc. in homes that were not built with any sort of codification.
It’s daunting to maintain *any* older home, but I can only imagine the pressure seems **so** much more intense when dealing with a property designed and built by America’s most famous architect, and having to abide by any standards enforced by local historic registers. With many old homes, to save on costs and logistical headaches, you could gut them down to the studs and modernize them, while still maintaining the “feel”… but with a Wright property, you just wouldn’t want to do that, (even if the materials used allowed for it) due to who built it. Obviously the unsealed concrete just adds to all the above exponentially.
(Edited for clarity)
I lived in Chicago so I've toured Wright's home and studio in Oak Park, IL. I've also seen and studied many of his homes through out Chicago and it's suburbs. He was wonderful with symmetry.
A fascinating documentary. I look at these beautiful works of art through eyes untainted by the tradgedy, and so I simply see them as gorgeous homes, any one of which I would love to live within.
Me too. The piano teacher got it right.
One of the most profound documentaries I've watched on Wright. Eye-opening
Hope some day at least two documentaries more... prairie style houses and usonian houses...!!! please..!!
I watched this video a couple years ago. I was at work the other day daydreaming about these houses and I could not for the life of me figure out if it was a dream I had one day or if the houses were real. I thought maybe my mind made up these places but I finally put it together. Definitely says something about his work. Incredible.
As an architect of no small talent and sixty years of practice, most places I’ve visited seem within my ability to do as well - except for Wright’s work; they are truly humbling - his is the Beethoven level; it’s just at a whole different strata.
Of all the documentaries I've seen, why has no one mentioned one of his largest commitions in Lakeland Florida. Florida Southern College, known as 'Child of the Sun'. What an incredible collection of his work!!!
A big reason that FLW's buildings on the Florida Southern campus haven't received much attention is a legal issue. Apparently, they never paid all the architectural fees, so they were forbidden from promoting it in conjunction with FLW. Now that's been cleared up. The tour is wonderful.
Thanks for the reply. My sister & her family have lived in Lakeland for the past 35 yrs. Been to that campus many, many times. Still one the most beautiful campuses in the country. She got the Tri-Delta sorority chapter there & is the advisor for the sorority! ☺
I grew up in Pasadena… within walking distance of a Wright house, so I passed by it often. I lived there with my Uncle and Aunt who were from Oak Park, Il and knew the Wright family. In fact we went to the opening of Lloyd Wright’s chapel in Palos Verdes where I got to meet him - though I was just a lad I didn’t realize my Aunt and a Uncle’s friends were famous architects (yet). Another nearby house was the famous Gamble House by architects Greene & Greene. Growing up in this neighborhood (called ‘The Arroyo’ by the locals because it literally is a geologic feature called Arroyo Seco) I developed a love of that SoCal architecture and the art and decoration style of the area. This documentary is the best investigation and explanation of Wright’s Southern California work I have encountered - and I’ve encountered plenty because I grew up with plans to become an architect myself and all aspiring architecture students go through their FLW curiosity phase. The man was and will remain a legend. Thank you to the folks who put this documentary together for their sympathetic exploration of a big, sweet, and sad story.
Stunning video. Very interest analogy to the tragedy is Wright's life prior to coming to LA.
An absolute gift. Thank you once again.
I used to think his Mayan houses were just weird looking, but over time I've come to see how beautiful they are and how Los Angeles has allowed architects to be at their most experimental and creative without restrictions and rules.
These buildings blends well with the land.
Excellent critique of these FLW buildings. Clearly Wrights genius of combining all his experience regarding the engineering process as it relates to the specific site of the building is obvious; lighting, shading, visual corridors, dramatic reveals, natural materials etc. It is also most likely that Wright used these structures as projects in which to pour his grief and anger into as he mourned his tragedy, but not so much in a planned, conscious way, but more subliminally, subconsciously. I think these buildings don’t so much suggest pain and loss, but instead serve as memorials of strength and fortitude. They show Wright as a powerful force, one who can control the environment and relative space with overwhelming design while preserving beauty, tenderness, and and understanding of life over death. I think these buildings were his lament, his memorial dedication to life overcoming death. It was what he needed at the time and helped him focus again on his creative genius for works yet to come.
Thanks for this wonderful and thoughtful piece of production!
Being one half Welsh, I can fully understand periods of brilliant mania coupled with dark despair
I've watched this many times. It's so emotionally moving and insightful to this period of FLW.
When you are an artist, you find yourself at odds
with God at times, like we all do, but when you have
an event of the kind that affected him in that way,
you go on creating ... but your creations are surrounded
by God's life in the trees and grass, and you build these
monoliths as wonderful as you can.
But at the same time you're telling God,
"I'm putting this amongst your nature, but this is how I feel now."
And it may have even been subconscious, but this was his
'Blue' period.
I love these houses and would love to live in one. I lived in Los Angeles and Hollywood for many years, and visited all of these homes on my own tour, although I never asked for a tour of the interiors. I only admired them from outside where their imposing grandeur creates a dramatic barrier of privacy for whoever lives there. I love modern art and ultramodern architecture, and FLW was at least 50 years ahead of his time.
Just watched this on KCET...fascinating, and I absolutely love the houses. Would love to tour, spend some time, in every single one of them.
How sad, but very illuminating and humanizing - of Wright and everyone connected with him. Pathos springs to mind. 🥀
Mayan through and through. FLW was a time traveling wonder.
You said Mayan , 30 seconds after I posted my comment...
Taliesin west is worth a visit for those who enjoy FLW
Excellent ! I came to see a bit of Wright's work, but I was taken away by this mysterious, sad and beautiful documentary, well done.
More like a movie, than a documentary.
Native of Chicago, still love driving through Oak Park still admiring the homes built by Wright that are still standing and look newly built. I would love to own one.
the most beautiful documentary I have seen about architecture.
Quite honestly probably one of the best documentaries on the subject that I have ever seen, but also a bit short on his Falling Water and Virginia Beach houses.
The topic of this video is his houses in Los Angeles.
I drew his architecture as a teenager in 1974. In drafting class. Remember his work well. Enjoyed the program and how discriptive the interviewies are about his work.
I find it so odd that the architecture critic views these houses only in terms of death--as crypts. To me it seems obvious they're temples, imbued with spirituality, peace & eternal life. They're only 'off-putting'' in that it would be impossible to live more than a month in them without turning your life over to the gods--becoming the caretaker of the sun, the prayer-giver to the rain, the person who tends the plants so they live as long as the building does. These buildings & their spiritual insistence would take over your life because they're so powerful & impactful. The buildings call so loudly, so resonantly.
They remind me so much of Mark Rothko's paintings. Powerful, evocative, emotionally overwhelming. Timeless without resisting time. I think it's absolutely appropriate that these buildings decay & crumble like Chichen Itza, like Palenque, like Tulum.
I was born and raised in the middle of all his works. Have always been proud to associate his art with my roots but this definitely changes alot of what I knew about him. Definitely a complex character with a life that a movie should be made about
I like most of them. John Portmans home is another amazing house in GA.
I learnt so much more about Frank LW. Fascinating and personal
Very fantastic documentary. I used to live on Virgil and would walk my dog to Barnsdall Art Park and just revel at the architecture. Los Angeles is such an incredible city.
I've always studied architecture both as a traveler and as a graduate of a university architectural program. Like many famous architects FLW had many failings in his designs but they always succeeded in the most important aspect of design. Giving you the feeling that you were some place. Not just any place but some place of significance. In the mid '60s, while having lunch in the Tokyo hotel that he had designed, that feeling of being someplace of significance was certainly present.
If you are ever in S. CA be sure to visit the Green & Green designed Gamble house.
I know this is several years old, but it was recently presented to me by UA-cam and I gave it a listen.
From the perspective of someone who had only a passing knowledge of Frank Lloyd Wright, that he was a famous architect and that he'd made several famous homes of which I could name only one: Fallingwater, I found this video to be both informative and entertaining. The coverage of his life as it informed and influenced his architecture was very well done.
Well done. Nice to see a "focused" docu that doesn't blur everything FLW into one narrative. His genius can and should be dissected into it's various periods, for the sake of knowledge and learning but also digging deeper into those periods. The entertainment value, provided the viewer, is an added attraction.
When I was a teenager I looked at books that had photos of these houses. My thoughts then are the same as they are now, I don't care for the Barnsdall house, but I like the textile block houses. My favorite is the Millard house. I have not seen any movies that use them, so I my mind has not had any creepy images imposed on it in association with any of these homes. The piano teacher has a bias against concrete used to build houses, and had a negative reaction when she saw it. I have never felt negatively about concrete, and can't see how anyone would be put of by seeing concrete and fail to appreciate the intricate patterns in the blocks. It is very unfortunate that Wright advocated the use of unwashed sand to make the blocks because that is the cause of their disintegration. I would love to have a house that was made with blocks that have patterns like them. The blocks, and reinforcing system he used does not meet current building code, but I think that blocks that meet code could be made. The structural issues can be readily dealt with by making the outer and inner layer into a single casting, and reinforcing the assembly with rebar in concrete filled cells. The challenge is to meet the code requirement for insulation.
Would LOVE to see this Built! - Joe WolfArth
God, I wish I could have an opportunity like this - I'd sit there and take endless photos, sketches, etc.
This is really great, thanks for posting it.
An extraordinary film, both utterly absorbing and compelling. A tour de force. One which Frank Lloyd Wright might even have enjoyed himself.
What a interesting conclusion by the Host\Narrator. Been an admirer of FLW for many years and lived in Los Feliz for 10 years. Saw Hollycock a few times, always wanted to tour Ennis House. FLW was an original architect and his legacy is enduring. Thank KCET for the program.
Amazing man . Always pushing how far can a plane go and be supported and even Furniture that blend
In with surrounding . Always clever at Location ,Location importance ,Organic yet modern Materialisim.Now I look at it as art ,structure of a man.
And his struggle Balancing his mind ,body ,soul.
My mom has a man friend whom owned and lived till it began to go around him . Small but easily recognized
As FLW . When he finally decided to let go and sell it I asked if he had the blue prints . Much to my chagrin He
Didn't . I can see the parallel to why FLW agreed to design it. Thank You for this documentary .
It's opened my mind to a man with epiffephic Understanding .😎 I want to go and see them when I visit
My Daughter.
Thank you for this... Really.
Well done! Best celluloid on FLW I've ever seen, and I've seen a bunch. Everyone here on this film brought their A game. bravo!
This was amazing, is there any way I can donate to the film maker or the restoration groups for homes?
I'm not sure about Franks la area houses but having visited Taliesin you can donate money toward it's renovation and possibly even the frank Lloyd Wright school of architecture there. Perhaps your $$ will go to helping teach future generations 😀
After seeing Mr. Lloyd Wright houses I need one, because they are on Levels. His houses are so distinguish in designs. 🤲
Tartarian Empire
What a beautiful sanctuary. I love FLW homes.
Leave it to s UCLA professor to break apart a novel conception that is used today. Concrete block construction.
They are brutally beautiful... honest and unashamed.
One of the most poignant documentaries I've ever watched.
This is a perfect example of "just b/c u can do it doesn't mean you should!"
I like his house in an alley in Evansville, IN.
Ones art always reflects how one feels.
He did not appropriate native architecture, he used the styles for ornamentation. His buildings are long and expressive, proud edifices that fit the property. Saying that Wright's homes in LA are mausoleums is like saying "Sunset Blvd" the movie is like Sunset Blvd.(excitement of the restaurants and clubs). They require an extreme sense of intricacy and refinement.
Wow. That last line gave me chills.
This was amazing to get your perspective on these intriguing LA homes.
Really nice. Had no idea this house existed. I spend time in Yucatan. Myans then and now are amazing.
I want to visit some of these works as an act of prayer. Thank you for sharing this footage and the stories. I had read some of this before, but you brought it to life and underscored your thesis.
I'm going to say something that needs to be said... I am a huge wright fan...
He was a great architect. Definitely one of the most important in history. He was acutely aware of this fact and quite impressed with himself. He abandoned his wife with his 6 CHILDREN and ran off with HIS CUSTOMERS wife. His children were forced to just forget the past and move forward when he decided to grace them with his presence once more. Narcissist.
We can appreciate great achievements while remembering terrible people.
That home is unbelievably beautiful!!! For me the only thing missing from the inside is more plants and water elements!!!!!!! For real I would be happy there!!!!
It's a quest of understanding and evolution of the industrial world we living in this side of architecture monument that is Frank Lloyd Wright ,precursor, innovator,design by historian American culture, this genuine mixture of a beautiful sanctuary world of what life is .
I just always assumed he built these home in the 40s and 50s I'm soooo glad to know he started earlier than that!!!!
Worked on the art dept. for a short film "Vanity Kills"that was Blade runner rip in the late 80s. Worked at the Freeman House it was beautiful tomb. The view from the balcony of Hollywood and Highland was breathtaking. The blocks were just crumbling sadly. Unfortunately 30 yrs later nothing can be really fixed and completed. But it was too cool to be working inside the Wright house and working with Production designer Alex Mcdowell and Tessa Posnansky early in their careers.
I recall a Reader's Digest article written by a family whose LA house was designed by Wright and built largely by his students. It was one of the first houses that had a flat plywood roof, that had continuing issues. He intentionally estimated the cost to them at twice what he thought it would cost, and it ended up 50% more than that. The family put up with all these issues with good humor.
Beautiful filming and pleasant narration. Thank you!
To me everything Wright did feels 'warm'. Can you have a warm crypt? Possibly if Wright designed it.
Greatest Architects for All times
Wow...I never realized the correlation between his Mayan period and the Taliesen tragedy. Brilliant man. I don't envy his grief but working through it with his creativity seemed to work for him.
Very moving. Artists understand these works very purely, through the realm of feeling.
I loved the last sentence...beautiful.
I don't agree at all with the characterization of the pre-Columbian design elements as inherently "dark". That seems to be an attribute that we are assigning based on our own contemporary cultural biases. Strip away that cultural bias and you just see very strong, beautiful, and imaginative architecture. To me the LA houses are an ideal vision of architectural modernism, an essential part of Wright's vision of the post-industrial city. And that model of Wright's SF bay bridge design was breathtaking.
I agree. I don't see how these houses are dark or lack joy. I'd be beside myself with joy if I lived in a house like this.
I also agree about the bridge. That would look contemporary for perhaps centuries.
@cinnamongirl3121 We can even disagree with Frank. But I know that Frank though he might have used the same language as his contemporaries still felt the glory and mystique of certain shapes and colors and thus always marveled at it's beauty.
This was a terrific documentary. I grew up in Oak Park with a father who was an architect and a fan of FLW’s work and Japanese design.
The Brown-Ennis House! Gorgeous!