EDUCATION | ADVOCACY | PRESERVATION THE MAGAZINE OF THE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT BUILDING CONSERVANCY THE MAGAZINE OF FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT BUILDING CONSERVANCY FALL 2016 / VOLUME 7 ISSUE 2 FALL IN THIS ISSUE Communities by Design Guest Editor: Jane King Hession editor’s MESSAGE communities by design Communities can take many forms and mean different things to different people. Vary though they may, all communities are fundamentally alike in that they are all composed of individuals who, col- lectively, share common interests, characteristics or geography. The whole of a community comprises its parts. Frank Lloyd Wright was no stranger to this concept: for decades he lived and worked at the center of the Taliesin Fellowship, a community of his own creation. However, as the essays in this issue make clear, Wright also explored the idea of community—at multiple scales—in his architecture and planning. In his article on the politics of community, Robert Wojtowicz considers the philosophical divide between Wright and his longtime friend (and sometime foe), cultural critic Lewis Mumford, on the subject. As Wojtowicz describes, the two men often argued their polar positions on the pages of the country’s leading publications. The roots of one of Wright’s best known communities, Usonia in Pleasantville, New York, are revisited by an original owner in the community, Roland Reisley. In ad- ABOUT THE EDITOR dition to taking a backward glance at its origins, Reisley also reveals the impact of Wright’s vision on successive generations of residents. Neil Levine describes Wright’s application of “the power of ge- ometry” to create community at the scale of the individual house and the residential block. Through Jane King Hession, an architec- such early 20th-century projects as the Quadruple Block Plan and a “Community Project for Twenty- tural writer, historian and curator, is a founding partner of Modern Four Dwellings” for C.E. Roberts in Oak Park, Levine demonstrates how Wright sought “to balance House Productions. She is a past the needs of community and privacy.” president of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy Geometry is also the focus of Michael Desmond’s essay on the 1942 Cloverleaf residential project and co-author of John H. Howe, for Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where Wright not only explored the relationship of cluster housing to Architect: From Taliesin Appren- tice to Master of Organic Design the larger community, but also planned a community that responded to the automobile. Brigid Boyle (2015), Frank Lloyd Wright in limits her thematic exploration to the interiors of two buildings: the 1903 Larkin Company Adminis- New York: The Plaza Years, 1954- 1959 (2007) and Ralph Rapson: tration Building in Buffalo, New York, and the 1936 SC Johnson Administration Building in Racine, Sixty Years of Modern Design Wisconsin. She discusses how, through masterful spatial manipulation, Wright created communal (1999). workspaces that reflected his clients’ desire to foster in their employees “a shared sense of identity.” Finally, Susan Jacobs Lockhart offers a personal view of the experience of living and working in the “intentional communities” of Taliesin and Taliesin West—and in doing so reminds us that one of the most meaningful and enduring of all communities is that of family and friends. Jane King Hession Guest Editor CONTENTS Cover photo: Model of the Project for Broadacre City, 1934, photo by Skot Weidemann, 1994. Image courtesy of the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation Archives (The Museum of Modern Art | Avery Architectural & Fine Arts Library, Columbia University). All rights reserved. SaveWright is a biannual publication of the Frank 1 President’s Message: Our Own Community Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. Guest Editor: Jane King Hession 2 Reflections on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonia: Then and Now Executive Editor: Susan Jacobs Lockhart Managing Editor: Joel Hoglund 6 Wright’s Geometry of Community Copy Editor: Linda Botsford Contributing Editor: Janet Halstead 10 Lewis Mumford, Wright and the Politics of Community Designer: Debra Nemeth The mission of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building 14 Taliesin and Taliesin West: Intentional Communities Conservancy is to facilitate the preservation and maintenance of the remaining structures designed 18 A Geometry of Community: A Project Called Cloverleaf by Frank Lloyd Wright through education, advocacy and technical services. 22 Community Values in the Larkin and Johnson tel: 312.663.5500 email: [email protected] Administration Buildings web: savewright.org 25 Executive Director’s Letter: An Irreplaceable Heritage © 2016, Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy president’s MESSAGE Communities can take many forms and mean different things to different people. Vary though they may, all communities are fundamentally alike in that they are all composed of individuals who, col- lectively, share common interests, characteristics or geography. The whole of a community comprises its parts. Frank Lloyd Wright was no stranger to this concept: for decades he lived and worked at the center of the Taliesin Fellowship, a community of his own creation. However, as the essays in this issue make clear, Wright also explored the idea of community—at multiple scales—in his architecture our own community and planning. In his article on the politics of community, Robert Wojtowicz considers the philosophical divide between Wright and his longtime friend (and sometime foe), cultural critic Lewis Mumford, on the subject. As Wojtowicz describes, the two men often argued their polar positions on the pages of After reading the articles that comprise this issue on the country’s leading publications. The roots of one of Wright’s best known communities, Usonia in Frank Lloyd Wright’s communities, I would like to Pleasantville, New York, are revisited by an original owner in the community, Roland Reisley. In ad- contribute yet another example, which may not have dition to taking a backward glance at its origins, Reisley also reveals the impact of Wright’s vision on been specifically envisioned by Wright, but would successive generations of residents. Neil Levine describes Wright’s application of “the power of ge- nonetheless have been appreciated by him. I pro- ometry” to create community at the scale of the individual house and the residential block. Through pose the addition of that community made up by the such early 20th-century projects as the Quadruple Block Plan and a “Community Project for Twenty- Wright scholars, homeowners and aficionados that Four Dwellings” for C.E. Roberts in Oak Park, Levine demonstrates how Wright sought “to balance make up the membership of the Frank Lloyd Wright the needs of community and privacy.” Building Conservancy. Geometry is also the focus of Michael Desmond’s essay on the 1942 Cloverleaf residential project My experience with the Conservancy dates back to the for Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where Wright not only explored the relationship of cluster housing to mid-1990s, when Roland and Ronny Reisley hosted a the larger community, but also planned a community that responded to the automobile. Brigid Boyle tour of Usonia for the Museum of Modern Art. A req- and its programs foster an almost-unrivaled sense of limits her thematic exploration to the interiors of two buildings: the 1903 Larkin Company Adminis- uisite to participation in the tour was a commitment community among Conservancy members that extends tration Building in Buffalo, New York, and the 1936 SC Johnson Administration Building in Racine, to a one-year membership in the Conservancy. We well beyond the formal structure of the organization. complied, and as the result of reading the Conservan- Wisconsin. She discusses how, through masterful spatial manipulation, Wright created communal As a Wright homeowner, I have appreciated the assis- cy’s ongoing listing of Wright homes for sale, Wright workspaces that reflected his clients’ desire to foster in their employees “a shared sense of identity.” tance that Conservancy members have given over the on the Market, learned that Wright’s Usonian Stuart Finally, Susan Jacobs Lockhart offers a personal view of the experience of living and working in the years to me and my husband in our efforts to restore and Elizabeth Richardson House in Glen Ridge, New “intentional communities” of Taliesin and Taliesin West—and in doing so reminds us that one of the the Richardson House to its initial condition—an Jersey, located just blocks from our Victorian, was on most meaningful and enduring of all communities is that of family and friends. effort that has given rise to yet another community the market. Two weeks later, it was ours. among the craftspeople skilled in the restoration of But marketing was not the only service rendered by our Wright structure. Additionally Conservancy mem- the Conservancy. Before our purchase was consum- bers contributed their invaluable knowledge of Wright mated, we contacted the Conservancy, and through it and his work, and have given me a perspective on were referred to a restoration architect experienced in architecture that I would not otherwise have had. Wright’s work who could give us an accurate evalu- SaveWright is a biannual publication of the Frank And, as all community efforts should be, the process Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy. ation of the condition of our intended purchase. My has been not only enriching, but also enormously Guest Editor: Jane King Hession husband’s attendance at that year’s Conservancy con- Executive Editor: Susan