Wright Chat

[jhealy]

I am a member of the FLWBC. I recently received my quarterly newsletter and something really struck me. Most of the people in the pictures at the various functions seemed to be "older" (not intending to offend anyone). I am 30. None of my friends are "into" Wright and all think I am obsessed about something that doesn't matter. I wonder how many people of my generation care about "saving Wright". In 20, 30 years, will an organization like this even exist, or if it does exist, will there be enough support? Are there any homeowners out there that are "younger", raising a family in a Wright home. That is my dream. I would love to be able to raise my daughter in a Wright house, although that little thing called money makes this a little difficult. Nonetheless, I am still into Wright and donate to the Conservancy to save his work, as I think it remains important. If my daughter is not raised in a Wright, I would like her to be able to see/appreciate his work. She is 3 and already likes looking through my Wright books. Sorry, I digress ...



Any thoughts out there on the younger generations .....

[googieagog]

It's an interesting question. It seems, though, that the curve of Wright popularity still is headed up. Consider how little interest (compared to now) there was in the '60s and early '70s when Wright structures were still being demolished. Look at how popular 20th Century modern design has become with Boomer and post-Boomer generations. Some of those people eventually will discover Wright, if they haven't already.



Also look at the rapidly climbing sale prices on Wright houses. That's probably the biggest reason you don't see a lot of younger Wright owners. It takes a couple decades of very healthy income for most potential buyers to qualify for that kind of mortgage. And some potential buyers with children might be inclined to wait for the nest to empty before buying a Wright design. That said, the only Wright owners I know personally are a young family with child. My own kids love exploring and staying in Wright houses.



I'm 44 and have been into this stuff since college. I too have bored friends & family with Wright trivia. While attending architecture tours and lectures, only recently have I stopped being the youngest person in the room. You'll get used to it...
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Dan

[flwright]

I'd have to agree with Googieagog, that Wright has gained a great amount of popularity in the last decade and, of course, not everybody actually likes Wright which is why I (like you and probably most other Wright lovers) tend to bore our guests who have no interest, or limited interest, in his work. It would be interesting to see if the Conservancy has seen a proportional increase in new memberships over the same time period.



Despite Wright's increasing popularity, there are always surprises. Back while I was in college I did a speech on the site / building relationship of Fallingwater (what a geek!) to 20+ fellow young architectural students and not one person in the room had ever heard of it before! The good news was that they were all amazed and one person even asked if they could have my speech notes and research. That led me to write to the Conservancy and propose a tour circuit to architectural colleges and universities to increase knowledge to the younger crowd (architectural students who should know better! What are they learning?!) and promote the Conservancy's mission. I never heard back, but maybe its worth proposing again. Combined with some demographic research as to the average age of the membership, it might give the Conservancy a competitive edge to marketing to younger folks if that is where they desired to go.



I am 27 and have been interested in Wright since I was 12. I first joined the Conservancy when I was the ripe old age of 16 which shows that there are younger Wright fans out there. It just might not be that evident or maybe the majority are just complacent and the Conservancy has to do a better job of coaxing their support.
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Morgan

[pharding]

Interest in FLW continues to climb. Just look at the number of books that are published on the work of FLW and FLW himself. The Internet has only heightened interest and accessibility to information.



The age of participants in FLW conferences reflects 3 things. 1. Availability of time for conferences in one's life cycle. 2. With the value of the homes it takes a few years to build the financial resources and/or build one's career/business to the levels necessary to sustain and maintain a sizable real estate investment. 3. In Oak Park and River Forest, anecdotal evidence indicates that the average Wright homeowners live in the house 22 years on the average. Once you move in, typically you are in for the duration.



In Oak Park and River Forest, for what you get in a Wright house, they are cheap in my opinion. They are great, great houses to live on. The premium for a Wright or other name architect designed is approximately 10 to 15% above a generic house. For that you get so much more. Plus there tax advantages that can be worked to subsidize the purchase and/or restoration if one is smart.
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Paul Harding FAIA Owner and Restoration Architect for FLW's 1901 E. Arthur Davenport House, the First Prairie School House in Chicago | www.harding.com

[jhealy]

I agree that Wright is growing in popularity (as evidenced by books etc.), but that does not necessarily mean that his popularity is growing among the younger generations.



I also agree that it takes a hefty sum to own a Wright home, but that also does not necessarily mean that younger generations cannot donate some money to organizations like the FLWBC to show an interest. I would love to own a Wright home, the odds are slim that that will ever occur, but I still consider myself "into" Wright and an advocate of saving his work.



I think it would be good for the FLWBC to take a survey of the age ranges of its membership.



Jay

[Ed Jarolin]

Knowing the sales figures on all of these Wright books would be very informative I'm sure. I'll note that the "coffee table" variety, as opposed to the scholarly type, often wind up on the remainder tables. I wonder if much of this is just preaching to the choir.



My guess is that Wright will remain a relatively esoteric taste, a subset of the relatively small taste for modern architecture. It would be quite interesting to know what percentage of architect designed or otherwise custom designed houses could be categorized as modern. Strangely, to me at least, most people want to live in the distant past: some romantic Victorian neverland. One can say Wright is 50 years past, but he was so far ahead of his time I don't think we've caught up to him yet.



How does one come to know Wright? In my case it was doing a high school report on architecture; had the choice of art, music or architecture. Once I saw pictures of his work I was hooked. Why exactly? Well it was certainly like nothing I'd seen before. I guess it just spoke to me at some elemental level. How did others here catch the Wright bug?



I do find it disturbing that one could be in a university architecture program and not know of Wright. Then again the academy never did much acknowledge him in his lifetime, so why change now?

[RJH]

"Dorothy Haynes Stock, who was then 24, and her husband made their initial trip to Wright's school of architecture, Taliesin, in Spring Green, Wis., in 1949."
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www.HaynesHouseLLC.com.

[Eric Saed]

I'm 37 and have been hooked since my first visit to Taliesin at age 16.



I think there will always be some level of interest. I think as interest in the mid-century modern design that many of my generation and younger possess, people will "discover" Wright and gain an appreciation.

[JimM]

I'm actually surprised how young some of the participants on this board are! At 53, I feel ancient (good thing I've never FELT older than 18!).



When I first had an active interest in Frank 39 years ago, there were hardly the resources available today, and in my opinion, the internet alone is responsible for the exponential interest in him. The fax, Federal Express, and Pong were only another phase of a new age still in its infancy.



While our species continues to exhibit its many follies, there is still a continual need to envision a "quality" aspect to our ever increasingly stressed lives, and Frank had a lot to say about that. He is still his own best salesman, and can easily speak to coming generations who should will have more and easier access to information about him.



Off topic a bit, but something I still find odd is the systematic difficulty the "art world" still has with Wright. His obvious importance is never doubted, yet he is rarely mentioned and then it is usually in passing, never with a depth his contributions deserves. It can only be interpreted as an almost institutional jealousy. Sure, he's not everyones cup of tea and the midcenmodern stuff is yuppily accessible, with all that shiny, quirky, childish, plastic stuff that infers the illusion of "taste" to so many interiors.



Really, what has more class than a good Wright room? Maybe I'm biased?

[D. Shawn Beckwith]

Good topic.

Nancy Willey was 30 when she contacted FLW about THE WILLEY HOUSE

I her proxy grandson started renovation of the WESTCOTT HOUSE at 38.



Great replies.

Two comments People are interested in quality of life not quantity, FLW designed for the Psyche not the pocket book or developers balance sheet, stock holders report.

The renovation, flip that house craze, society is in a building mode and with the information age can get info readily, coffee table books, internet, PBS, publications.



I see more info in FLW now than in the 70's. I think the FLWBC needs to be thanked for this. The Westcott House had a great program for school age children, EYES WIDE OPEN, which introduced FLW architecture and shapes to the younger generation.



This is a good project for the FLWBC to survey and work off of past successful actions to institute programs to inspire grade school children so FLW works are not forgotten and learned from.



D. Shawn Beckwith

Project Manager for The Renovations of the Burton J. Westcott House

The Durable Slate Company

[Mark Hertzberg]

I am more distressed by the lack of ethnic or racial diversity in the people who are active in Wright organizations and who attend the architectural tours and events, than I am about their age. This is a critical shortcoming to address.



We have a program I helped start in Racine two years ago that gives every fifth grade class in the local school district the opportunity to see a film about Wright's work here, and then tour the SC Johnson Administration Building's Great Workroom. There are follow up activities the next few days in class. I knew the program was important after a teacher told me that he overhead a student say, "I walked past this building every day on the way to school but never knew what it was until today" the day we tried the pilot program.



Mark Hertzberg
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Mark Hertzberg

[MHOLUBAR]

This is a great topic and maybe my experience can make a contribution. As newly married college student looking for a place to live I ran across an article in an old 'Ladies Home Journal' about building a 'Fireproof House for $5000'. I was astonished and very interested and first started learning about home building and real estate. Years later I was at the Landmark Historcal Center in St. Paul where they had built a 3/4 scale model of the 'Fireproof House' which was lovely. My true appreciation of FLW started to take hold when I moved away from Wisconsin to Ohio where I was commisioned to restore a desk in a FLW usonian that had been butchered to insert a sewing machine. Now I help to maintain the Weltzheimer House and my wife coodinates the tour program for Oberlin College.
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mholubar

[Reidy]

My observation has been that cultural pursuits have always attracted older people because they are likelier to have the time and money. In that case we shouldn't worry (though we should continue to educate people, plant the seed and attract any younger ones who might want to get a jump on their contemporaries).



Last night I went to a concert and noticed that most in the audience were at least 60. This was true when I was a high schooler attending concerts during the Kennedy administration. Bach is still with us, and I think Wright will be too, just as far into the future.

[PNB]

My first memory of FLLW was when I was about 11 or 12 when my father drove me by one of his houses in Madison and said in a reverence I still remember (my father was a builder) that was a Frank Lloyd Wright house. However, it wasn't until I was 29 and saw Ken Burns Documentary that I became hooked and started visiting his buildings and reading books by and about FLLW. If it were not for the Burns Documentary I doubt I would have this interest today. I would guess for many of us (architects excluded) it was a chance exposure that sparked our interests regardless of our age.

[EJ]

My first experience with Wright was a trip to Oak Park with my buddy's architecture class. I didn't go for the architecture, but rather a chance to party in Chicago (we were in college). We toured the Home and Studio and Unity Temple. It made a favorable impression and I filed it away.



Having been a big fan of Ken Burns, when I saw the FLW movie some 4 years later, I was hooked. Plus, my dad is a builder and house designer so I've always grown up around that trade. The FLW Burns movie gets a bad rap from the die hards, but, after immersing myself in the Wright literature and visiting a hundred or so of his structures, I've found that Burns got it right, some trivial mistakes aside.



Wright is a mature taste, I have found. Thus, there are older folks who get into it more. I was definently one of the younger people (at age 33) at the FLWBC conference in Detroit.
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"It all goes to show the danger of entrusting anything spiritual to the clergy" - FLLW, on the Chicago Theological Seminary's plans to tear down the Robie House in 1957