Frank Lloyd Wright Morris Giftshop

While in San Francisco this last week, I had the wonderful opportunity to explore the city on my own with no time constraints. This meant I could explore whatever I wanted, and stay as long as I wanted- I love it. My dad (a huge Frank Lloyd Wright buff/afficionado/expert) tipped me off to the Morris Giftshop by FLW and I jumped at the chance to spend some time checking it out. It’s now called the Xanadu Gallery and is located at 140 Maiden Lane, in between Post & Geary in Union Square. Maiden Lane is a completely charming little street- with a very European scale, reminiscent of the Via Borgognona in Rome.

Quick fact about the gallery- it’s one of seventeen Frank Lloyd Wright structures that are considered by the AIA to be contributions to American Culture. That’s deep. As with most Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, the Xanadu Gallery definitely sparks a quick game of “which one of these things does not belong.” Or perhaps as Wright would see it, a game of which one of these things SHOULD belong, and which are an ugly waste of space?

The façade of the gallery/giftshop is most interesting, as it’s a more contemporary take on a standard Roman Arch with virtually no window space/no glimpse to the inside- very unusual if you think about the fact that it’s a retail space. When questioned by the original owner about the omission of a traditional storefront, Wright said; “We are not going to dump your beautiful merchandise on the street, but create an arch-tunnel of glass, into which the passers-by may look and be enticed. As they penetrate further into the entrance, seeing the shop inside with its spiral ramp and tables set with fine china and crystal, they will suddenly push open the door, and you’ve got them!” (Robert McCarter’s Frank Lloyd Wright, © 1997)

 

Another fascinating element of this space (among MANY) is the floorplan. Similar to the much more famous Guggenheim Museum in NYC, the giftshop has a circular mezzanine reached by a spiral ramp- no stairs here! The spiral ramp was an element of the Guggenheim Museum that made it most controversial for its time. What’s interesting about the giftshop’s floorplan, is that the Guggenheim was designed much before the giftshop, but wasn’t actually built until 1959- allowing Wright to use the giftshop (built in 1948) as a “trial run” so to speak for this design technique. I think it worked out quite well. All the furniture inside is original and designed by Frank Lloyd Wright- most are affixed to the walls and built-in. They are absoultely amazing, especially the low-lying benches, and the wall of drawers in the lower gallery.

 

I encourage anyone in the San Francisco area, with an interest in architecture to check out the Morris Giftshop. There are way too many interesting and amazing design elements to discuss in one blog post, but it’s definitely worth your time- and it’s free! It’s an architectural museum without an admission cost. You can also explore Frank Lloyd Wright here.

Not Your Typical Dorm

Having worked in Residential Life for three years now, I can say without a doubt that the design of a residence hall (although not the first thing you may think of) is completely crucial to promoting a healthy lifestyle/living experience. I found a post about Tietgen Residence Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark on A Daily Dose of Architecture, and was loving it! I’ve definitely never seen a dorm of it’s equal, and probably would’ve loved living/working in the dorms even more had my building looked like this! Even though the models for Residential Life are very different in the U.S. than in the rest of the world, I think it might not be a bad idea to take a cue from our international collegues and start thinking about the effects of breaking the architectural mold. We all know that space and architecture influence behavior and experience, so I’m happy to see that Lundgaard & Tranberg really “get it” and have found a way to design a space that integrates both private and public spaces, while continuing to strengthen them both.

Pod Hotels USA Style

Pod Hotels or Capsule Hotels are nothing new, but they are new to the US. They’ve been around in Japan for years, but haven’t really caught on in Western Cultures thus far. The Pod Hotel out of NYC is hoping to change that. Look at all these happy people with their Eames bedspreads and their beautiful friends! Yay for Pod Hotels USA Style. I’m just waiting for the day when the good people at Pod figure out how to make sleeping in a closet and sharing a bathroom cost less than $100 bucks.

 

Respect the Architects

Found this clip posted on W+K Studio (from forever ago) and loved it! It’s a good reminder that great design inspires great design- and easily transcends genres. Before you watch, here’s the inspiration, and here’s the result.

How inspiring is Tinker Hatfield? His philosophies on design make you forget he’s talking about shoes. It’s so interesting to hear him speak about how the Air Max I was born and how the Centre Pompidou was an inspiration for him to be bold with his design. How beautiful is this short in general though? I love the credits and the overall aesthetic. Kudos to Thibaut de Longeville.

 

 

Architecture 2030

I’ve been a fan of Green Architecture for awhile now- I mean who wouldn’t be? If you don’t know what I mean by “Green,” click here. And feast your eyes on one example below;

For those of you who think that Al Gore & his Academy Award Winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth are a farse, you should probably just stop reading. Or maybe, you should keep reading, because as countless studies have shown- including this Scientific Expert Group Report on Climate Change and Sustainable Development presented to the United Nations, our world is between a rock and a hard spot when it comes to rapidly accelerating climate change. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t things we can do. And this group, Architecture 2030, is stepping up and leading the way.

“Rapidly accelerating climate change (global warming), which is caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is now fueling dangerous regional and global environmental events. Data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration illustrates that buildings are responsible for almost half (48%) of all GHG emissions annually. Seventy-six percent of all electricity generated by U.S. power plants goes to supply the ‘Building Sector’. Therefore, immediate action in the Building Sector is essential if we are to avoid hazardous climate change” (Archiecture2030.com).

I suggest you visit their website and check out all the interactive resources they have to offer, including webcasts on The 2030 Challenge, and The 2010 Imperative. Watch the Webcasts here.

The coolest part, by far, of the website is the Case Studies Page. If you’re more into Architecture than Environmentalism, and you only have time to follow one link, choose this one.

Graffitecture

As someone with a strong appreciation for art- in whatever form it may come, I have always felt this huge internal struggle when it comes to Graffiti. On one hand it’s such a strong communication tool- often combining art and politics in a powerful use of public space. But on the other hand, there are many instances where tasteless and disrespectful graffiti has not only become a public nuisance but has defaced some of the world’s most beautiful architectural and structural masterpieces.

Well the people behind Graffitecture came up with a unique and invaluable solution: allow 40 Chicaco area graffiti artists to draw directly on photographic prints of architectural spaces. I think this is amazingly cool because it not only allows the graffiti artists to exhibit what they would do given the opportunity to tag these often inaccessible spaces, but it also combines two forms of art that have often found themselves in competition with one another. Here’s a sampling of what you can find in Graffitecture;